John O. Edwards
Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2002

NewsMax.com has obtained a copy of a 1995 letter sent by Dr. David Satcher, then Bill Clinton’s director of the the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to Sen. Donald Riegle. (View the actual letter.)

Satcher, who would later become surgeon general, identified in his letter to Riegle the West Nile virus as one of almost two dozen forms of viruses, retroviruses, bacteria and fungi provided by the U.S. to Iraqi labs during the 1980s.

The sensational revelations add more weight to allegations in NewsMax’s best-selling new book, "Catastrophe: Clinton’s Role in America’s Worst Disaster,” which claims West Nile was a form of bioterrorism aimed at the U.S.

Earlier this month, NewsMax reported that Sen. Patrick Leahy described reports that West Nile was an act of bioterror against the U.S. as "credible.” Leahy also suggested that the purpose of the attack was to test our defenses against a biological attack.

Now, BusinessWeek reports this week that Leahy is not alone, noting that "some congressional leaders are asking whether the mosquito-borne illness could be linked to terrorism or to Iraq's bioweapons program.”

As "Catastrophe” first outlined, there is compelling evidence, including a series of unusual coincidences, that adds credence to worries West Nile was used as a biological weapon.

For example, "Catastrophe" reveals that first outbreak of West Nile took place near the U.N. during the late 1990s, at the same time the organization was vigorously seeking to enforce sanctions against the Iraqi regime.

"Catastrophe" also quotes a top Iraqi defector who reported in 1997 – before the first outbreak of West Nile here – that Saddam Hussein had bragged that he would unleash the West Nile virus against the U.S.

In his 1995 letter, Dr. Satcher informed Sen. Riegle that the CDC gave Iraq biological agents, including the plague, West Nile and dengue fever.

Obeying the U.N.

The CDC told BusinessWeek the transfer was not unusual and was in accordance with "World Health Organization guidelines that encouraged the free exchange of biological samples among medical researchers.”

The magazine also reported that the West Nile strain "is not the same strain provided to Iraq.”

But the Iraqi defector who first warned of the virus said Saddam told him he developed an unusual strain of the virus. Other experts have confirmed that Saddam has the ability to mutate viruses and other biological agents.

Also, after the first outbreak of the virus in New York City, then-Surgeon General David Satcher admitted that this particular strain of West Nile was unusual, and had appeared at the same time in only two other countries: Israel and Saudi Arabia.

The U.S., Israel and Saudi Arabia had also been strongly pressing for strong U.N. sanctions against Iraq.

View Dr. Satcher's letter.)

Editor's Note: Find out more about NewsMax's best-selling "Catastrophe: Clinton's Role in America's Worst Disaster"

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