Peter Seller's famous character, The Pink Panther has nothing on today's CIA intelligence savvy. He would have never thought of this one. Immunizations to catch a terrorist? Of course they didn't have DNA profiling in the pink panther's time. But even if they did, would the panther have breached medical ethics to catch the bad guy? Let's see what you think ...
The United States CIA engineered a fake hepatitis B vaccination campaign in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad. Why was Abbottabad chosen for this medical fiasco? Bin Laden, had avoided capture for approximately 10 years. What does it take to catch a thief? Well, according to the CIA, it takes a vaccine to catch a terrorist. The fake vaccine campaign was a ruse, to supposedly obtain DNA from Bin Laden's children, in order to confirm that the terrorist was living in a suspicious compound in Abbottabad.
The operation was run by Pakistani Dr. Shakil Afridi, who has since been arrested by the Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI), for co-operating with American intelligence agents. His undercover job, as pink panther operative, was to send a nurse into the Bin Laden compound, with medical supplies, in the hopes of getting DNA from one of Bin Laden's children, in order to ascertain whether the notorious terrorists was in fact residing there.
The breach of medical ethics, that Peter Seller's panther would have never conjured up in his wildest espionage dreams, was the fake vaccine campaign. I mean, these people were lied to! This is what the medical profession stands for? What happened to doctor patient trust? Worse than that, this has further strained relations between the United States and not only the Pakistan government, but all Muslim nations.
Doctors Without Borders, who serve in Third World countries, are outraged! They called the scheme, "a dangerous abuse of medical care". Their international president, Unni Karunakara, said in a statement, "The mere suggestion that the provision of medical care was carried out under false pretenses damages public perception of the true purpose of medical action. With all populations in crisis, it is challenging enough for health agencies and humanitarian aid workers to gain access to, and the trust of, communities -- especially populations already skeptical of the motives of any outside assistance."
Stay tuned for Part II .. The Return of the Pink Panther
The United States CIA engineered a fake hepatitis B vaccination campaign in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad. Why was Abbottabad chosen for this medical fiasco? Bin Laden, had avoided capture for approximately 10 years. What does it take to catch a thief? Well, according to the CIA, it takes a vaccine to catch a terrorist. The fake vaccine campaign was a ruse, to supposedly obtain DNA from Bin Laden's children, in order to confirm that the terrorist was living in a suspicious compound in Abbottabad.
The operation was run by Pakistani Dr. Shakil Afridi, who has since been arrested by the Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI), for co-operating with American intelligence agents. His undercover job, as pink panther operative, was to send a nurse into the Bin Laden compound, with medical supplies, in the hopes of getting DNA from one of Bin Laden's children, in order to ascertain whether the notorious terrorists was in fact residing there.
The breach of medical ethics, that Peter Seller's panther would have never conjured up in his wildest espionage dreams, was the fake vaccine campaign. I mean, these people were lied to! This is what the medical profession stands for? What happened to doctor patient trust? Worse than that, this has further strained relations between the United States and not only the Pakistan government, but all Muslim nations.
Doctors Without Borders, who serve in Third World countries, are outraged! They called the scheme, "a dangerous abuse of medical care". Their international president, Unni Karunakara, said in a statement, "The mere suggestion that the provision of medical care was carried out under false pretenses damages public perception of the true purpose of medical action. With all populations in crisis, it is challenging enough for health agencies and humanitarian aid workers to gain access to, and the trust of, communities -- especially populations already skeptical of the motives of any outside assistance."
Stay tuned for Part II .. The Return of the Pink Panther
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment