rt .com http://rt.

com/usa/160228-cia-vaccination-cover-clandestine-operations/
CIA barred from using vaccinations as cover after dozens of
doctors killed
Published time: May 20, 2014 16:01
Reuters / Khaled Abdullah
The White House has announced that the CIA will never again set up a f ake vaccination program as part of
its espionage ef f orts, f ollowing the lethal response to the strategy it employed bef ore raiding Osama bin
Ladens compound in 2011.
The promise was made in a letter to the deans of 12 public health schools who have criticized the Obama
administration f or using a vaccination ef f ort as a cover f or reconnaissance and was written by the
presidents top counterterrorism and homeland security advisor, Lisa Monaco.
In the wake of the CIAs attempt to conf irm bin Ladens presence in Abbottabad through a f ake hepatitis B
immunization campaign, many residents and local governments in Pakistan as well as Af ghanistan have
ref used to take part in medical vaccination ef f orts out of f ear of participating in a Western plot. With polio
now making a comeback around the world and health workers being killed or tortured by the Taliban, the
consequences have been deadly.
I wanted to inform you that the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) directed in August 2013 that
the agency make no operational use of vaccination programs, which includes vaccination workers, Monaco
wrote to the deans, according to the letter obtained by Yahoo News.
Similarly, the Agency will not seek to obtain or exploit DNA or other genetic material acquired through such
programs, she added. This CIA policy applies worldwide and to U.S. and non-U.S. persons alike.
According to CIA spokesman Todd Ebitz, agency director John Brennan made the decision over public
health concerns.
Bef ore the raid that ended with the death of bin Laden, US of f icials were able to conf irm that some of the
Al-Qaeda leaders f amily was in the Abbottabad compound by orchestrating a hepatitis B vaccination
campaign in the area. When DNA matches were f ound between some of the f amilys children and bin
Ladens sister, who died previously in Boston, the US rationalized that bin Ladens location had been
identif ied.
In the af termath of these revelations, many f amilies decided not to participate in any more immunization
drives, leaving numerous individuals and children at risk of disease. Although some groups, such as the
Taliban, were outspoken opponents of vaccination even bef ore the bin Laden raid, their claims that the
health campaigns were secretly a cover f or espionage or part of a Western conspiracy to sterilize Muslim
children gained traction.
Policemen stand guard near the partially demolished compound where al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden
was killed by U.S. special f orces last May, in Abbottabad February 26, 2012. Pakistani f orces began
demolishing the house where Bin Laden was killed by U.S. special f orces last May, in an unexplained move
carried out in the dark of night. (Reuters / Faisal Mahmood)
In addition to ref using to get vaccinated, however, a deadly campaign against health practitioners in
Pakistan was also initiated. As noted by Yahoo News, 56 immunization workers have been killed since
December 2012, with others targets f or torture and intimidation. In one instance reported by the Guardian,
a f emale health worker was kidnapped f rom her home and f ound dead in a f ield the next day.
As a result, polio is on the rise in the country. Although a recent World Health Organization report f ound
cases of the disease on the rise in multiple countries, Pakistan topped the list. There have been 77 cases
of polio documented so f ar in 2014, and 61 were in Pakistan. For comparison, worldwide cases of polio
were down to 187 in 2012, and were as high as 350,000 in 1988.
According to the Associated Press, Pakistans Health Ministry imposed strict travel restrictions as a
response. Anyone leaving the country now must f irst receive the polio vaccination if they have not already
done so.
Monacos letter comes about a year af ter a dozen public health schools wrote to the White House
expressing their concern over the plight of immunization workers and those who wouldnt be receiving
medical assistance as a result of the CIAs operation. According to Yahoo, the authors of the letter stated
that, as a general principle, health campaigns shouldnt be used f or espionage.
While political and security agendas may by necessity induce collateral damage, we as an open society set
boundaries on these damages, they stated, and we believe this sham vaccination campaign exceeded those
boundaries.
Osama bin Laden.(Reuters / Pentagon)
Autonomous Nonprof it Organization TV-Novosti, 20052014. All rights reserved.