Did 5 big US and European pharma firms fund terrorists in Iraq?

A lawsuit filed by US war veterans in federal court in Washington DC has claimed that five top US and European pharmaceutical firms had sent money to Iraq which was then used to fund terrorist activities, including attacks on US troops in the country.

The five pharmaceutical firms — AstraZeneca, General Electric, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer and Roche Holding — have been accused of bribing the Iraqi Health Ministry to win contracts when it was held by Jaysh al Mahdi, or Mahdi Army.

Jaysh al Mahdi, although not a terrorist group, is believed to be decidedly anti-American, and the money the five pharmaceutical firms sent them is believed to have been channelled into terrorist activities.

In fact, the money that Hezbollah-baked Jaysh al Mahdi received may even have been used to attack US troops in Iraq.

The 203-page lawsuit, filed by one Ami Neiberger-Miller, claims: "Defendants' corrupt transactions aided and abetted Jaysh al Mahdi's terrorist operations against Americans in Iraq."

It adds: "From 2004-2013, it was standard practice for companies dealing with (the Ministry of Health) to pay 'commissions' on every major sales contract."

It also says US troops suffered many attacks by the Mahdi Army — led by radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. In fact, the lawsuit details the American casualties of these attacks over 27 pages.

"My hope is that we can get justice for my brother's death and for so many others who didn't have to die in Iraq," said Ami, whose brother Christopher — an Army tank gunner, was killed on August 6, 2007, when the Mahdi Army set off an explosive designed to penetrate the thick metal of tank armours.

The lawsuit, according to a Financial Times report, claims that among the goods sold to the Iraqi Health Ministry during this time were "AstraZeneca's antipsychotic Seroquel; GE's electrocardiogram machines; catheters and anti-epilepsy drugs made by J&J; Pfizer's Depo-Provera birth control shot; and Roche's breast cancer drug Herceptin".