 |
 |
 |
|
|
Government Uncovered Access to information is vital to Judicial Watch's campaign to eliminate corruption from our government and our legal systems. One of the most important tools to acquire information, especially when those in power do not want to relinquish it, is the Freedom of Information Act. Following is an analysis of recent documents obtained by Judicial Watch through the Freedom of Information Act, along with how they relate to JW's terrorism related investigations. Background: In the wake of September 11, the American people began to seriously question how the government of the United States could fail to protect American citizens from terrorist threats. Judicial Watch launched an exhaustive investigation which resulted in the publication of its book, Fatal Neglect: The U.S. Government's Continuing Failure to Protect American Citizens from Terrorists. In one section of this book, Judicial Watch illustrated how the United States itself could inadvertently provide the tools for bioterrorism. Judicial Watch learned that a vast stockpile of the most virulent viruses, bacteria and toxins could be purchased by almost anyone from the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC), located in Manassas, Virginia. Judicial Watch also warned that the equipment necessary to create bioweapon materials was also widely available. A recent document obtained by Judicial Watch provides further evidence of this charge. Key Excerpts: General Accounting Office (GAO) Report to Congress, Department of Defense (DOD) Excess Property, November 2003: "Many items needed to establish a laboratory for making biological warfare agents were being sold on the Internet to the public from the Department of Defense's excess property inventory for pennies on the dollar." "Public sales of these Department of Defense excess items increase the risk that terrorists could obtain and use them to produce and deliver biological agents within the United States." "GAO's investigation of several buyers of the biological equipment items found that they exported them to countries, such as the Philippines, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates, for transplanting to other countries." Relevance: This document, which is only available through a FOIA request, shows how the United States government contributed to the threat of bioterrorism by permitting the sale of the equipment used to turn bioagents into bioweapons that could be used against the United States. According to the GAO, "Neither federal regulations issued by other agencies nor DOD policies generally restrict DOD from selling the case study biological equipment items to the general public." In other words, the U.S. government is prosecuting a war on terrorists while possibly arming them at the same time. Judicial Watch will continue to expose the mindlessness by government bureaucrats which threatens the safety of all Americans.
info@judicialwatch.org • 1-888-JW-ETHIC
Site hosting and technology by Cory Consulting, Inc. © 1997-2004, Judicial Watch, Inc., All rights reserved. |
