CIA's bin Laden Vaccine Hoax Sparks Anger

The CIA is experiencing quite the backlash over the fake vaccination program they used to try to get DNA from Osama bin Laden’s children. International health advocates are furious, because they believe the operation will foster paranoia about vaccination programs, particularly in already hard-to-vaccinate places like Pakistan, Politico reports. “Anything that compromises the perception and impartiality of medical personnel undermines the activities of medical personnel everywhere,” complains one Red Cross spokesman.

But the CIA is unapologetic, telling the Washington Post that it did actually vaccinate the kids involved against hepatitis. “People need to put this into some perspective,” one official said. “If the United States hadn’t shown this kind of creativity, people would be scratching their heads asking why it hadn’t used all tools at its disposal to find bin Laden.” (More CIA stories.)