[PEN-L:34187] RE: US biological warfare

["Devine, James" <jdevine@xxxxxxx>]

Title: RE: [PEN-L:34185] US biological warfare

wasn't  the Khmer Rouge accused of using mycotoxins in Cambodia, but that it turned out to be bee pollin?

or is my memory failing me again?

------------------------
Jim Devine jdevine@xxxxxxx &  http://bellarmine.lmu.edu/~jdevine

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Dan Scanlan [mailto:dscanlan@xxxxxxx]
> Sent: Tuesday, January 28, 2003 10:59 AM
> To: Recipient List Suppressed
> Subject: [PEN-L:34185] US biological warfare
>
>
> ===========================================
> P A N U P S
> Pesticide Action Network Updates Service
> ===========================================
> U.S. Moves Towards Biological Warfare in Colombia
>
> January 24, 2003
>
> U.S. legislators are making new threats to use biological weapons in
> Colombia's civil war. In December 2002 a plan resurfaced in the U.S.
> House of Representatives to employ an untested pathogenic fungus,
> Fusarium oxysporum in Colombia's U.S.-funded "War on Drugs." Critics
> say the plan proposes illegal acts of biological warfare, poses major
> ecological risks to one of the world's most bio-diverse countries,
> and will increase the human damage of a failed eradication policy.
> The new fungal agents were dubbed Agent Green by the Sunshine
> Project, a non-governmental organization opposed to the use of
> biological weapons, and were developed by the U.S. Department of
> Agriculture, and by two other facilities using U.S. government
> funding--a private company in Montana, and a former Soviet biological
> weapons facility in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The lead agents are types
> of Fusarium oxysporum (to kill coca and cannabis) and Pleospora
> papaveracea (to kill opium poppy). Their ecological and human health
> safety is very poorly tested, and they are known to impact non-target
> species.
>
> In June 1999, the U.S. Senate approved a US$1.3 billion aid package
> in support of Colombia's "War on Drugs," that required testing of the
> fungal pathogen as another weapon to be employed against illicit
> drugs, along with conventional pesticides. The plan was opposed by
> civil society worldwide, and President Clinton eventually waived this
> requirement, citing concerns for the proliferation of biological
> weapons. Colombia also rejected proposals to test this pathogen due
> to environmental risks.
>
> The coca-killing strain of Fusarium oxysporum is naturally abundant
> in temperate and tropical zones, killing plants by releasing fungal
> toxins (mycotoxins) into plant roots. A generalist fungal pathogen,
> the toxin attacks a variety of plants. Because it persists in soil,
> Fusarium oxysporum would make the soil sprayed in Colombia unfit for
> coca-cultivation for up to 40 years.
>
> Pesticide Action Network scientist Margaret Reeves states "Fusarium
> oxysporum is a huge threat, with potentially enormous negative
> consequences for a variety of plant species. Little is known about
> possible dangers of a massive introduction of these fungi into the
> environment, their potential to attack other plant species or the
> health risks caused by the toxins they produce." The Sunshine Project
> considers Agent Green an indiscriminate killer, that poses threats to
> human health and to non-targeted species. Some Fusarium species are
> also known to cause human disease, especially in individuals with
> compromised immune systems due to cancer, AIDS or even asthma.
>
> Clearly, the large-scale introduction of a persistent and generalist
> toxin, is extremely risky for Colombia. However, Colombia is at a
> disadvantage because it depends heavily upon U.S. aid.
>
> The U.S. plan to spray Fusarium oxysporum would violate the
> Biological Weapons Convention (BWC), which prohibits international
> transfers of bioweapons and equipment. Some of Colombia's neighbors,
> including Ecuador and Peru, have passed national regulations to try
> to preempt U.S. bioweapons pressure like that exerted on Colombia.
>
> If biological warfare in the form of Agent Green is used in Colombia,
> it may legitimize global biological warfare on a larger scale. The
> Sunshine project explains that Afghanistan is also on the U.S. target
> list, as are other countries in South Asia, Southeast Asia and Latin
> America.
>
> Attempts to use Agent Green on illicit cannabis crops within the U.S.
> were quashed by environmental regulators in Florida. The Sunshine
> Project terms the use of this fungal pathogen in Colombia not only
> hypocritical but also colonialist. The use of this generalist and
> highly persistent fungal pathogen would legitimize biological
> warfare, and provide a major threat to the health and environment
> within Colombia.
>
> Sources: The Temptation of Dr. Weed, Missoula Independent, January
> 16, 2003; Press Release, New US Bioweapons Threat on Colombia, The
> Sunshine Project, 17 December 17, 2002,
> http://www.sunshine-project.org/; Biological Weapons Join Pesticides
> in Misguided "War on Drugs," PANUPS, Aug 1, 2000, PANNA Web site.
>
> Contact: PANNA
>
> PANUPS is a weekly email news service providing resource guides and
> reporting on pesticide issues that don't always get coverage by the
> mainstream media. It's produced by Pesticide Action Network North
> America, a non-profit and non-governmental organization working to
> advance sustainable alternatives to pesticides worldwide.
> --
>
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