ICDDR,B Develops A Performance Enhancing Drink For the US Military In Iraq (contents collected from web)

ICDDR,B Develops A Performance Enhancing Drink For the US Military In Iraq
Investigative , by Mahmood Ali , 31-July-2006

[Blog]
The International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR,B), is the continuation of the Cholera Research Laboratory (CRL), originally established in 1960 as a result of the military alliance between Pakistan and USA under the umbrella of the South Asian Treaty Organization (SEATO). In this article Mahmood Ali documents the ICDDR,B’s collusion with the US Military in developing a performance enhancing drink for the US soldiers in Iraq. This is one more example of the ICDDR,B’s defiance to the guidelines of the charter under which it is obliged to function.



Introduction:
The International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR,B), is the continuation of the Cholera Research Laboratory (CRL), originally established in 1960 as a result of the military alliance between Pakistan and USA under the umbrella of the South Asian Treaty Organization (SEATO). Historically, diarrhoea is one of the most common medical conditions afflicting military personnel that greatly reduces their combat efficiency (1). It is with the objective to providing better health care for the American soldiers that the Centre was established almost half a century ago. In 1978 the Government of Bangladesh granted a charter to the ICDDR,B to operate as a research centre to work on diarrhoeal diseases “with special relevance to developing countries” (Ordinance No LI of 1978 Government of Bangladesh; 6th Dec 1978). The charter did not permit the ICDDR,B to work for foreign military forces. However the ICDDR,B has grossly violated the charter on a number of occasions by colluding with foreign military forces, details of which have been described elsewhere (2, 3). The present article documents the ICDDR,B’s collusion with the US Military in developing a performance enhancing drink for the US soldiers in Iraq. This is one more example of the ICDDR,B’s defiance to the guidelines of the charter under which it is obliged to function.

Dehydration – a major health problem for the U.S. Military in Iraq:
Dehydration arising out of excessive heat and diarrhoeal illness is a major health problem for the U.S. Military in Iraq resulting in tremendous costs both in terms of dollars and loss of active personnel. Frequently soldiers suffer from heat exhaustion and other heat-related illness in combat operations in Iraq where daytime temperatures can soar above 50 °C. As a consequence many of them have died since the conflict began in 2003 (the Gulf War II), according to iCasualties.org, a Web site that monitors combat deaths there (4). The US Military strategists took this matter into consideration in invading Iraq in March 2003, thus avoiding the hottest season. But the illegal invasion of Iraq by the US led coalition forces did not become a cakewalk. Instead it led them into a quagmire that has cost the US more than 2500 lives and several thousands more being injured. A recent study published by the US Military demonstrates that more than one-third of the US troops in Iraq are suffering from migrane headaches arising out of factors such as physical exhaustion, dehydration and exposure to extreme heat (5). These migranes have significantly impaired their combat efficiency. A US Army laboratory found that dehydration can cut performance by 8% even in temperate weather of 20 °C. (6). Efficiency can be reduced to 60%, if a soldier is dehydrated 2-3% on being exposed to extreme high temperatures rising above 50 °C. During battles, soldiers can sweat away 2 litres of water an hour, but the body can only absorb only 1.2 litres in the same time, regardless of how much is consumed (7). In addition, body armour and equipment, weighing up to 20 kg. can raise a soldier’s body temperature by five degrees. Steel M-16 rifles can heat up so much, they become literally too hot to handle. In the summer sun, the military fighting vehicles such as tanks turn into “virtual ovens” with inside temperatures surpassing 65 °C. Thus soldiers who fought first on foot and then climbed back inside tanks suffer most from serious heat-exhaustion. Excessive heat in Iraq has been described as “a serious morale-buster for troops leading to shortened tempers, aggressive behaviour and battlefield mistakes” (7). In brief, heat is a potential health hazard for the US led occupation troops in Iraq.

Diarrhoeal diseases constitute another major health problem for the US soldiers. During the Gulf War I of 1991, 57 % of the soldiers had at least one episode of diarrhoea, with 20 % temporarily unable to carry out their duties (8). The percentage of soldiers getting diarrhoea has increased during the Gulf War II (9). Thus 70% of the soldiers had reported at least one episode, and 56% had multiple episodes of diarrhoea with 43% reporting reduced efficiency in carrying out combat operations. Glucose-based oral rehydration salts (ORS), first successfully applied to treat diarrhoea by an Indian scientist in 1953, have been used to prevent or treat dehydration from diarrhoea (10).

ICDDR,B develops AQUIS for use by the U.S. Military:
Recently Phlo Corporation, a biotechnology company from the U.S., has supplied the US soldiers in Iraq an oral rehydration solution termed AQUIS. According to Phlo corporation, AQUIS was designed and developed for use by the U.S. Military by Dr. David Sack, the American Director of the ICDDR,B (11). AQUIS consists of carbohydrates and salts incorporated into liposomes, which are microscopic globules of lipids manufactured to enclose medications. AQUIS is claimed to provide higher level of absorption into the blood stream upon oral ingestion. The special forces of the U.S. Military in Iraq use the product (12).

An enthusiastic advocate of AQUIS wrote in an Internet discussion forum in 2004, “Imagine soldier never being burdened by the heat or dehydration. If a soldier is dehydrated 2-3%, he is at 60% efficiency. Even with the top warfare equipment in the world the soldier still must be able to perform. Think about a soldier at 90-95% efficiency he will be smarter, faster, and sharper, in all a product has turned a military into a force multiplier; thank God the USA will have it soon. AQUIS…does not have the salt taste and is extremely effective. The best scientists in the world created AQUIS. You can do all the research on us and will see that it's not made up any false claims. It will prevent all heat related injuries and is a force multiplier.” (13).

Who are those “best scientists” of the world that created AQUIS? The answer has been provided by Phlo Corporation on a number of occasions as it cites the name of Dr. David Sack and his team at the ICDDR,B as the top scientists behind AQUIS (11, 13).

After using AQUIS, Captain Van Taylor, a Platoon Commander of the U.S. Marine Corps in Iraq stated, “Marines in C Company, 4th Reconnaissance Battalion used AQUIS during a long range patrol and found the product easy to use, tasty, and performance enhancing even in the hot summer sun. We worry about bullets, but dehydration can kill too. I have seen many heat casualties significantly over the years in the [Marine] Corps. AQUIS reduces these unnecessary casualties significantly.” (14). The mother of an AQUIS consuming American soldier in Iraq stated, “My son who is a Marine part of the first Fast Company…informed me that there is a product called AQUIS, a rehydration product designed for the US Military. He tried it in Baghdad when they protected the Republican Palace when Paul Bremer was there and loved it.” (15). Phlo Corporation has recruited a few former high ranking US Department of Defense officials with working experience in Iraq in order to “bring to the company extensive experience and knowledge of the infrastructure of the U.S. Military and other allied military establishments” (13). AQUIS is an expensive product. One day’s recommended regime can cost about 8 US Dollars (16).

ICDDR,B repeatedly flouts the charter:
This is not the only example that the ICDDR,B has flouted the charter and colluded with foreign military forces. The Government of Bangladesh does not recognize the State of Israel. Yet the Centre’s Director Dr. David Sack has been collaborating for decades with Swedish scientists Dr. Jan Holmgren and his wife Ann-Mari Svennerholm who have been carrying out research at the ICDDR,B on behalf of the Swedish and the Israeli Military (17, 18). Dr. Ann-Mari Svennerholm acts as a go-between the ICDDR,B and Israel. She had been collaborating with the Israel Defence Force for several years with a view to enhance combat efficiency for the Israeli soldiers so that they can slaughter the Palestinians and the Arabs more efficiently as they are doing now (18). She tests her biological products on Bangladeshis using them as experimental guinea pigs for eventual use by the military of countries such as Israel and USA (19). In 1985 the ICDDR, B tested on behalf of these two Swedish scientists a highly expensive oral cholera vaccine of short term protective efficacy on 90,000 women and children of Bangladesh for use by soldiers and tourists of rich nations (20). The vaccine that has brought huge financial gains to the Swedish scientists was sold to the US Military during the Gulf War I of 1991 (21).

The ICDDR,B is currently testing on Bangladeshis a Vibrio cholerae strain Peru-15, which has been developed by scientists of the U.S. Army using techniques of genetic engineering (22). AVANT Immunotherapeutics Inc., a vaccine company from Massachusetts (USA), has been awarded the license to market Peru-15 for commercial purposes such as the development of a cholera vaccine entitled CholeraGrade TM (23). AVANT Immunotherapeutics Inc. maintains very close contact with the U.S. Department of Defence as it has been working on several Defence department’s projects aimed to provide better health care to the U.S. Army personnel. To develop CholeraGrade TM as a traveller’s vaccine to be used predominantly by soldiers has been one of the goals of AVANT Immunotherapeutics Inc. This has been mentioned by the company President Dr. Una Ryan, in her report to the U.S. House of Representative’s Biological Warfare Programs on October 23, 2001 (24). Thus the ICDDR,B’s research on Peru-15 demonstrates the use of Bangladeshis as experimental guinea pigs for a product to be used by the US Military.

The Government of Bangladesh did not recognize the apartheid regime of South Africa. The ICDDR,B’s total disrespect for the charter was further demonstrated when it was revealed in 1985 that the ICDDR,B had been colluding with the apartheid regime of South Africa thereby prolonging the sufferings of the black population (25).

The timing of the ICDDR,B’s research to develop AQUIS for the US Military coincided with the agenda of the present US government to take military control of the Gulf region, even under the pretext of lies. The blue print for a regime change in Iraq was drawn before 2001 and implemented soon after the present US government took control in 2001 (26). The ICDDR,B’s development of AQUIS was reported in September 2002, just half-a-year before the invasion of Iraq. Therefore it appears that the ICDDR,B was working to fulfill the need of the US Military by completing the task shortly before the invasion of Iraq.

One leading Bangladeshi newspaper has recently described the ICDDR,B “ to have become a one-man show with its executive director deciding over controversial recruitment and alleged unethical researches.” (27). Although the Centre has a 16-member board that meets twice a year, its Director David Sack decides almost everything unilaterally making the Trustee Board an object of symbolic importance (27). Yet the Centre collects millions and millions of dollars from tax-payers of various countries using the name of the diarrhoea suffering poor people of Bangladesh. It is a failed institution in tackling the diarrhoeal problem of Bangladesh (2, 3, 27). Instead, as documented in this article, the ICDDR,B’s American Director utilizes the Centre’s facilities and resources to help the US soldiers for the illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq, an act the Government of Bangladesh hosting the Centre did not endorse.

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