Anthrax War - Directors Statement

The seeds of this film were born in the days following 9/11, when anthrax-laced letters sent to media and government offices in New York and Washington, spread fear and panic across America and beyond. As I watched these events unfold, it occurred to me that there might be a connection to the largest outbreak of anthrax in modern history that ravaged my home country of Zimbabwe in 1978 - an epidemic that remains virtually unknown to the world today.

In the course of my work as a television correspondent, I had come across compelling evidence that Zimbabwe's outbreak was most probably the result of the intentional release of anthrax as a germ weapon in the waning days of white power on the continent. But the full story of has never been told... as I was to discover, everything to do with anthrax, and all biological weapons, is shrouded in secrecy and difficult to penetrate.

So when, after a couple of months of media frenzy, the U.S. anthrax letter attacks faded from the headlines, from public consciousness and the FBI's investigation appeared to flounder, I decided to take a closer look. I quickly realized that no-one could make sense of the anthrax attacks without exploring the shadow underworld of bio-war research and development. A world in which the most dangerous germs and viruses have been transformed into weapons of mass destruction.

Over the course of the better part of the next seven years, I traveled in this secret world with my partners, investigators Stephen Dresch and Eric Nadler, from the U.S. to England and from the edge of Siberia to the tip of Africa, investigating decades of illicit testing, human experimentation and the mysterious deaths of leading anthrax scientists.

I entered a world in which allies and former enemies are all connected by shared secrets. More disturbingly, I discovered that the anthrax attacks have ushered in a new era of germ warfare research in which governments around the globe are spending billions on "bio-defense". What was once the domain of classified government programs has today become a lucrative private industry. And much of this research is centered around defending against anthrax.

Frankly, I was not prepared for what my investigation would ultimately reveal - the frightening realization that a new biological arms race may be upon us, as nations around the world make preparations for "anthrax war".

Despite the alarm being sounded by a growing number of experts and scientists, this critical issue has remained outside the public spotlight, ignored by both the media and politicians. I hope that this film can begin to change this.

Bob Coen - Director