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CIA barred from using vaccinations as cover after dozens ofdoctors 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 ofits espionage ef f orts, f ollowing the lethal response to the strategy it employed bef ore raiding Osama binLaden’s compound in 2011.

The promise was made in a letter to the deans of 12 public health schools – who have crit icized the Obamaadministration f or using a vaccination ef f ort as a cover f or reconnaissance – and was written by thepresident’s top counterterrorism and homeland security advisor, Lisa Monaco.

In the wake of the CIA’s attempt to conf irm bin Laden’s presence in Abbottabad through a f ake hepatit is Bimmunization campaign, many residents and local governments in Pakistan as well as Af ghanistan haveref used to take part in medical vaccination ef f orts out of f ear of participating in a Western plot. With polionow making a comeback around the world and health workers being killed or tortured by the Taliban, theconsequences have been deadly.

“I wanted to inform you that the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) directed in August 2013 thatthe agency make no operational use of vaccination programs, which includes vaccination workers,” Monacowrote 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 suchprograms,” 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 publichealth 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 theAl-Qaeda leaders’ f amily was in the Abbottabad compound by orchestrating a hepatit is B vaccinationcampaign in the area. When DNA matches were f ound between some of the f amily’s children and binLaden’s sister, who died previously in Boston, the US rationalized that bin Laden’s location had beenidentif ied.

In the af termath of these revelations, many f amilies decided not to participate in any more immunizationdrives, leaving numerous individuals and children at risk of disease. Although some groups, such as theTaliban, were outspoken opponents of vaccination even bef ore the bin Laden raid, their claims that thehealth campaigns were secretly a cover f or espionage or part of a Western conspiracy to sterilize Muslimchildren gained traction.

Policemen stand guard near the partially demolished compound where al Qaeda leader Osama bin Ladenwas killed by U.S. special f orces last May, in Abbottabad February 26, 2012. Pakistani f orces begandemolishing the house where Bin Laden was killed by U.S. special f orces last May, in an unexplained movecarried out in the dark of night. (Reuters / Faisal Mahmood)

In addition to ref using to get vaccinated, however, a deadly campaign against health practit ioners inPakistan was also init iated. As noted by Yahoo News, 56 immunization workers have been killed sinceDecember 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 oundcases of the disease on the rise in multiple countries, Pakistan topped the list. There have been 77 casesof polio documented so f ar in 2014, and 61 were in Pakistan. For comparison, worldwide cases of poliowere down to 187 in 2012, and were as high as 350,000 in 1988.

According to the Associated Press, Pakistan’s Health Ministry imposed strict travel restrictions as aresponse. Anyone leaving the country now must f irst receive the polio vaccination if they have not alreadydone so.

Monaco’s letter comes about a year af ter a dozen public health schools wrote to the White Houseexpressing their concern over the plight of immunization workers and those who wouldn’t be receiving

medical assistance as a result of the CIA’s operation. According to Yahoo, the authors of the letter statedthat, “as a general principle,” health campaigns shouldn’t be used f or espionage.

“While political and security agendas may by necessity induce collateral damage, we as an open society setboundaries on these damages,” they stated, “and we believe this sham vaccination campaign exceeded thoseboundaries.”

Osama bin Laden.(Reuters / Pentagon)

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