FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
2 Oct. 2002
Contact Person: Gary Treece
The American Gulf War Veterans
Association (AGWVA) now calls for the resignation of Secretary of Defense Donald
Rumsfeld. In response to questioning by Sen. Robert C. Byrd, (D-WV), Rumsfeld
denied any knowledge that the United States had shipped biological weapons to
Iraq during the 1980’s. Rumsfeld was addressing the Armed Services Committee
last week, when he stated that he “…had no knowledge of any such
shipments and doubted that they ever occurred.”
There is no disputing the
evidence that the U.S. provided bacteria and viruses as evidenced by Senate
Report 103-900, “United States Dual-Use Exports To Iraq And Their Impact On
the Health of The Persian Gulf War Veterans,” dated May 25,1994, chaired
by Sen. Donald Riegle (D-MI) of the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs
Committee. This Senate report was available to all senators and listed among
other items, Bacillus Anthracis, (anthrax) Clostridium botulinum, and West Nile
Fever Virus as pathogens that were shipped to Iraq in the 1980’s with the full
knowledge of the Department of Commerce and the CDC.
http://www.gulfweb.org/bigdoc/report/r_1_2.html#exports
There is no question that the
Secretary of Defense must be informed and up to date with information about a
potential military enemy and his military capabilities. Mr. Rumsfeld’s
statements demonstrate that this is clearly not the case.
If our Secretary of Defense is unaware of the sales of biological materials to a country with which we are about to go to war, or if he is in denial over the fact that these sales occurred, the AGWVA believes that he represents a clear and present danger to the lives of our military, our country, and the American people, and should be considered a very serious threat to the national security. It is for this reason that the AGWVA calls for his resignation and removal from office.