- As officials repeatedly have lied about
the relationship of squalene to gulf-war illness, Insight has pursued the
truth, uncovering HIV tests for an AIDS vaccine using the adjuvant.
-
- The mystery of why antibodies to a polymer
compound called squalene show up in sick Persian Gulf War veterans has
taken yet another strange twist. The Pentagon -- though continuing to deny
it used such an experimental medicine during the war -- now admits to using
it in human experimental programs involving an anti-HIV vaccination. .
. . . Dale Vesser, a retired Army general, was the first Pentagon spokesman
to admit in response to Insight articles that the Department of Defense
had squalene and used it in recent experimental medical tests on about
50 soldiers to test an antimalaria vaccination. At the time, mid-August,
Vesser claimed that was the only Pentagon usage of squalene. . . . . Because
such adjuvants can result in serious unintended consequences for the immune
system, it takes years of laboratory testing and reviews before they can
be moved into stages of experimental human testing. . . . . The revelation
by the Pentagon that it is conducting human experiments with squalene involving
an anti-HIV vaccination program -- but only on civilians, it says -- comes
months after Insight first reported the strange discovery of squalene antibodies
in the blood of sick gulf-war vets The only possible medical cause for
squalene antibodies being in the bloodstream, according to scientists in
and out of government who commented for Insight, is inoculation or immunization.
. . . . The human body contains minute amounts of squalene, a substance
thought to be involved in the production of cholesterol and in "oils"
that keep skin soft. As with virtually all naturally occurring substances
in the human body, it is theoretically possible for the body to create
antibodies that attack even internally produced substances. However, there
are no such cases in conventional medical texts, according to immunologists.
. . . . That's why the discovery of squalene antibodies in preliminary
tests on sick gulf vets -- tests that are nearing completion and scheduled
for publication -- is so unusual and potentially ominous. That's why Insight
began asking the Pentagon and other government agencies if they gave any
squalene-based medicine to soldiers during the gulf war. What inspired
the original Insight expose was the strange coincidence of sick soldiers
who received inoculations and immunization shots and were deployed overseas
as well as sick soldiers called up for duty who were given the shots but
never left the U.S. . . . . When the Pentagon and Veterans Affairs denied
using or even having squalene, the mystery of that preliminary discovery
of those antibodies took on the feel of a good detective story. How could
something show up in the blood of sick soldiers -- and even contractors
who received shots -- when the government said it never administered such
a drug? The search for reasons was delayed for many weeks by government
denials even as more sophisticated tests began to confirm preliminary results.
. . . . Insight at first was told squalene was not in the government's
arsenal of drugs -- then discovered it had been used in experimental medical
trials at the National Institutes of Health involving cutting-edge herpes
vaccines. Suddenly the story line was that, yes, it's used there -- but
nowhere else. Insight discovered that it was used at the Army's Walter
Reed Medical Research Center -- then the story line was that, yes, it's
used there -- but only recently and only for an experimental malaria-vaccination
program. When Insight discovered it has been used at Walter Reed for HIV
research, the cover story moved to yes -- but only in laboratory work involving
animals. . . . . Insight next discovered that Walter Reed actually manufactures
a pharmaceutical-grade version of squalene. Now the magazine has been told
that is done for private firms working with the government to develop experimental
programs involving vaccinations for herpes, malaria -- and, separately,
for HIV research projects involving possible new AIDS drugs. . . . . Finally
we learn that the Pentagon -- by and through Walter Reed, among others
-- has been engaged in human testing programs involving an anti-HIV vaccine
using squalene as the adjuvant in concert with private firms through a
cooperative program funded by the Pentagon. In fact, according to high-level
military and intelligence sources, the Pentagon has been working for years
to find an anti-HIV vaccine, employed military doctors to work in such
programs and is working with other countries, including Thailand, on clinical
anti-HIV trials not authorized in the U.S. for humans. . . . . Many of
those same military doctors working in the anti-HIV vaccine programs have
jumped ship to work for private foundations and companies that perform
contract work for and on behalf of the Pentagon at U.S. military facilities
following congressional cuts in military appropriations for direct AIDS
research. . . . . As the search continues for the reason antibodies to
squalene (natural or man-made) are showing up in sick gulf-war vets, these
questions are emerging: Did the Pentagon do something it hasn't yet admitted?
Why doesn't the Pentagon assist in finding out how something that isn't
supposed to be in sick soldiers got there? What was mixed with a possible
squalene adjuvant that might be causing or contributing to the illness?
. . . . Congressional investigators from veterans, armed services, intelligence
and government oversight committees are beginning to ask these questions
-- questions that no one who knows wants to answer. In public.
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