U.S. Anthrax Research Program Benefiting North Korea
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.