The following review appeared in The Cornell Review, 9 January 1995.
THOUGHTLESS COMPASSION: Promoting The AIDS Myth
THE AIDS WAR: Propaganda, Profiteering and Genocide from the
Medical-Industrial Complex
by John Lauritsen
Published by Asklepios, 1993.
480 pages, $20 paper, ISBN 0-943742-08-0
Reviewed by Christopher DeCenzo
Considering the emphasis on tolerance being promulgated by countless
activists, it is fascinating, yet frighteningly hypocritical, that many
of these supposedly ‘concerned’ individuals are themselves
the least self-critical when it comes to their sacred cows. Such
a situation is illustrated by the voluntary spread of false information
concerning what is commonly classified as AIDS. Luckily for those
individuals truly concerned enough to read beyond the commonplace
propaganda funded by the one pharmaceutical company producing AZT,
discredited scientists, and the non-auditing FDA, there are a few
researchers critically examining the studies and refusing to accept
that which is unproven.
John Lauritsen, a Harvard-educated survey research analyst, has
provided a collection of essays which examine the trials, tests and
studies that have fraudulently laid the very foundations of today's
HIV-AIDS myth. In his book, The AIDS War: Propaganda,
Profiteering and Genocide from the Medical-Industrial Complex,
Lauritsen exposes the countless misleading statistics which together
have driven this search for cures far enough off course to render
useless the astronomically huge amount of funding annually spent on
AIDS research.
The fact that many will find themselves alarmed by such statements
further illustrates the need for a proper review of the facts at hand
and of those that will not stand up to careful scrutiny. The
popular myth (widely encouraged by those with a vested interest in its
survival) that HIV causes AIDS, is both scientifically unproven and
experimentally found to be questionable. Luc Montagnier, the
discoverer of HIV, has admitted that HIV is not sufficient to cause
AIDS, and perhaps not even necessary. “When attempts are
made, it is impossible to cultivate HIV from the plasma of at least 50%
of ‘AIDS patients’.” The countless AIDS
sufferers not diagnosed with HIV would seem to have blatantly indicated
this long ago.
Lauritsen argues that AIDS, in fact, is not one, but many different
diseases found in different groups of people due to different types of
activities. Most are old diseases, known to have existed long
before the late seventies. AIDS in Africa is simply a new
classification for diseases that have been plaguing Africans for
ages. International AIDS funds make it lucrative to rename such
diseases. Further, there are currently 29 CDC-defined (Centers
for Disease Control) AIDS-indicator diseases which are caused by
various contrasting sources. Some are caused by fungi, some by
bacteria, others by mycobacteria, some by viruses, and still others
“have no established etiology.” Such a rapidly
expanding, all-encompassing classification system, while solely
responsible for the continued growth in the number of reported AIDS
cases, further emphasizes the lack of consistency in everyone's
favorite AIDS explanation.
The book points out that there is scant evidence to support the claim
that AIDS can be transferred by sex or that ‘intravenous’
drug users are at higher risk than other drug users. The
disproportionately small number of truly drug-free homosexuals
diagnosed with AIDS only supports this claim. Further, “out
of the several thousand carefully monitored needle-stick cases (where
health care workers had accidentally stuck themselves with needles that
had been used on AIDS patients) ... there is not a single case where
AIDS is known to have resulted from such a needle-stick.”
However, an overwhelming majority of both the AIDS-afflicted gay males
and non-gay drug users have been daily participating in lifestyles
drowned with highly destructive drugs such as poppers [nitrite
inhalants], various psychedelics, and the countless other home-made
drugs on which few tests, if any, have been done. Testimonies by
Lauritsen, who himself is gay, and by the many leaders of worldwide
AIDS organizations, each of whom are within close contact with
thousands of AIDS-afflicted men, reveal that they cannot name a single
sufferer who has not involved himself in this lifestyle.
Many individuals will not admit to details about their personal history
on surveys, and for good reason. Examples abound of men checking
off the ‘gay’ status on forms that were then shipped with
their blood samples to HIV-testing facilities on the very same day as
taking a second test on which they did not unveil such
information. The corruption inherent in such tests becomes
obvious upon attempting to rationalize why the former result would be
positive while the latter negative. Such has happened on
countless occasions. It should come as no surprise that while
sick, many otherwise healthy individuals will test positive for HIV
simply due to the buildup of antibodies. Unfortunately, the
mistaken judgment of taking “the life-enhancer”, AZT, to
combat this false danger will inevitably result in AIDS. In fact,
according to CDC criteria, AZT is fully capable of causing AIDS.
The test in 1987 which supposedly confirmed the safety of AZT (carried
out solely by the company planning to market the drug and approved yet
unquestioned by the FDA) is steeped in fraud. Fortunately, the
recent, independent Concord trial concluded absolutely no benefit from
the use of AZT. For a drug formerly banned due to its toxicity
and its certain future of causing cancer, coupled with the countless
side effects which all ultimately contribute to an immune system
breakdown, it would seem quite drastic to prescribe AZT to
non-terminally ill patients. However, there are currently 150,000
people worldwide on this expensive drug, many having been instructed to
begin taking it as soon as their HIV-test results indicated positive.
Perhaps the single most dangerous disease among HIV and AIDS sufferers,
however, is the fear and loss of hope. No doctor will deny the
psychological power of depression, especially on victims whose
lifestyles ignore the importance of good health and do not adjust
themselves to a get-well mentality. Too many people are
politically opposed to personally determining fact from fiction in the
fight against AIDS. These are the Land Belenkys who uncritically
accept Industry-funded propaganda while refusing to read opposing
viewpoints. To claim to be informed, one must obviously read the
evidence behind conflicting opinions, paying close attention to their
source and being wary of unfounded dogma. And indeed, more and
more scientists have been questioning these dogmas. For example,
Kary Mullis, a Noble Laureate, along with UC Berkeley Professor Peter
Duesberg, have iconoclastically confronted the establishment.
The AIDS war in America has become hostile to dissent and blind to its
own faults. Before any breakthrough in AIDS research can be
expected, the greatest challenge since Copernicus must be confronted by
the American community. We must rigorously examine the facts,
perhaps forcing a return to stage one, and objectively review the
data. Much can be gathered from honest statistics and consistent
classifications. It will only be then, that real progress can be
made.
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Reviewer Christopher DeCenzo, a sophomore in the College of Engineering, Cornell University, is the President of The Review.
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