Indonesia’s Health Minister Accuses U.S. Of Bird Flu Bio-Weapon Conspiracy

Indonesia’s Health Minister Accuses U.S. Of Bird Flu Bio-Weapon Conspiracy
New book endorsed by President accuses U.S. government of seeking monopoly to make vast profits and potentially wage warfare

Thursday, February 21st, 2008



Indonesia’s Health Minister has implicated the U.S. government in an international conspiracy to develop the bird flu virus into a deadly bio-weapon in a new book which is also endorsed by Indonesia's President.

Indonesia has been worst hit by the bird flu virus, with eleven people having died from contracting H5N1 this year.

"Indonesia’s uniquely virulent strain of H5N1 gave the country "bargaining power" according to Indonesia’s Health Minister Dr Siti Fadilah Supari, in her new book called "It’s Time for the World to Change" and strangely subtitled "The Divine Hand Behind Avian Influenza," reports ABC News Australia.

In the book, Supari accuses the U.S. government of seeking a monopoly on controlling the virus for two reasons. Firstly to be able to dominate the vaccine market and make vast profits from providing the cure and secondly to potentially develop the strain into a potent biological weapon.

These concerns led to Indonesia halting the sharing of virus samples with the World Health Organization in late 2006 after Supari accused the Australian government of stealing Indonesia’s strain of H5N1 to make bird flu vaccines.

"I never, I never give permission to send sample to the, send a specimen of the virus to Australia," said Supari.

Supari was also alarmed at the fact that the WHO shared samples with the United States national laboratory in Los Alamos, New Mexico, where nuclear weapons are developed.

"Whether they use is it to make vaccine or develop chemical weapons, would depend on the need and interest of the US Government. It is indeed a very dangerous situation for the destiny of humanity", she writes and goes on to say ".. it is a matter of choice whether to use the material for vaccines or biological weapon development," said Supari.

President Bush has publicly stated his intention to use the military to impose quarantine zones and martial law in the event of a bird flu outbreak in America.

During an October 2005 White House press conference, Bush stated, "If we had an outbreak somewhere in the United States, do we not then quarantine that part of the country, and how do you then enforce a quarantine? When -- it's one thing to shut down airplanes; it's another thing to prevent people from coming in to get exposed to the avian flu. And who best to be able to effect a quarantine? One option is the use of a military that's able to plan and move."

As Fortune Magazine reported in November 2005, the Bird Flu scare has reaped profits primarily for vaccine companies such as Tamiflu, major beneficiaries of which include former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and former Secretary of State George Shultz.

"As the bird-flu issue heated up earlier this year (2005), according to a senior Pentagon official, Rumsfeld considered unloading his entire Gilead stake to avoid any perceived conflict of interest. He sought the advice of the Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the federal Office of Government Ethics. When those agencies didn't offer an opinion, Rumsfeld consulted a private securities lawyer, who advised him to hold on to the stock and be vocal about his earlier recusal from all matters involving Gilead, rather than sell and run the risk of being accused of insider trading. Holding on has paid off—it's made the Pentagon chief, already one of the wealthiest members of the Bush cabinet, at least $1 million richer. In late October, Rumsfeld had the Pentagon's general counsel issue instructions on what he could and could not do in the event of an epidemic," according to the report.