Quote:
Originally posted by texas*princess
 I don't know what this is all about. I was watching the nightly news and they had reports from some Iraqi scientists about tests they have conducted with biological weapons.
This really scares me 
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Iraq has used biological weapons against the Kurds in the north of Iraq before, as well as against Iran in the 1980's, however "based on a US Senate Committee on Export Administration report of 1994, we know that between 1984 (at the latest) and 1989, private American suppliers were exporting all kinds of chemical components to Iraq, after obtaining licensing by the US Department of Commerce. According to the report, "These biological materials were not attenuated or weakened and were capable of reproduction." They included:
Bacillus anthracis - Causes anthrax
Clostridium botulinum - Source of botulinum toxin
Histoplasma capsulatam - Causes a disease that attacks lungs, heart, brain, and spinal cord
Brucella melitensis - Bacteria that can do major damage to organs
Clostridium perfringens - Highly toxic bacteria that causes systemic illness
Clostridium tetani - Also highly toxigenic
E.coli, genetic materials, human and bacterial DNA, precursors to chemical-warfare agents, plans for chemical and biological warfare production facilities and chemical-warhead filling equipment were also exported (all according to this report).
The report mentions: "It was later learned that these micro-organisms exported by the United States were identical to those the United Nations inspectors found and removed from the Iraqi biological warfare program"(During the first rounds of inspections in the 90's) (Blum, Rogue State, p. 121-123). "
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