At Fort Detrick, less than 3 miles from the very center of Frederick Maryland, the plan is to build four new “biodefense” facilities to be operated by the Army, NIH, Homeland Security and the Department of Agriculture, respectively. These facilities will constitute the National Interagency Biodefense Campus (NIBC). The size of the Homeland Security's facility alone is scheduled to be 160,000 square foot (about four acres).

The NIBC will be the site of “biological containment suites.” These include what is known as Biosafety Level 4 laboratories, whose explicit function it is to house experiments on infectious pathogens (germs) for which there is neither vaccine nor cure. Activities at this NIBC will include the acquisition, growth, modification, storage, and packaging of those pathogens (germs) most adaptable to being used as bioweapons.

At the same time as the Bush Administration is claiming that all of these activities are for defensive purposes only, it is refusing to agree to international inspections under the international arms control treaty called the “Biological Weapons Convention.” The result of making Fort Detrick the headquarters for the research and development of a whole new generation of bioweapons will be a world-wide arms race. This is no different than what the Bush Administration is doing in the realm of nuclear weapons – rejecting arms control, planning to build a whole new generation of nuclear weapons, instigating a world-wide nuclear arms race. These policies are terribly dangerous to all of humanity.

Come to the rally on June 5th to learn more about the issues, and to make your voice heard.