FT. DETROICK, MD
Protest demands independent look at anthrax threat
Special to Workers World
Frederick, Md.
On the morning of July 11, protesters gathered in front of
the Fort Detrick military base in Frederick, Md., to demand an
end to U.S. germ warfare programs and call for a people's
investigation into the anthrax deaths of postal workers.
The All-Peoples Congress, Inter na tional Action Center and
the Frederick Peace Resource Center mobilized supporters for
the demonstration.
Their action followed a series of articles in the Baltimore
Sun papers and an op-ed by Nicholas Kristof in the New York
Times that discussed a possible suspect in the anthrax deaths
of postal workers and others. Kristof called him "Mr. Z," but
the Baltimore Sun papers identified him as Steven Hatfield.
According to news sources, Hatfield had served with the
"Selous Scouts" of the former Rhodesian Army (in the country
now known as Zimbabwe) under Ian Smith's white supremacist
regime. He also claims involvement in the former South African
Defense Force under apartheid rule.
The worst outbreak of anthrax in history occurred in
Rhodesia from 1978 to 1980 during the period when the
liberation movement was winning the war against white minority
rule. The disease raged in the African-owned Tribal Trust
Lands. Some 10,000 Black farmers were sickened and 182 died,
but the white elite of Rhodesia and their cattle were
untouched.
Hatfield is also a former scientist employed by the U.S.
Army's Fort Detrick germ warfare laboratories.
'Call for independent investigation'
Sharon Ceci, a spokesperson for the Maryland-based
All-Peoples Congress, pointed out to local Frederick media and
the Associated Press, "These revelations alone are enough to
call for an independent people's investigation of U.S. germ
warfare. Hatfield has an obvious history of involvement with
far right-wing racist causes and yet he was employed to work
with a germ warfare program.
"The FBI is also conducting a cover-up," she charged.
Barbara Hatch Rosenberg is a biological arms control expert
at the State University of New York and the chair of the
biological and chemical weapons program of the Federation of
American Scientists. Rosenberg believes the FBI knows who sent
out the anthrax letters, according to press releases issued by
the Woodrow Wilson School of Public Affairs.
Rosenberg has said that the FBI's refusal to make any
arrests has to do with U.S. involvement in secret germ warfare
research that the Bush administration wants to keep under
wraps.
Ceci asserted, "This secret research and its use is in
violation of international treaties. This is just one reason
why the Bush administration and the FBI are afraid to pursue
this case openly.
"Who has benefited from the anthrax deaths and the fear
surrounding them? The U.S. bio-terrorism program has had its
funding doubled since Sept. 11," she continued.
"The Bush administration and the Pentagon have used these
deaths to continue war threats against Iraq. Their first
assertion was that the anthrax attacks came from Iraq. Now most
sources, including the FBI itself, admit that the origins were
domestic.
"These revelations show that the germ and chemical warfare
program at Fort Detrick and at other laboratories is not only a
threat to the people around the world, it is also a threat to
people right here at home. Our group demands a halt to all germ
and chemical warfare programs," stated Ceci.
Lillian Herz, former director of the Peace Resource Center
of Frederick, said, "We question the placement of this germ
warfare laboratory in our densely populated community. This
facility has the capacity to create weapons of mass destruction
that threaten both the world and the people of Frederick."
Postal workers under stress
The Peace Resource Center group is planning to attend
Frederick City Council meetings to raise these issues with
council members.
Renee Washington, another participant at the action who is a
state worker and member of the public employee union AFSCME,
said, "Workers everywhere are at possible risk. The postal
workers and others who have been the victims of the anthrax
attacks deserve justice. The FBI is no more interested in
pursuing the truth than they were in bringing to justice those
that murdered the four little girls in the Birmingham church
bombing. We believe only an independent people's investigation
can bring justice."
Organizers of the protest distributed hundreds of flyers to
postal workers in Baltimore City and Frederick and reported
that workers who eagerly took flyers agreed with the
message.
Kenneth Lerch, president of National Letter Carriers Branch
3825, said, "Postal workers at my facility are under extreme
stress. We have filed countless grievances about how management
has failed to protect workers' safety. You can see the
disparity in how we have been treated as workers compared to
those on Capitol Hill. I agree that an independent
investigation must be launched."
Reprinted from the July 25, 2002, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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