NUCLEAR,
BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL WEAPONS
July 18, 2007: Al Qaeda has not commented on their
latest success at biological warfare. Recently, efforts by Islamic radicals in
Pakistan and Nigeria caused polio to show up in New Zealand, a nation where a
quarter of the children are not vaccinated against polio (which has not been
seen in the country for decades.) This is a common pattern in many Western
nations, because of a growing desire
among many parents to avoid vaccinations, in response to rumors of side effects.
The immediate cause of it all was a passenger on a
flight from Pakistan into Australia, who was later
found to have polio. The rush is on to contact fellow passengers, including those who flew on to New Zealand, and vaccinate
those who need it. Until this done, there could be another outbreak of polio in
New Zealand. Australia has a much higher percentage of its population immunized against polio, so the presense of infected people is much less of a threat.
How did the Pakistani man get polio? Radical
Islamic clerics in northern Pakistan have been pushing the idea that
vaccinations for diseases is a Western plot to poison Moslem children. This particular
fantasy has been rattling around for nearly a decade, and has prevented the UN
from wiping out polio. Like small pox (which was wiped out in the 1970s), once
there are no people with polio, the disease is gone for good (it can only
survive in a human host). The Islamic clerics urging parents not to vaccinate
their children against polio, provide the disease with hosts, and keep it
going. Last year, 24,000 children were not vaccinated in northern Pakistan
because of this paranoid fantasy. As a result, at least 39 cases of polio were
confirmed last year. The victims (usually children) either die, or are crippled
for life. In 2005, there were 28 cases. When confronted by angry parents, the
clerics say that it's "God's will" that the kid is dead or crippled from polio.
Most Moslem parents accept that, because Islam means, literally, "submission."
In this case, it also means biological warfare. Although not intentional, but
you never know.
