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By Jeff Crouere
President Bush has been a
courageous leader in the war on terror. In
his memorable 2002 State of the Union address, against the advice of some of his
advisers, the President boldly coined the term “Axis of Evil” to refer to
the repressive governments of Iraq, Iran and North Korea. This blunt designation
is still very apt in regard to North Korea, arguably the most formidable enemy
the United States faces in the world today. While Iraq is gradually moving
toward self government and freedom and Iran’s dictatorial government does not
yet possess nuclear weapons, the communist dictatorship of North Korea currently
has deadly nuclear weapons at its disposal.
The rulers of North Korea are unpredictable, brutal and avowed enemies of
the United States. With such a precarious situation, why is the United States
Department of Health and Human Services funding anthrax research programs that
benefit an international tobacco company with close business ties to North
Korea?
After North Korea decided to
disregard world opinion and proceed with the creation of nuclear weapons, the
Bush administration publicly encouraged responsible corporations to refrain from
doing business with such an outlaw regime. Unfortunately, the United States
government did not take President Bush’s advice. Unbelievably, the U. S.
Department of Health and Human Services has awarded approximately $100 million
in contracts over the past two years to VaxGen, a California based company that
has close ties to Korea Tobacco and Ginseng (K T & G), an international
tobacco company. K T & G does business with the rogue government of North
Korea. K T & G’s cigarettes
are sold and manufactured in North Korea, through a deal with a North Korean
state-owned company. In 2002, K T & G and VaxGen
partnered to form a new company Celltrion that builds and operates labs that
store VaxGen’s anthrax vaccine and where other experiments are conducted. VaxGen’s track record in vital
research areas is very questionable. Their failed AIDS vaccine experiment
resulted in a series of lawsuits and tough financial times for the company. On
Monday, August 9, 2004, VaxGen was de-listed from the Nasdaq Stock Exchange
because it failed to file two quarterly income reports this year. The
company’s stock tumbled 36% of its final day of trading amid growing worries
in the financial community about the future of the company. All of these developments do not
bode well for the success of VaxGen’s experimental anthrax vaccine research.
Why should the United States government use tax dollars to take a gamble on a
company that has such a poor research and financial track record? In addition, by supporting VaxGen with these lucrative research contracts, the U.S. government is in effect, supporting new investment in North Korea and helping that dictatorial regime stay in power. What makes this situation so
outrageous is that our country still has not solved the mystery of the anthrax
mailings that were sent in late 2001. Those anthrax laced letters caused mass
hysteria in this country. The letters were sent to select political leaders and
media outlets by a sophisticated enemy, either foreign or domestic. As of today,
the U.S. government still does not know whether the anthrax letters were the
handiwork of terrorists abroad or at home. Until we determine who sent the
anthrax letters, the government of North Korea should be considered one of the
prime suspects. Since North Korea
is one of our foremost enemies, any research contracts dealing with the
sensitive subject of the anthrax vaccine should not in any way be connected to
such a country. So, it is irresponsible for our government to be funding
contracts that benefit a company with such close business ties to the rogue
government of North Korea. Another question—why are we
supporting a company that has ties with international tobacco? Isn’t cigarette
use one of the major causes of premature death in this country and throughout
the world? In fact, the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human
Services, Tommy Thompson, signed an international treaty designed to curb
cigarette use worldwide. Yet, by funding VaxGen, with its close ties to an
international tobacco company, our Department of Health and Human Services is in
effect supporting cigarette use and contributing to untold health problems
worldwide. For a variety of troubling
reasons, questions need to be raised about our contracts with VaxGen. Are these
dollars in any way supporting the communist government of North Korea and the
spread of international tobacco? Finally, any company with ties to North Korea should not be
receiving contracts to develop an anthrax vaccine until we are positive that
North Korea did not play a role in the anthrax mailings of 2001.
Such a deal with our foremost enemy is inappropriate, but one that will
possibly allow it to know how we are preparing for another anthrax attack
borders on the unthinkable.
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