http://www.opednews.com

"The Secretary of Defense, the man who allegedly supported the use of contrived intelligence to justify the war on Iraq, is now poised to reap huge gains for a flu panic his Administration has done everything it can to promote:" Maneka Gandhi

I've learned some time ago to never trust anything that the Cheney/Bush administration says ~ particularly if it involves a world wide pandemic or terrorist scare.

It was with that in mind that I looked into the potential Avian Bird Flu epidemic ~ and found some more than interesting connections with US pharmaceutical giant Roche and yes, our own defense secretary, Donald Rumsfeld.

Internationally renowned activist, Meneka Gandhi, pulls no punches and calls the bird flu " the latest scam perpetrated by the American Government and pharmaceutical companies."

Excerpt: "The Secretary of Defense, the man who allegedly supported the use of contrived intelligence to justify the war on Iraq, is now poised to reap huge gains for a flu panic his Administration has done everything it can to promote... This is not the first time that Rumsfeld has been involved in pharmaceutical scams. It was after all Rumsfeld, as chairman of G.D. Searle, who pressured the FDA to get Aspartame approved. The FDA blocked its approval for ten years, stating it was toxic, before Rumsfeld twisted arms at the FDA ... Bush and Rumsfeld, the people who led America into the Iraq decimation based on those mythical "weapons of mass destruction" have found another WMD as mythical - Avian flu. "

Allen L Roland

THE SCARE OF EPIDEMICS: What is the reality of the avian flu?
By Maneka Gandhi

Money makes not just the world go around but turns it topsy-turvy all the time. America needed a war to keep its armament companies happy - especially since the Vice president, Dick Cheney, himself had headed one of the largest government contracting companies. So they invented the bogey of Iraq. They destroyed Afghanistan before that, complaining that there were not enough " targets" to shoot at from the air (so they bombed schools and hospitals).

But the most money in the world does not come from just armament sale. It comes from creating scares of epidemics. Then the world's purses open up readily.

Do you remember the scare created by the Americans just seven years ago when they declared that all computers would stop on New Year as the new millennium came and planes and trains would crash and stock markets would fall and the world would come to an end. Who made money out of that?

Those computer companies that were brought in to " repair" this looming disaster. Not a single computer stopped, nothing happened.

What about the SARS "pandemic" which eventually faded away. A high pitched media campaign had convinced the world it was facing a great threat when in reality SARS turned out to be a comparably minor disease .

Do you remember the Foot and Mouth scam in which lakhs of cows were killed brutally in Britain and there was the smell of burning flesh throughout the countryside. Foot and Mouth is not communicable to humans, it does not affect the meat, it is easily curable.

But farmers who could not sell their cows for lack of orders and who wanted to get out of the cow-selling business created this scare and picked up thousands of pounds as compensation and insurance from the government for killing their cows.

Bird Flu is like that. It is the latest scam perpetrated by the American Government and pharmaceutical companies. Let us look at the facts.

Avian Flu is a virus strain that is found only in birds in badly kept poultries. It affects some birds that are already ill fed, suffering from lung and bone diseases and kept on a steady diet of hormones and antibiotics and other bird carcases.

It does not spread to human beings and since the virus is already 8 years old and has not mutated as yet, there is no reason to believe it ever will. There are at least 15 different types of avian influenza that routinely infect birds around the world. The current outbreak is caused by a strain known as H5N1 and it has created a worldwide panic.

What is the reality of avian flu? This "global threat" that has led so many countries to kill their chickens, turkeys and other birds for no reason ( One Hong Kong member of Parliament has asked for each citizen of Hong Kong to be given a gun so that they can shoot any birds coming to Hong Kong)?

In 8 years, since the H5 N1 virus was supposedly detected in poultry birds, 53 people have died - 37 people in Vietnam, 12 in Thailand and four in Cambodia. 7000 people die of lightning struck deaths every year. Have you heard of a lightning epidemic? Are 54 deaths in 8 years an epidemic or even worse a PANDEMIC ?

Where did the panic generated by the media originate from?

The United States of America. President Bush goes on television to say that between 200,000 to 2 million people will die in America and he asks for billions of dollars to be allocated for this pandemic.

On October 28 the American Senate passes an $8 billion emergency funding bill to address Avian Flu. Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt, during the debate on the Senate bill, told the press, 'If it isn't the current H5N1 virus that leads to an influenza pandemic, at some point in our nation's future, another virus will." Number of people dead - Zero.

The UN catches on and declares that they will ask for 500 million dollars from all the countries to stop this flu by sending a vaccine to all the countries.

What is 3.1 billion dollars spent on immediately? To buy 80 million vials of Tamiflu at $ 100 per dose - a drug that has no relationship to the virus. According to the authors of the "Total Health program" which looks into scams perpetrated in the name of medicine "Tamiflu, is a worthless drug that in no way shape or form treats the avian flu, but only decreases the amount of days one is sick”

Dig a little deeper and you will understand the reality of Avian flu.

Tamiflu (oseltamivir phosphate ) was developed and patented in 1996 by a California biotech firm, Gilead Sciences Inc, a listed stock company in California. Due to lacklustre sales for many years Gilead Sciences licensed the marketing of oseltamivr to the Swiss-US pharmaceutical giant Roche Holdings of Basle getting a royalty for each vial sold.

Roche holds the sole licence to manufacture the only medicine we are told which 'possibly' might reduce symptoms of Avian Flu .

Due to the media panic, the order books at Roche today are filled to overflowing. Roche recently refused a request from the US Congress to lift its exclusive patent rights to allow other drug manufacturers to produce Tamiflu.

Gilead which gave the marketing rights to its patented discovery to Roche makes as much money from its royalties.

According to the Gilead website,"Roche has worldwide commercial rights to Tamiflu, and Gilead receives payments from Roche for the successful completion of program milestones and royalties on product sales."

In 1997, Donald H. Rumsfeld was named Chairman of the Board of Gilead Sciences, where he remained until early 2001 when he became Defence Secretary in Bush's Cabinet. Rumsfeld had been on the board of Gilead since 1988.

He is also a major, if not the largest, stockholder in Gilead Sciences Inc. His 2004 financial disclosure indicates that he owned between 5 and 25 million dollars in equity in Gilead as of Dec 31, 2004; Since then , he has sold some of his holdings.

Next year's disclosure will show the value range of any remaining holdings Rumsfeld stands to make a fortune on royalties as governments scramble to buy this company's drug.

The model suggests the parallel to the brazen corruption of Halliburton Corporation whose former CEO is Vice President Dick Cheney. Cheney's company has so far gotten billions worth of US construction contracts in Iraq and elsewhere.

Who else stands to benefit ? Bush campaign-funders, Bilderberger spokesman Etienne F. Davignon and Reagan-Bush former Secretary of State George P. Shultz, both of whom are also on the board of directors of Gilead.

Another member of the Bush circle is Lodewijk J.R. de Vink, who sits on the board of Hoffman-La Roche, Gilead's partner. In other words, "Bird Flu” will generate outrageous profits for insiders like Shultz, Rumsfeld, Davignon, and de Vink.

The Secretary of Defence, the man who allegedly supported the use of contrived intelligence to justify the war on Iraq, is now poised to reap huge gains for a flu panic his Administration has done everything it can to promote.

It would be useful to know whether the Pentagon's successor to Douglas Feith's Office of Special Plans developed the strategy of bio-warfare behind the current Avian Flu panic. Perhaps some Congressional committee might look into the entire subject of plausible conflicts of interest regarding Secretary Rumsfeld.

This is not the first time that Rumsfeld has been involved in pharmaceutical scams. It was after all Rumsfeld, as chairman of G.D. Searle, who pressured the FDA to get Aspartame approved. The FDA blocked its approval for ten years, stating it was toxic, before Rumsfeld twisted arms at the FDA.

Now that the Bush government has bought all these vials, how many people have been vaccinated. None. According to President Bush's national strategy he is protecting the American people by stockpiling vaccines in case there is an outbreak!

What does the American Centre for Disease Control say?

“A specific vaccine for humans that is effective against avian influenza has not yet been approved. Based upon LIMITED data, the Centers for Disease Control have suggested that the anti-viral medication Oseltamavir (brand name-Tamiflu) MAY be effective in treating avian influenza."

What does Bush say on this replacement of the Osama bin Laden bogey?

"If left unchallenged, this virus could become the first pandemic of the 21st century. We must not allow that to happen. It is essential we work together, and as we do so, we will fulfil a moral duty to protect our citizens, and heal the sick, and comfort the afflicted."

He announces the International Partnership on Avian and Pandemic Influenza during the UN General Assembly in September 2005. and the first meeting of the Partnership takes place October 6-7 in Washington, DC, hosted by the U.S. Department of State attended by officials from 88 countries, the World Health Organization, the Food and Agricultural Organization and the World Organization for Animal Health.

The goals of the International Partnership conceived by Bush are to Elevate the avian influenza issue on national agendas; Coordinate efforts among donor and affected nations; Mobilize and leverage resources; Build local capacity to identify, contain and respond to an influenza pandemic.

After Bush announces that he is going to give funds to any country that has any signs of Avian flu($251 million to detect and contain outbreaks before they spread around the world) and starts off by giving 25 million dollars for prevent the spread of Avian Flu in "affected" South Asian countries and $ 13 million for "technical assistance promising millions more, suddenly each country that has a low GDP discovers strains of Avian Flu.

Not in poultry because then people will stop buying and eating chicken, but in wild migratory birds!

Everyone wants a piece of the money. The Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), Mt Jerraud has suggested that his organization be given more money to expand its studies to the correlation between climate the spread of avian flu!

Where is the Avian flu?

Simple- 53 people have died of it. However they have not died of this virus as it cannot spread to humans - which every scientist has admitted. So what have they died of? Look at the poultries in these and any country.

The chickens are overcrowded, kept in filthy conditions and killed in the most filthy manner possible. They regularly suffer from cholera and most all of them get salmonella related bacterial diseases. The victims are poultry workers - people who live amongst filth and disease and work in the killing fields with their bare hands. How many people who work in the poultries in any Asian country die of salmonella poisoning . Thousands - including in India.

Look at the words used by the media:

"A bird flu virus may mutate to a human form that becomes as deadly as the ones that killed millions during three influenza pandemics of the 20th century." Bird flu could become epidemic - 2/22/2005

"Hundreds of thousands of people may die and one quarter of the work force could be absent if Britain were hit by a bird flu pandemic..." Bird flu epidemic could kill as many as 750,000 - March 22

"The European Union's health commissioner called on Europe to protect itself from a possible epidemic of bird flu." EU warned to protect against bird flu epidemic - May 27

"The virus that killed hundreds of thousands of birds and dozens of people in recent years is about to mutate and cause a worldwide epidemic." WHO warns of worldwide deadly flu epidemic - June 12, 2005

"International experts fear that bird flu is mutating into a strain that will cause a worldwide pandemic." Fears that new strain of bird flu will kill millions - 12 June 2005

"A flu pandemic would be triggered if the lethal H5N1 strain mutated into a form that could jump from human to human. "China to shut borders if struck by bird flu" - October 28

"If, could, may, fear that bird flu is mutating, about to mutate, may mutate, could become epidemic". Just "shock-n-awe" material to grab your attention. Our neighbours have it, say the Indian papers, regularly.

Which neighbour? Duh... Which is the one paper that has taken this the most seriously? The one newspaper that sells every inch of its space - including the "news". Most newspapers ignore this nonsense - occasionally putting it in as a space filler.

Why does India which sells the largest amount of eggs in Asia and exports the largest number of chickens all of which are kept in the same conditions as anywhere in Asia not have it?

Because we don't have the money to import the vaccines. Once they are locally made by Ranbaxy, no doubt we will suddenly develop Avian Flu as well ! It is to the credit of India that we have not fallen prey to this scamming as yet.

Here is the actual truth.

On October 28th the Chinese Ministry of Health and Ministry of Agriculture reiterated that China has experienced no human bird flu infection. The two children that fell sick with on Oct. 17 with symptoms of fever and cough of which one died (and this led to the killing of millions of birds) were later diagnosed with bronchial pneumonia.

On January 24, 2005, newspapers in Vietnam reported that "three brothers in northern Vietnam who MAY have contracted bird flu all drank raw duck blood at a family feast". Raw duck blood could give any disease - try it.

One human bird flu victim reported in Siberia. "We cannot say now if something out of the ordinary has occurred. The reason behind the accident could be bad water, feed poisoning, Newcastle disease or bird flu. More investigation is needed," ~ The Moscow News

Even WHO Director-General Dr. Jong Woo Lee, urging the world to prepare itself for the outbreak, betrays himself "The burning question is, will there be a human influenza pandemic. I believe, on behalf of WHO, that there will be. And right now the only one condition missing is the virus that is rapidly transmitted from human to human," said Dr. Lee.

WHO warns of human flu pandemic. How many cases reported in Europe so far by WHO? Not one. The only thing that is mutating is the propaganda line, and the resulting fear factor

Let us presume that flu which has been in pandemic form for about several hundred years (how many times a year do you get it ? does the rounds again. Big deal.

Flu ( influenza ) is a viral infection that has a relatively short lifespan and causes problems for its victim in the form of several minor effects (chills, high fever, aches and pains, headaches, sore throat, mucosal irritation). 35,000 people get flu daily. Some die anyway if they have other complications.

The great Global Threat is closer to what Spain's Agriculture Minister describes it as - "science fiction"

Scientists in America are increasing airing their opinions about this "vaccine". A prominent radio show, The Diane Rehm show, was entirely about the "U.S. Strategy for Flu Pandemic." [ http://www.wamu.org/programs/dr/ ]

Some excerpts "This whole 'bird flu' issue is a total fraud. These tests are not for the virus but for the anti-bodies to the virus. This is a totally different thing. If an animal or person has antibodies to a virus it means that that animal or person has successively fought off the virus at some earlier time. If they are healthy they will still show the antibodies in future tests. That certainly does not mean they have the flu.

If avian flu becomes more than a threatened pandemic, it will have done so by political and economic design.

This thesis is supported by current massive media misrepresentations, profiteering on risky and valueless vaccines, gross neglect of data showing earlier similar man-made plagues including SARS, West Nile Virus, AIDS and more; continuance of genetic studies breeding more mutant flu viruses , inside trading scandals involving pandemic savvy White House and drug industry officials, curious immunity of these pharmaceutical entities over the past century to law enforcement and mainstream media scrutiny.

If Avian Flu is that serious and Tamiflu is the answer, why is Tamiflu only been sold to governments and not to the public?

The answer lies here: About the time that President Bush was buying the "vaccine" he also announced that the United States must approve liability protection for the makers of lifesaving vaccines as American vaccine manufacturers had been hit with a flood of lawsuits.

So government not only buys the drugs but they protect the manufacturers when the drugs are found to be useless !

Is there any other clue that this scam is mainly designed for pharmaceutical companies at taxpayer expense.

Bush and Rumsfeld, the people who led America into the Iraq decimation based on those mythical "weapons of mass destruction" have found another WMD as mythical - Avian flu.

Bush outraged Americans on both sides of the political spectrum when he announced his intention to have the U.S. military take over American cities hit by the avian flu! Bush has said no one knows when or where a deadly strain of flu will strike but "at some point we are likely to face another pandemic."

Avian Flu has become the new "terrorism" in place of Osama bin Laden and as usual bemused scientists and an easily led media will carry on with the game till the next bogey.

Why have research scientists in the Western biogenetic field welcomed this fiction of Avian Flu.

The Microular Virology at Cambridge University and the Roslin Institute in Scotland are involved in developing 'transgenic chickens' which would have small pieces of genetic material inserted into chicken eggs to allegedly make the chickens H5N1 resistant.

This is what they say: "Once we have regulatory approval, we believe it will only take between four and five years to breed enough chickens to replace the entire world (chicken) population. We will have the patents on these chickens and control their products." It is increasingly clear that the entire saga of Avian Flu is one whose dimensions are only slowly coming to light.
By the time you discover this fraud, taxpayer billions will have gone.

Indictments being handed down to Scooter Libby, the Chief of Staff of the Vice President of the United States for lies and cover-up of information used deliberately to suppress the fact the Bush Administration had no 'smoking gun' to prove Saddam Hussein was building a nuclear arsenal.

This new scandal is as outrageously criminal.

Maneka Gandhi is a renowned activist who works on behalf of animals, poor people and the environment .

Take action -- click here to contact your local newspaper or congress people:
INVESTIGATE AVIAN FLU SCAM

Click here to see the most recent messages sent to congressional reps and local newspapers

www.allenroland.com

Allen L Roland is a practicing psychotherapist, author and lecturer who also shares a daily political and social commentary on his weblog and website allenroland.com He also guest hosts a monthly national radio show TRUTHTALK on Conscious talk radio www.conscioustalk.net

Contact Author

Contact Editor

View Other Articles by Author