Thanks to Col. Hackworth and his "Defending America" newsletter for the following information. If you are not up to speed about what is happening with the anthrax vaccine program being forced on our military this is a MUST READ.

Al Hauff/editor

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***LETTER TO THE EDITOR***

THE ANTHRAX VACCINE: MYTH VS. REALITY=20 PENTAGON "BIG LIE" CAMPAIGN SHIFTS INTO HIGH GEAR AFTER VACCINE REFUSALS

(Centreville, VA) The recent incidents of anthrax vaccine refusals by military personnel(1) have brought into sharp focus the Pentagon=92s controversial and highly questionable policy of requiring the vaccinations of all military personnel. In light of a number of recent Pentagon public statements on the issue, Veterans for Integrity in Government (VIG) has produced this fact sheet to help the public, press, and Congress separate myth from reality where the anthrax vaccine is concerned.

DoD claim: The anthrax vaccine has been in use for over 25 years and has proven safe and effective.

Fact: The originally licensed anthrax vaccine has never been proven safe and effective in protecting humans against an aerosolized (i.e., inhaled) anthrax biological warfare threat.(2) Thus, as a biological warfare prophylactic, the existing anthrax vaccine can only be viewed as experimental in nature.

DoD claim: "FDA has received only one report of an adverse reaction [to the vaccine]"(3)=20

Fact: There are no published, peer-reviewed studies on the long-term health effects of taking the anthrax vaccine. One of the components of the vaccine--formaldehyde--can cause nervous system depression, according to the federal government=92s own Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS).(4) The toxicological properties of another anthrax vaccine component (Benzethonium chloride) "have not been investigated," according to the MSDS for the compound.(5)

DoD claim: "Our vaccine protects, as near as we know, against all of these [wild anthrax] strains because the vaccine is against the part of the bacteria that doesn=92t change, that doesn=92t define one strain from the other."--LTG Ronald Blanck, Army Surgeon General(6)

Fact: A 1988 study co-authored by Pentagon medical researcher Arthur Friedlander reported that guinea pigs receiving the vaccine were protected against some, not all, wild anthrax strains.(7) Regarding genetically engineered anthrax bioweapon threats, the Army Surgeon General conceded that "we don=92t know if the vaccine would be effective=85."(8) Given the highly publicized U.S. and European biological warfare-related exports to Iraq during the 1980=92s(9), it is most unlikely that Iraq or any other potential aggressor will use an anthrax strain susceptible to the existing vaccine--raising serious questions as to the military utility of the vaccine currently being forcibly administered to troops in the Gulf.

DoD claim: No shut down of the Michigan Biologic Products Institute (MBPI) [the manufacturer of the vaccine] "was ever directed or contemplated as a result of any FDA inspection."(10) --Deputy Defense Secretary John Hamre

Fact: An FDA inspection of the MBPI facility between 18 and 27 November 1996 disclosed 23 "significant deviations from the applicable standards and requirements" of the Code of Federal Regulations.(11) Most of the violations were related to quality control problems at the plant. The FDA made it explicitly clear that if the violations were not corrected, the FDA would hold public hearings to determine whether the plant=92s license should be revoked.(12) The MBPI plant has been shut down since January 1998.(13)

It is astounding that Deputy Defense Secretary Hamre would make such an overt--and easily verifiable--false statement on such an important national security and public health policy issue. Pentagon officials seem determined to continue their militarily ineffective, public relations-driven approach to bioweapon defense--even at the expense of the potential long-term health of America=92s warriors. In light of the repeated false assertions made by Pentagon officials on the anthrax vaccination issue, VIG calls upon the relevant Congressional committees of jurisdiction to thoroughly investigate the Pentagon=92s military vaccination program. Our nation=92s current and future veterans deserve no less.

Veterans for Integrity in Government (VIG) is a Washington, D.C.-area non-profit veterans=92 advocacy organization. Interested parties may contact VIG=92s main office at (703) 222-6637, or visit the VIG website at: http://www.vetintgov.org.
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(1) See VIG Issue Brief Navy-9801 for 8 April 1998, "Veterans=92= Organization Assists Navy Anthrax Refuseniks."

(2) "Is Military Research Hazardous to Veterans=92 Health? Lessons Spanning Half a Century." Staff Report, Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs, December 8, 1994, p.28.

(3) DoD PAO communication to VIG, April 13, 1998.

(4) MSDS on Formalin.

(5) MSDS on Benzethonium chloride.

(6) DoD press conference, March 3, 1998.

(7) SL Welkos and AM Friedlander. "Comparative safety and efficacy against Bacillus anthracis of protective antigen and live vaccines in mice." Microbial Pathogenesis 1988; 5:127-39.=20

(8) DoD press conference, March 3, 1998.

(9) United States Dual-Use Exports to Iraq and their Impact on the Health of the Persian Gulf War Veterans, S. Hrg. 103-900, May 25, 1994.

(10) Letter to the Editor of Newsweek authored by Deputy Secretary of Defense John Hamre, April 3 1998, and faxed to VIG by DoD PAO on April 10, 1998.

(11) Letter from Dr. Kathryn Zoon, Director/Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, FDA, March 11, 1997 to Robert Myers, D.V.M., Responsible Head of MBPI.

(12) Ibid.

(13) "Anthrax Snafu." Newsweek, April 6, 1998, p.4.

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Help free America!

Al Hauff
editor
The BIG SKY PATRIOT
URL http://www.imt.net/~mtpatriot/

WARNING:=20 Because e-mail can be altered electronically, the integrity of this communication cannot be guaranteed.

Jack Perrine | Athena Programming | 626-798-6574
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