Thread by @BillyBostickson

@pathogenetics @Ayjchan @TheLancet @emilyakopp "in 1975 Charles Calisher, on a visit to Cuba took an interest in & obtained information on, the existence of antibodies to dengue in the Cuban population & the non-existence in the population, in at least 45 years, of antibodies for type 2 dengue virus"
cuba.cu/gobierno/docum…

@pathogenetics @Ayjchan @TheLancet @emilyakopp Biological Warfare Allegations

Dengue 2

cuba.cu/gobierno/docum…

@pathogenetics @Ayjchan @TheLancet @emilyakopp African Swine Fever 1971 Cuba

Dengue Fever 1981 Cuba

cuba.cu/gobierno/docum…

Archived: archive.ph/2KRs1

@pathogenetics @Ayjchan @TheLancet @emilyakopp THIRD MEETING OF THE SCIENTIFIC ADVISORY
COMMITTEE ON DENGUE (1974)

iris.paho.org/bitstream/hand…

@pathogenetics @Ayjchan @TheLancet @emilyakopp Allegations detailed here by Bill Schaap

BioTerror: Manufacturing Wars the American Way

49 pages

europerenaissance.files.wordpress.com/2021/02/raybio…

@pathogenetics @Ayjchan @TheLancet @emilyakopp Search Term "Callisher" here:

"As documented in Seymour Hersh’s “Chemical & Biological Warfare: America's Hidden Arsenal,” the U.S. has been experimenting with dengue lever since at least 1959, primarily at Fort Detrick & Walter Reed Army Institute"

archive.org/stream/CovertA…

@pathogenetics @Ayjchan @TheLancet @emilyakopp Callisher tried to defend himself from the accusations
many years later in 2009

"SCIENTIST IN A STRANGE LAND"

sci-hub.ee/10.1080/107367…

@pathogenetics @Ayjchan @TheLancet @emilyakopp However, Schaap concluded:

"“There appears to be no other explanation but the artificial introduction of infected mosquitos.”

See the Cuba Dengue Section in

Six-Legged Soldiers:

Using Insects as Weapons of War

silo.pub/six-legged-sol…

@pathogenetics @Ayjchan @TheLancet @emilyakopp This was "news" back in 1982

blackopradio.com/Reference_Four…

The Full 1982 issue of Covert Action Information Bulletin Issue 17 is available here:

archive.org/details/Covert…

@pathogenetics @Ayjchan @TheLancet @emilyakopp Timeline of alleged Biological war waged by the US against Cuba

web.archive.org/web/2007021909…

@pathogenetics @Ayjchan @TheLancet @emilyakopp The allegations were attacked by Zilinskas in 1999

Cuban Allegations of Biological Warfare by the
US: Assessing the Evidence

Raymond A. Zilinskas (Died in 2018) directed the Chemical & Biological Arms Non- proliferation Program at Middlebury Institute

sci-hub.ee/10.1080/104084…

@pathogenetics @Ayjchan @TheLancet @emilyakopp Zilinskas, an interesting character who disputed the CIA and Colin Powell's Iraq claims.

He also advised on the series "The Americans"

middlebury.edu/institute/comm…

@pathogenetics @Ayjchan @TheLancet @emilyakopp Well, of course the US Government would wish to deny any such allegations and would use academics to do so, but it must be said that the US like the Soviets, had "form":

Chemical and Biological Weapons: Possession and Programs Past and Present

nonproliferation.org/wp-content/upl…

@pathogenetics @Ayjchan @TheLancet @emilyakopp To continue, Ray Zilinskas (RIP) was one of the greatest experts in his field (biowarfare) and the full extent of his involvement with the US defence establishment can only be guessed at

middleburymagazine.com/features/what-…

@pathogenetics @Ayjchan @TheLancet @emilyakopp A good place to review his work is here:

researchgate.net/scientific-con…

@pathogenetics @Ayjchan @TheLancet @emilyakopp His major work was analysing the Soviet Bioweapons Program:

The Soviet Biological Weapons Program : a History

(Leitenberg & Zilinskas, 2012)

An interesting discussion on errors, here:

Why USIntelligence Underestimated the Soviet Bioweapons Program

stacks.stanford.edu/file/druid:wk2…

@pathogenetics @Ayjchan @TheLancet @emilyakopp However, that analysis failed to take into account US Intelligence (FBI) anti-soviet disinformation campaigns on chemical weapons "Operation Shocker", revealed by Cassidy, and bioweapons disinformation via double-agent Dmitri Polyakov

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation…

@pathogenetics @Ayjchan @TheLancet @emilyakopp More detail of the 25 year FBI anti-soviet chemical warfare disinformation project can be found in:

Cassidy's Run: The Secret Spy War Over Nerve Gas.

book4you.org/book/18812863/…

Also a video interview here:

c-span.org/video/?156370-…

and transcript

booknotes.org/FullPage.aspx?…

@pathogenetics @Ayjchan @TheLancet @emilyakopp of more interest to #DRASTIC is the bioweapon angle

US military intelligence chiefs & the FBI wanted to repeat their success, this time with a deception program on biological weapons.

"Polyakov’s run" was a direct sequel to Cassidy’s run on nerve gas:

journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.29…

@pathogenetics @Ayjchan @TheLancet @emilyakopp Polyakov was arrested by the KGB in 1986, six years after his retirement from the GRU. Later, it became clear that he was betrayed by both Robert Hanssen and Aldrich Ames. In 1988, Polyakov was sentenced to death for treason, and subsequently executed.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dmitri_Po…

@pathogenetics @Ayjchan @TheLancet @emilyakopp Even in 2020, Researchers "seemed" unaware of the US anti-soviet bioweapons disinformation project. involving Polyakov.

see Chapter 4, Pages 123 - 170, specifically Pages 145-146 here:

PLAYING THE GENERALS’ GAME:

repository.library.georgetown.edu/bitstream/hand…

@pathogenetics @Ayjchan @TheLancet @emilyakopp More on Polyakov's exploits on Pages 113-119 here:

Spycraft (Section: "A Dissident at Heart")

citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/downlo…

@pathogenetics @Ayjchan @TheLancet @emilyakopp Tangential but of curiosity value:

Was "Top Hat", Lieut. Gen. Dmitri Polyakov a double agent?

Upheaval in the East: Espionage; Cold-War Riddle: A Most Unusual Spy

archive.ph/jLf6O

and

The Spy Who Kept the Cold War From Boiling Over

history.com/news/cold-war-…

@pathogenetics @Ayjchan @TheLancet @emilyakopp Whether or not Polyakov was a double or triple agent, 2 things are clear:

1. The US ran a 25 year disinformation campaign to convince the Soviets that it was developing chemical & biological weapons in contravention of the BWC Treaty.

2. This backfired

cpp.edu/~zywang/tucker…

@pathogenetics @Ayjchan @TheLancet @emilyakopp Double Bluff?

More disturbingly in light of the above disinformation campaign, it is also clear that the US continued, and continues, to contravene the spirit of the BCW Treaty, by engaging in chemical and biological weapons research!

Despite claims to the contrary...

@pathogenetics @Ayjchan @TheLancet @emilyakopp Let's start with 9/11

"Just a week before the September 11 terrorist attacks, American news media reported that the U.S. government had conducted clandestine research on biowarfare preparedness"

Undermining International Bioweapons Controls

prospect.org/article/underm…

@pathogenetics @Ayjchan @TheLancet @emilyakopp Here we are doing activities that, if we found out they were being done in Iraq or Iran or North Korea, we would probably immediately bomb the hell out of them."

"It makes it look like we're trying to get away with something,

@pathogenetics @Ayjchan @TheLancet @emilyakopp A betrayal of humanity by Mr. Bush

"The Bush administration wiped out years of work on the BWC protocol by being the only signatory nation to reject the draft, on the grounds that surprise inspections could threaten national security or reveal drug companies' commercial secrets"

@pathogenetics @Ayjchan @TheLancet @emilyakopp Of course, the US continues to claim its innocence, while running disinformation programs and secret projects. The US attempts to consign its deeply disturbing BW research to the autoclave of history.

Summary:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_St…

Details:

nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB5…

@pathogenetics @Ayjchan @TheLancet @emilyakopp More historical documents can be found here:

Volume 3: Biowar

nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB5…

But, even the Federation of American Scientists have admitted that the U.S. work on non-lethal agents exceeds limitations in the BWC

programs.fas.org/bio/bwintro.ht…

@pathogenetics @Ayjchan @TheLancet @emilyakopp Not only that issue, but also:

Research programs at The National Biodefense Analysis & Countermeasures Center (NBACC) run by Battelle have generated controversy. Specifically, complaints that it possibly violateS tenets of the Biological & Toxin Weapons Convention (BWC)

@pathogenetics @Ayjchan @TheLancet @emilyakopp More details on this issue with links to articles:

biosecurity.fas.org/resource/nbacc…

@pathogenetics @Ayjchan @TheLancet @emilyakopp The problems listed:

1. Biodefense cost & consequence
jci.org/articles/view/…

2. The Secretive Fight Against Bioterror
washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content…

3. Biodefense research may violate the BWC
pubsapp.acs.org/cen/government…

4. Proposed U.S. Biological Research
web.archive.org/web/2010041111…

@pathogenetics @Ayjchan @TheLancet @emilyakopp To conclude so far, the US has:

1 Deliberately misinformed nations for 30 years of its Chemical & Biological warfare programs

2 Violated both the spirit & letter of the BWC

3 Continued to develop both CW & BW agents

No wonder Bush tore up the BWC Draft Protocol & spat on it

@pathogenetics @Ayjchan @TheLancet @emilyakopp Non-Lethal?

"in 2005 the US CDC, the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology & Mount Sinai School of Medicine synthesized the Spanish influenza virus responsible for the deaths of 50-100 million people"

Chemical and Biochemical Non-lethal Weapons

sipri.org/sites/default/…

@pathogenetics @Ayjchan @TheLancet @emilyakopp "This is without any question what one would do to develop an offensive biological weapons capability:

Develop new pathogens, new ways of packaging & disseminating them, harden them to environmental degradation & be prepared to go offensive at the drop of a hat if we so desire"

@pathogenetics @Ayjchan @TheLancet @emilyakopp US Excuses:

"All the programs we do are defensive in nature"

"How can tell people: 'I can't do this important research because some arms-control advocate told me I can't'?"

"We have our own processes to scrutinize our research & it includes compliance to the BWC guidelines"

@pathogenetics @Ayjchan @TheLancet @emilyakopp Effectively, what the US is saying is:

"We can do whatever we want, but you can't. We want to see your biodefense program, but you can't see ours"

@pathogenetics @Ayjchan @TheLancet @emilyakopp If you are curious, take time to read this report by Milton Leitenberg, which details the many ways in which the US, especially the CIA, has violated the BWC over the past decades up to now:

Biological Weapons & “Bioterrorism” in the 21st Century

carnegieendowment.org/pdf/npp/Bioter…

@pathogenetics @Ayjchan @TheLancet @emilyakopp Further analysis of US DoD BW Programs

Gene wars:

Military control over the new genetic technologies

archive.org/details/genewa…

@pathogenetics @Ayjchan @TheLancet @emilyakopp Cover stories for offensive BW work masquerading as a defensive program?

The authors analysed the 4 stated defensive goals of the 86 DoD studies & listed the:

“logical applications of the DOD’s studies to an offensive program that might lurk beneath these defensive goals"

@pathogenetics @Ayjchan @TheLancet @emilyakopp Meanwhile the US accuses other countries of pursuing BW programs (which may well be true)

Egypt, India, Russia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Libya, North Korea, Pakistan, Syria, Taiwan and China

cip.management.dal.ca/publications/R…

@pathogenetics @Ayjchan @TheLancet @emilyakopp The Problem

As long as the US pursues classified projects, other members of the BWC have no way of knowing that these activities are treaty-compliant

Was this why China started its State Projects to collect and enhance pathogens, which may have led to the tragedy of SARS-COV-2?

@pathogenetics @Ayjchan @TheLancet @emilyakopp "Suspicions linger after revelations of evil doing"

Alleged Assassination Plots - Foreign Leaders

US Senate Report (1975)

intelligence.senate.gov/sites/default/…

Result?

Did Assassins Give Hugo Chavez Cancer?

Conspiracies Fly As Groups Request CIA Docs (2013)

web.archive.org/web/2013031004…

@pathogenetics @Ayjchan @TheLancet @emilyakopp Fast Forward to the 21st Century

Next Generation Bioweapons: Genetic Engineering & BW - Ainscough (USAF)

media.defense.gov/2019/Apr/11/20…

Biotechnology: Genetically Engineered Pathogens
- Lt Col Almosara (USAF, 2010)

media.defense.gov/2019/Apr/11/20…

Ralph Baric (2006)

https://twitter.com/BillyBostickson/status/1345813083172663297

@pathogenetics @Ayjchan @TheLancet @emilyakopp Back to Ray Zilinskas who was concerned about the "Legacy of the Soviet Biological Warfare Program in Russia Today" and Putin's perceived ambitions.

Pages 44-47 (Come on, just 3 pages to read)

bwc1972.org/wp-content/upl…

@pathogenetics @Ayjchan @TheLancet @emilyakopp OK, the important bits

1. We can't know whether new biological techniques developed since the Soviet BW program supposedly closed in 1993, have been applied by scientists working in the 3 top-secret MOD biological institutes to create new weaponized strains of bacteria & viruses

@pathogenetics @Ayjchan @TheLancet @emilyakopp 2. Serdyukov promised to implement Task 4—to create weapons systems that "use different physical principles"

Although that more likely refers to hypersonic weapons, etc, it could also refer to genetic weapons (according to Zilinskas)

@pathogenetics @Ayjchan @TheLancet @emilyakopp 3. There is great cause for concern that well-resourced secret Russian institutes with access to modern microbiology techniques will provide the basis for the Putin administration to establish a third-generation BW program—for two specific reasons.

@pathogenetics @Ayjchan @TheLancet @emilyakopp 4. Second, recipes generated by the second-generation BW program that specify how to develop, test, and produce biological weapons are deposited in government archives & could be adapted to develop payloads consisting of third-generation weaponized pathogens.

@pathogenetics @Ayjchan @TheLancet @emilyakopp 5. Zilinskas's Hilarious Punchline

"it is imperative that the US and other BWC state parties try to impress upon the Putin government the need to practice transparency by opening its closed bioweapons institutes to outside access"

Talk about the Pot Calling the Kettle Black!

@pathogenetics @Ayjchan @TheLancet @emilyakopp All is Possible in the worst of all possible worlds...

Whether that world is Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, China, USA or anywhere else where scientists continue to engage in disturbing dual use research.

STORIES OF THE SOVIET ANTI-PLAGUE SYSTEM

files.ethz.ch/isn/169445/130…

@pathogenetics @Ayjchan @TheLancet @emilyakopp In this world of mutual paranoia & distrust, allegations & counter claims are hurled around like cutlery during a divorce

False allegations of bioweapons from Putin’s Russia (Leitenberg)

tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.10…

Cuban Biological Weapons Fact or Fiction?

govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CH…

@pathogenetics @Ayjchan @TheLancet @emilyakopp Now we are faced with the Ukrainian & Georgian bioweapon labs claims...Are you surprised?

https://twitter.com/BillyBostickson/status/1502225036832559113

@pathogenetics @Ayjchan @TheLancet @emilyakopp Meanwhile behind the curtains "work" continues..

"TO THE PROBLEM OF NEW BIOPATHOGEN TYPES"

Authors: Konovalov, Arsentiev, Buyanov, Denisov

permmedjournal.ru/PMJ/article/vi…

A truly chilling "Abstract"

I will translate the PDF and post soon.

@pathogenetics @Ayjchan @TheLancet @emilyakopp DIY

Download PDF from here:

permmedjournal.ru/PMJ/article/vi…

Upload to here:

translate.yandex.com/doc

@pathogenetics @Ayjchan @TheLancet @emilyakopp A good conclusion to this thread can be found here:

A BWC treaty with snarling teeth!

https://twitter.com/BillyBostickson/status/1507805266372591616

@pathogenetics @Ayjchan @TheLancet @emilyakopp All my previous research into Biowarfare & Bioterror are in these threads:

Biotech or Biohazard?

https://twitter.com/BillyBostickson/status/1277936679379058689

Plague-infected Fleas

https://twitter.com/BillyBostickson/status/1293640827135094784

Fort Detrick

https://twitter.com/BillyBostickson/status/1259960426248302592

BioTerrror

https://twitter.com/BillyBostickson/status/1266088767686758400

Anthrax & Plague

https://twitter.com/BillyBostickson/status/1307191093432184835

@pathogenetics @Ayjchan @TheLancet @emilyakopp unroll a long thread on Disinformation Projects, Biowarfare Research and allegations related to Cuba, the Soviet Union, the USA and Russia @threadreaderapp