Yet More Reason Not to
Sell U.S. Missiles to Egypt

NEW YORK – An article in an Egyptian government-sponsored ublication has accused the United States of using anthrax against Afghanistan, and also accused the U.S. of having waged germ warfare against “Vietnam, North Korea, and China.”

The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) is bringing the article o the attention of Members of Congress, as additional reason to oppose the Bush administration’s plan to provide Egypt with sophisticated surface-to-surface missiles, and patrol boats from which to fire them. The Harpoon Block II missiles have been described by their manufacturer as “the world’s most successful anti-ship missiles.”

The latest anti-American incitement appeared in an article in the November 2001 issue of the Egyptian science magazine Al-‘Ilm, which is edited by the publishers of the Egyptian government-sponsored daily newspaper Al-Gumhuriya. Samir Ragab is editor-in-chief of both publications, and the chairman of the executive board of Al-‘Ilm is Egypt’s Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Mufid Shihab.

The article claims that “The cases of anthrax infection in the U.S. emerged simultaneously with the beginning of the American war against Afghanistan. News coming from Afghanistan mentions symptoms of a strange disease…causing fever, headaches, and hemorrhaging.” According to the article, the alleged U.S. germ warfare in Afghanistan is “not the first such incident,” and then claims “The U.S. used germs against Vietnam, North Korea and China.” The article also claimed that “The U.S. took over the state of Ottawa [sic] to conduct experiments there with deadly biological weapons.”

The article also included wild attacks on Israel: “Jewish tourists infected with AIDS are traveling around Asian and African countries with the aim of spreading the disease” and “In the summer of 1949, cholera spread throughout Egypt following the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948. Egyptian documents indicate that the disease originated in Israel.”

(Translation courtesy of the Middle East Media Research Institute [MEMRI.)

The ZOA has also been bringing to the attention of Congressmen the many other troubling statements and actions by Egypt since the September 11 terrorist attacks, including:

– The editor of the Egyptian government newspaper Al Akhbar suggested that the American food packages being dropped in Afghanistan may have been “genetically treated, with the aim of affecting the health of the Afghani people. If this is true, the U.S. is committing a crime against humanity.” (Washington Post, October 30, 2001)

– Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher told the London-based newspaper A-Sharq Al Awsat on November 13, 2001 that Egypt has no obligation to fight the organizations that appear on the State Department’s list of terrorist groups.

– The Egyptian government airline, Egypt Air, has refused to provide the U.S. with passenger lists when its planes begin flights to America, even though federal officials have requested the information to identify terrorists. (New York Times, Oct.18, 2001)

– An article in the Egyptian government daily Al Ahram (Sept. 25, 2001) accused President Bush of “arrogance and conceit” for urging the international community to side with America against the terrorists.

– A columnist in the Egyptian government-controlled publication Al-Ahram Al-Arabi (Sept. 22, 2001) declared: “For many long years, America made many peoples in the world cry. It was always America that carried out the acts; now acts are being carried out against it. A cook who concocts poison must one day also taste that poison!” The world has discovered that the strength of the oppressed is great when the situation becomes unbearable.”

– The Egyptian government-controlled newspaper Al Akhbar (Sept. 25, 2001) published an article equating the United States and the terrorists: “The U.S. and terrorism suffuse a foul atmosphere throughout the world. The smiles have disappeared from the faces of the peoples who wait, across the world, for the disaster that either the terrorists or the U.S. will visit upon them. The U.S. has become like the terrorists.”

The ZOA is also troubled by Egypt’s policy of befriending rogue regimes that are deeply hostile to the America, including Libya, Iran, North Korea, and Iraq. The Egyptian government has repeatedly denounced America’s sanctions against Saddam Hussein, and the Egyptian government-controlled weekly Al-Ahram Al-Arabi (May 20, 2000) has accused the U.S. of committing war crimes against Iraq, such as the use of depleted uranium in the Gulf War.