builder Posted September 22, 2010 Posted September 22, 2010 The Reigle Report details all the chemical precursors and biological agents that the US admin okayed for delivery to Iraq in the years 1985 through to 1989. Including anthrax. What were those republicans thinking? http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Riegle_Report Letter to the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services U.S. Senate, Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Washington, DC February 9, 1994 Hon. Donna Shalala Secretary, Department of Health and Human Services Washington, DC Dear Secretary Shalala: After receiving complaints from a number of Michigan veterans who told me they were not receiving appropriate care from Department of Veterans Affairs` hospitals, I initiated an inquiry into the nature and scope of Gulf War Syndrome. This research uncovered a great deal of evidence that U.S. forces may have been exposed to chemical and possibly biological warfare agents as a result of the bombings of 18 chemical, 12 biological, and 4 nuclear facilities within Iraq during the Persian Gulf War. I have also listened to the compelling accounts by eyewitnesses, including chemical officers, of events which appear to be best explained as direct chemical agent attacks. Disturbingly, I also began to receive reports of these illnesses being transmitted to the spouses and children of these veterans. Since I initiated this inquiry, several medical researchers have suggested that the origins of these illnesses might be biological. As Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, with oversight responsibility for the Export Administration Act, I contacted the Centers for Disease Control and the U.S. Department of Commerce to determine what, if any, biological materials were exported to Iraq prior to the Gulf War. After receiving the export information from the U.S. Department of Commerce, my staff contacted the principal supplier of these materials, the American Type Culture Collection, to determine the genus, species, strain, and origins of these materials. Records provided by the supplier show that, from at least 1985 through 1989, the period for which records were available, the United States government approved for sale to Iraq quantities of potentially lethal biological agents that could have been cultured or grown in large volume in an Iraqi biological warfare program. These exported materials were not attenuated or weakened and were capable of reproduction. Materials shipped included: bacillus anthracis clostridium botulinum clostridium perfringens histoplasma capsulatum brucella abortus brucella melitensis (A detailed listing of these materials is attached.) I find it especially troubling that, according to the supplier`s records, these materials were requested by and sent to Iraqi government agencies, including the Iraq Atomic Energy Commission, the Iraq Ministry of Higher Education, the State Company for Drug Industries, and the Ministry of Trade. I have released this information to assist medical researchers seeking to diagnose and treat affected veterans and their families. During this session of Congress, the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs will be reviewing the Export Administration Act, which is due for reauthorization. I have assured the veterans, their families, and the people of the United States that the policy under which these licenses were granted will be examined and strengthened. The defense of the United States should not be undermined by export policies that allow this government to assist any pariah nation, such as Iraq, in the furtherance of nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons programs. While it is extremely important to promote U.S. products and exports in international trade, it is also important to note that the average cost of each of these specimens was less than $60, and they were acquired from a `not-for-profit` organization. I ask that the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense immediately establish disability rating systems for stricken Gulf War veterans that are dependent on the degree of individual disability rather than using some arbitrary point system. Further, the establishment of this disability rating must not be delayed because of an inability to arrive at a specific medical diagnosis. I also call upon the newly created Persian Gulf Veterans Coordinating Board and the participating Secretaries of Veterans Affairs, Defense, and Health and Human Services, to expand their research to include the reported transmission of these illnesses to the spouses and children of these veterans, and to assess what, if any, public health hazard might exist. In order to ensure that no information is being withheld, and consistent with the recommendation of the National Academy of Sciences in their investigation of the exposure of veterans to The Health Effects of Mustard Gas and Lewisite, the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs should widely and publicly announce that personnel who believe they were exposed to chemical or biological warfare agents during the Persian Gulf War or who detected the presence of any chemical or biological warfare agents during the Gulf War are released from any oath of secrecy relative to these exposures of detections. We must ensure that those men and women who served this country during the Gulf War, on active duty, in the reserves, and those who have since left the military services, receive proper medical attention. The National Archives has retained many letters, the unheard pleas and appeals of the veterans who returned home after World War I complaining of illnesses as a result of their exposure to mustard gas. Surely, we cannot tolerate turning a deaf ear on the thousands of veterans who served in the Gulf War. Without proper testing and treatment, their conditions will worsen. They cannot wait. Many are now destitute - their savings spent on medical care not being provided by the government. Others, unable to work, receive no pension or compensation because the Department of Veterans Affairs is unable to disgnose their illnesses. I believe that this issue needs to be resolved, in order to ensure that our Armed Services are properly prepared for future conflicts that might involve the use of these weapons. I know that you share my concerns, both about the well-being of those who wear the uniforms of the United States Armed Forces, and about the preparedness of this nation to protect its forces in future conflicts. I ask you to personally reply to these requests on or before March 31, 1994. Sincerely, Donald W. Riegle, Jr. Chairman. ----------------------------------------------- Now tell me, if the prez has to okay this kind of trade, what was Reagan and Bush snr. up to in supplying Saddam the horrible with this kind of stuff? The list of nasties at the bottom of the page in the link above is literally gob-smacking. What happened to that report, and what became of the veterans affected? Quote Persevere, it pisses people off.
hugo Posted September 22, 2010 Posted September 22, 2010 The Reigle Report details all the chemical precursors and biological agents that the US admin okayed for delivery to Iraq in the years 1985 through to 1989. Including anthrax. What were those republicans thinking? http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Riegle_Report Letter to the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services U.S. Senate, Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Washington, DC February 9, 1994 Hon. Donna Shalala Secretary, Department of Health and Human Services Washington, DC Dear Secretary Shalala: After receiving complaints from a number of Michigan veterans who told me they were not receiving appropriate care from Department of Veterans Affairs` hospitals, I initiated an inquiry into the nature and scope of Gulf War Syndrome. This research uncovered a great deal of evidence that U.S. forces may have been exposed to chemical and possibly biological warfare agents as a result of the bombings of 18 chemical, 12 biological, and 4 nuclear facilities within Iraq during the Persian Gulf War. I have also listened to the compelling accounts by eyewitnesses, including chemical officers, of events which appear to be best explained as direct chemical agent attacks. Disturbingly, I also began to receive reports of these illnesses being transmitted to the spouses and children of these veterans. Since I initiated this inquiry, several medical researchers have suggested that the origins of these illnesses might be biological. As Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, with oversight responsibility for the Export Administration Act, I contacted the Centers for Disease Control and the U.S. Department of Commerce to determine what, if any, biological materials were exported to Iraq prior to the Gulf War. After receiving the export information from the U.S. Department of Commerce, my staff contacted the principal supplier of these materials, the American Type Culture Collection, to determine the genus, species, strain, and origins of these materials. Records provided by the supplier show that, from at least 1985 through 1989, the period for which records were available, the United States government approved for sale to Iraq quantities of potentially lethal biological agents that could have been cultured or grown in large volume in an Iraqi biological warfare program. These exported materials were not attenuated or weakened and were capable of reproduction. Materials shipped included: bacillus anthracis clostridium botulinum clostridium perfringens histoplasma capsulatum brucella abortus brucella melitensis (A detailed listing of these materials is attached.) I find it especially troubling that, according to the supplier`s records, these materials were requested by and sent to Iraqi government agencies, including the Iraq Atomic Energy Commission, the Iraq Ministry of Higher Education, the State Company for Drug Industries, and the Ministry of Trade. I have released this information to assist medical researchers seeking to diagnose and treat affected veterans and their families. During this session of Congress, the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs will be reviewing the Export Administration Act, which is due for reauthorization. I have assured the veterans, their families, and the people of the United States that the policy under which these licenses were granted will be examined and strengthened. The defense of the United States should not be undermined by export policies that allow this government to assist any pariah nation, such as Iraq, in the furtherance of nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons programs. While it is extremely important to promote U.S. products and exports in international trade, it is also important to note that the average cost of each of these specimens was less than $60, and they were acquired from a `not-for-profit` organization. I ask that the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense immediately establish disability rating systems for stricken Gulf War veterans that are dependent on the degree of individual disability rather than using some arbitrary point system. Further, the establishment of this disability rating must not be delayed because of an inability to arrive at a specific medical diagnosis. I also call upon the newly created Persian Gulf Veterans Coordinating Board and the participating Secretaries of Veterans Affairs, Defense, and Health and Human Services, to expand their research to include the reported transmission of these illnesses to the spouses and children of these veterans, and to assess what, if any, public health hazard might exist. In order to ensure that no information is being withheld, and consistent with the recommendation of the National Academy of Sciences in their investigation of the exposure of veterans to The Health Effects of Mustard Gas and Lewisite, the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs should widely and publicly announce that personnel who believe they were exposed to chemical or biological warfare agents during the Persian Gulf War or who detected the presence of any chemical or biological warfare agents during the Gulf War are released from any oath of secrecy relative to these exposures of detections. We must ensure that those men and women who served this country during the Gulf War, on active duty, in the reserves, and those who have since left the military services, receive proper medical attention. The National Archives has retained many letters, the unheard pleas and appeals of the veterans who returned home after World War I complaining of illnesses as a result of their exposure to mustard gas. Surely, we cannot tolerate turning a deaf ear on the thousands of veterans who served in the Gulf War. Without proper testing and treatment, their conditions will worsen. They cannot wait. Many are now destitute - their savings spent on medical care not being provided by the government. Others, unable to work, receive no pension or compensation because the Department of Veterans Affairs is unable to disgnose their illnesses. I believe that this issue needs to be resolved, in order to ensure that our Armed Services are properly prepared for future conflicts that might involve the use of these weapons. I know that you share my concerns, both about the well-being of those who wear the uniforms of the United States Armed Forces, and about the preparedness of this nation to protect its forces in future conflicts. I ask you to personally reply to these requests on or before March 31, 1994. Sincerely, Donald W. Riegle, Jr. Chairman. ----------------------------------------------- Now tell me, if the prez has to okay this kind of trade, what was Reagan and Bush snr. up to in supplying Saddam the horrible with this kind of stuff? The list of nasties at the bottom of the page in the link above is literally gob-smacking. What happened to that report, and what became of the veterans affected? What Reagan and GHW Bush were thinking was the need of maintaining the balance of power in the Middle East. Hussein was a moderate Sunni in a nation approximately 70% Shiite at war with a fundamentalist Shiite nation, Iran. It was important that Iraq not be defeated by Iran. Of course, GW screwed up that power balance and now we have an empowered Iran as the consequence. Looks like the Jews got a nasty little trick up their sleeve to spoil Iran's nuclear ambitions. SCADA worm a 'nation state search-and-destroy weapon' Alert Print Post commentRetweetFacebookWith giant bullseye on Iran nukes By Dan Goodin in San Francisco • Get more from this author Posted in Security, 22nd September 2010 00:12 GMT Free whitepaper – The Register Guide to Enterprise Virtualization A highly sophisticated computer worm that has burrowed into industrial systems worldwide over the past year may have been a “search-and-destroy weapon” built to take out Iran's Bushehr nuclear reactor, according to news reports published on Tuesday. The articles from IDG News and The Christian Science Monitor said the Stuxnet worm was programmed to probe the hosts it infected for extremely specific settings. Unless it identified the hardware fingerprint it was looking for in industrial software systems made by Siemens, it remained largely dormant. It was only after a unique configuration on a Programmable Logic Controller device was detected that Stuxnet took action. Under those circumstances, the worm made changes to a piece of Siemens code called Operational Block 35, which monitors critical factory operations, according to IDG, which cited Eric Byres, CTO of a firm called Byres Security. IDG reported: “By messing with Operational Block 35, Stuxnet could easily cause a refinery's centrifuge to malfunction, but it could be used to hit other targets too, Byres said.” “Stuxnet is essentially a precision, military-grade cyber missile deployed early last year to seek out and destroy one real-world target of high importance – a target still unknown,” The Christian Science Monitor said. It went on to say that the digital fingerprinting capability “shows Stuxnet to be not spyware, but rather attackware meant to destroy.” Both reports said the sophistication of Stuxnet suggests Israel or some other nation state is behind the worm and both articles cited speculation by Langner that the intended target may have been Iran's Bushehr reactor, located about 750 miles from Tehran, that is under construction. The project faced reported delays around the same time Stuxnet is believed to have propagated, and the plant is believed to use the Windows-based Siemens software targeted in the attacks, IDG said. The Christian Science Monitor said Stuxnet may already have exacted damage on Bushehr and noted the facility's expected opening in late August has been delayed for unknown reasons. ® Quote The power to do good is also the power to do harm. - Milton Friedman "I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents." - James Madison
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