Counter-Terrorism Expert Seeks National Call-to-Action by United States Government to Form ``Global Defense Initiative''.

Business & News Editors

BOCA RATON, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 16, 2001

Charles Patrick Garcia, a highly decorated military counter-terrorist expert and Chairman/CEO of Sterling Financial Group of Companies, an international investment banking firm recognized for its financial research into biomedical and healthcare companies, is calling on the United States Government to form a "Global Defense Initiative."

The first order of business would be for the organization to request that our allies immediately contribute to the United States supplies of Anthrax vaccinations. "We have helped the world and now it is the world's turn to help us," says Garcia, who has made numerous television appearances since the September 11th attack on the World Trade Center. Garcia points out that in 1948 the Marshall Plan pumped $13 billion in aid to rebuild Europe after World War II. Since then, the United States has provided over $1 trillion in humanitarian aid to almost every country in the world. "It is time for other countries to reciprocate as America is facing perhaps its most formidable crisis, a biological war on our own soil," says Garcia.

The Global Defense Initiative would be a brain trust, a worldwide consortium of the planet's best scientists who would pool their resources and engage in continuing research efforts to find cures or antidotes to the world's most devastating biological threats.

There are 46 germ banks in the world. Garcia points out that "these are depositories of the most deadly strains of Anthrax cultures, and sadly, as the New York Times has reported, it is relatively easy to have access to these germs...those who wish to do harm, have the capability to get their hands on these deadly germs."

Garcia urges the media that "what no one is talking about is that a 1992 Russian defector, Dr. Kanatjan Alibekov (known in the U.S. as Ken Alibek), a former deputy director of the Soviet/Russian biological warfare development program, told the House Armed Services Committee on May 23, 2000, that the Soviets were clandestinely producing 100 tons of Anthrax per year and also smallpox, and they had 65,000 Soviet scientists including microbiologists, pathologists and experts in aerosol physics working on this Anthrax project."

This former Soviet Minister further stated that "just by reading scientific literature published in Russia in the last few years, a biological weapons developer could learn techniques to genetically engineer vaccinia virus and then transfer the results to smallpox; to create antibiotic-resistant strains of anthrax, plague, and... mass-produce (other) viruses." Even more frightening, Alibekov went on to report "billions of dollars that the Soviet Union and Russia put into biotechnology research are available to anyone for the cost of a translator."

More ominously, citing government sources, Garcia reports, the U.S. Government conservatively estimates that 7,000 of these 65,000 former Soviet scientists pose a major proliferation risk. As part of the Global Defense Initiative, Garcia points out "many of these very highly specialized scientists are out of work, and as part of the initiative we should hire them immediately to work on easy to use vaccines for anthrax and smallpox."

These scientists, along with the top scientists from around the world, would work as part of the Global Defense Initiative on improving easy and early detection of Anthrax, which presently takes 48 hours to receive a test result for the bacteria. The flaw with the status quo is that the antibiotics need to be taken within the first 48 hours after infection and prior to the bacteria germinating, and releasing its deadly toxins. "If cattle ranchers have the capacity to test their farm animals and find out if they are diseased within hours, we should be able to have the same ability for our American citizens," said Garcia.

In discussing the vaccines, Garcia points out that they are cumbersome, time consuming, and not recommended by health officials for the general public. Therefore, Garcia recommends that this scientific coalition should work on remedies that include an easy to use delivery method system such as a patch.

"At this time, the threat of Anthrax is more than just a possibility, it is a significant reality." Garcia points out "now that eight people from the American Media building in Boca Raton have been detected to have Anthrax, and with other cases around the country, it all but confirms the fact that this is no coincidence of the appearance of this deadly poison." Garcia, a former highly decorated military officer, says that, "Terrorists strike weak points, and one of our big weak points is our inability to respond to a biological attack."

In 1997, Garcia founded Sterling Financial Group of Companies, which now has more than 400 people operating out of 56 offices in 10 countries. Sterling Financial has been recognized in this country and abroad for its insightful research on companies in the biomedical and health care industries. In addition to being named last year by the University of Florida as the fastest growing privately held company in the State of Florida, Garcia has been named as one of the "Top 100 most influential Hispanics in the United States" by Hispanic Business magazine, and Univision Television is presently airing a feature on Garcia on its series "Orgullo Hispano," a profile that spotlights the world's leading Hispanics who serve as role models to the Hispanic community at large. Recently Florida Governor Jeb Bush appointed Garcia as one of seven members of the newly created Florida Board of Education.

Editor's Note: Rare photograph of Dr. Kanatjan Alibekov, former deputy director of the Soviet/Russian biological warfare development program who supervised over 30,000 scientists in their clandestine biowarfare program, is available.