ANTHRAX: A Deadly Shot in the Dark

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http://www.anthraxadeadlyshotinthedark.comA Brief SynopsisANTHRAX: A Deadly Shot

in the Dark, Unmasking the Truth Behind a Hazardous Vaccine

by Thomas Heemstra

People are sick and dying from a vaccine that was supposed to protect them.

Author Tom Heemstra is anxious for the public to know what military troops have

discovered: the Department of Defense considers its armed forces to be little

more than guinea pigs just waiting for their next experimental drug testing

regimen. And the public is next.

The Basis and the BackgroundThe author provides insight into his purpose in

writing the book: to save lives - both military and civilian. He offers detailed

information about anthrax (Bacillus anthracis), the Defense Department's

mandatory anthrax vaccine immunization program (AVIP), and an appeal to readers

to become knowledgeable about the vaccine before they make " the shot decision "

for themselves or their loved ones.

Friendly Fire: An Untested VaccineThe Department of Defense (DOD) devised a

program in which active troops are ordered to be vaccinated with an untested,

experimental vaccine. Two vaccines, the original and the newly licensed one of

the '70s, were made using different processes and have different data to support

their safety. Every war has injuries and fatalities due to accidental 'friendly

fire' but the mandatory AVIP produces victims by intention. The DOD did no Gulf

War illness testing; no safety testing; no human efficacy testing; and no gender

and fertility testing. And now comes the Joint Vaccination Acquisition Program

(JVAP), another DOD brainchild, and another case in which testing is

questionable.

Ready.Fire.Aim! An Unsafe VaccineBecause they obeyed the Pentagon's AVIP orders,

individuals in the military are suffering from the vaccine. It has ruined their

health, and they are now jeopardizing their own safety and the safety of those

they are charged with protecting.

The author introduces the victims and chronicles the effects of the vaccine on

the thousands who are now ill (some fatally). He examines six deaths attributed

to the vaccine, in spite of the DOD's insistence that these are not 'causal

events' but 'minor reactions'.

Studies around the world link the anthrax vaccine and Gulf War illness.

Moreover, the FDA discovered squalene - an illegal immunoenhancer - in anthrax

vaccine, although the DOD had persistently denied it was using squalene.

BioPort, the vaccine manufacturer, was repeatedly told to remove the squalene

from the vaccine. The Journal of the AMA reveals connections among anthrax,

squalene and HIV/AIDS research.

Firing Blanks: An Unnecessary VaccineThe necessity of an anthrax vaccine program

is disputed in both medical and military arenas, but the Defense Department

continues to leverage the panic caused by recent terrorist attacks to push its

AVIP forward. The skewed version of force protection is not only costly in terms

of lives and funds, but it wastes time we could be spending on devising true,

effective, safe force protection.

Exit Wounds: An Unpopular VaccineDisbelief turns to outrage as the Air Guard is

ordered to take a vaccine that would affect their performance as pilots.

Heemstra testifies twice before Congressional Committees, who were investigating

the safety of the anthrax vaccine and wanting to know why military pilots were

leaving their jobs. The unpopularity of AVIP policy has a deep impact on troop

retention and morale.

Our Trust Is Shot: An Unethical VaccineThe ethics surrounding every part of AVIP

are a travesty. " Informed consent " seems to be reserved for civilians, as

military troops are not provided accurate or complete information to make a

decision about the vaccine. Members of Congress are frustrated and angry with

the DOD as it evades questions and provides only unsubstantiated and vague

claims about effects and reasoning behind the AVIP.

It is disclosed that BioPort is owned in part by a U.S. citizen of Lebanese

descent whose business successes include vaccine client Saudi Arabia. BioPort's

Board of Directors includes Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral William Crowe.

There Is No Defense: An Unlawful VaccineExperimentation on uninformed subjects

is highly illegal, but the Pentagon has been caught red-handed doing it more

than once in its recent history. The author examines AVIP in light of the

Nuremberg Code and the Fourth and Fifth Amendments of the Constitution. Military

lawyers present the nature and evidence of AVIP as an illegal order.

The Rockefeller Report examines biological experimentation on U.S. troops and

presents findings and recommendations that should have stopped AVIP before it

started.

The Time Is Now: An Uncontrolled VaccineThe situation has worsened as AVIP spins

out of control. BioPort's unreliability is reaffirmed with reports that there

was a major loss of vaccine between BioPort in Michigan and the packager in

Seattle.

Despite the threat of mad-cow disease, BioPort (according to the FDA) continues

to use bovine-derived material in batches of vaccine. A leaking of this vaccine

across the country could have disastrous consequences.

BioPort is back in business, newly approved by the FDA to restart production and

release previously quarantined vaccines. Because the vaccine is already a

reality for many civilians including postal workers, the author encourages us to

become informed and act on our knowledge, calling for accountability and

responsibility in the Pentagon.

A Few Key Media PointsANTHRAX: A Deadly Shot in the Dark, Unmasking the Truth

Behind a Hazardous Vaccine

by Thomas Heemstra

People are Sick and Dying from the VaccineAmong the vaccinated military

personnel, serious adverse reactions occur from the shots, including aseptic

meningitis, Guillain-Barré syndrome and lupus, to name just a few. Victims

calling themselves the " walking dead " have testified before Congress since 1997,

when the AVIP went into effect. Richard Dunn, a BioPort employee who took the

same vaccine given to the nation's military personnel, died - not from anthrax,

but from the vaccine.

Vaccine is Common Denominator in GWI VictimsMany troops were vaccinated during

the Gulf War, and even those who were not deployed to the Middle East suffer

from various degrees of Gulf War illness. Allied troops who fought beneath the

same smoky skies do not report anything like Gulf War illness.

Hundreds Court-Martialed for Disobeying an Unlawful OrderMilitary personnel take

an oath to " obey lawful orders. " The vaccine is an untested Investigational New

Drug (IND). Without offering the option of " informed consent " , ordering humans

to take an experimental drug is an unlawful order.

Though more than two million military personnel were ordered to take the

vaccine, nearly 400 refused and are being punished. Many others - mostly pilots

- resigned rather than submit to inoculation.

Lack of Quality, Integrity and Credibility of BioPortThe military's sole source

of anthrax vaccine is BioPort, a manufacturer with an extensive and

well-documented history of FDA violations in the manufacturing, labeling and

distribution of the vaccine. Illegal substances and gasket material were

repeatedly found in the vaccine. No long-term efficacy, safety, gender or

fertility testing was ever conducted on the vaccine.

BioPort Loses Vaccine In Transit To Seattle.BioPort's unreliability is

reaffirmed with reports that there was a major loss of vaccine between BioPort

in Michigan and the packager in Seattle.

Despite the threat of mad-cow disease, BioPort (according to the FDA) continues

to use bovine-derived material in batches of vaccine. A leaking of this vaccine

across the country could have disastrous consequences.

Invalid LicenseBefore the FDA began licensing vaccines, the anthrax vaccine was

licensed by the National Institute of Health (NIH). Even though the vaccine

itself changed when the manufacturing process was modified, the original license

was still used, resulting in two distinct vaccines under the same license.

Changes to the vaccine and various procedures, such as re-dating expired lots,

were made without FDA approval. Now, with BioPort's recent FDA approval,

previously quarantined - and flawed - vaccine is about to be distributed for

troop inoculation.

Ethics and Conflicts of Interest: Money Trail from BioPort.The DOD has spent

millions of dollars assisting BioPort. Controversy surrounds the details of

retired U.S. Navy Admiral William Crowe's 22 percent ownership of BioPort.

BioPort's primary owner, Fuad el Hibri, is a

Venezuelan-turned-German-turned-U.S. citizen of Lebanese descent whose business

successes include vaccine client Saudi Arabia. Prior to AVIP, Fuad el Hibri

previously made a small fortune selling anthrax vaccine to the U.K., where there

are now almost 2000 British soldiers suing the British Ministry of Defense over

the vaccine. Investigative reporter Sherman Skolnick (November 2001) wrote that

investment firms tied to former President George H.W. Bush, such as the Carlyle

Group, located six blocks from the White House on Pennsylvania Avenue, and the

bin Laden family have invested in BioPort. Reports connect BioPort to former

President Clinton through its investors' contributions to Clinton's last

campaign,

influencing Secretary of Defense William Cohen's decision to order the mass

inoculation of the military.

Pentagon Creates Media HypeThe U.S. actually sold ingredients for making anthrax

to Iraq, creating the threat in the first place. Now, the public is clamoring

for a vaccine in the wake of the terrorist attacks, justifying the Pentagon's

push for more anthrax vaccine and fueling the Pentagon's fire for creating an

AVIP in the public arena.

Whistleblower Law ViolatedThough they acted purely in the interests of health

and safety, and well within the provisions of the Military Whistleblower

Protection Act (Title 10, United States Code, Section 1034), Tom Heemstra and

many others continue to be persecuted with harassment, altered personnel files,

loss of pay, removal from duties, forced retirement, court martial, and even

imprisonment.

No Response from Inspector GeneralTom Heemstra's military status is still

uncertain, despite repeated attempts by members of Congress to secure

information and resolution on Tom's behalf.

Vaccine Ineffective The effectiveness of the vaccine is highly questionable.

When a vaccinated worker at the offensive bio-warfare program at Fort Detrick

took his mask off in an anthrax " hot room, " he got a whiff of anthrax and died.

The FDA found the vaccine to be effective only for anthrax absorbed through the

skin and did not even test it for the deadly inhalation anthrax.

 

 

 

 

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