Nerve gas, anthrax and what the Pentagon knew when
By Deirdre Griswold
If the Pentagon will use its own personnel as guinea pigs to
test the effects of nerve gas and germ warfare, then what
wouldn't it do to people--military or civilian--whom it
considers "the enemy"?
On May 23 the Pentagon made public documents showing that it
had "sprayed live nerve and biological agents on ships and
sailors in cold war-era experiments to test the Navy's
vulnerability to toxic warfare." (New York Times, May 24) The
documents describe 12 tests carried out in the Pacific Ocean
from 1964 to 1968 that exposed hundreds of sailors to the
poisons.
In a belated gesture to soften this shocking news, the
Defense Department said the sailors could be eligible for
health care benefits. This only came after veterans bombarded
their representatives with health complaints. The Pentagon says
it doesn't know if the sailors gave their "consent" to the
tests or not.
Three of the tests used sarin or VX, among the deadliest
nerve agents concocted. Altogether, it is believed that 113
secret tests were planned under Project Shipboard Hazard and
Defense (SHAD). Some used harmless simulants, but others used
deadly chemicals and germs.
These tests were conducted during the Vietnam War. Even
today, the people of Vietnam are suffering high rates of birth
defects and chronic illnesses from toxic substances, like the
defoliant Agent Orange, sprayed by the millions of tons on that
agricultural country. They charged at the time that other,
deadlier substances had also been used against them.
Like so many other murderous secrets held by the U.S.
imperialist government, it took over 30 years for this to
become public.
In light of this admission, any thoughtful person must
rethink the charges leveled against the Pentagon by China and
the Democratic People's Republic of Korea at the time of the
Korean War. A whole book has been written recently ("The United
States and Biological Warfare: Secrets from the Early Cold War
and Korea" by Stephen Endicott and Edward Hagerman)
substantiating their charges that the U.S. used germ warfare
against the north Koreans. Up until now, the Pentagon has
denied it.
And what about the recent anthrax scare? Someone in the
United States with access to the same strain of anthrax as that
produced at Ft. Detrick, Md., sent deadly powder through the
mails, resulting in several deaths. There is a short list of
government employees with the ability and means to do this. Why
is it that the government can round up thousands with Muslim
surnames and hold them indefinitely on some vague suspicions in
the name of "homeland security," but it seems to be able to do
little on the anthrax attacks?
Dr. Barbara Hatch Rosenberg, a noted molecular biologist,
leading expert on biological weapons and professor at the State
University of New York at Purchase, says the FBI knows who sent
the anthrax, but is stalling because of what the man knows
about U.S. biological weapons research and production.
The U.S. signed the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention and
promised not to develop biological weapons. But Washington's
continued refusal to have its facilities independently
monitored has led many scientists and activists to believe it
is violating the convention.
Rosenberg published her information on the American Society
of Scientists web site. The New Yorker magazine of March 18
reported: "She is persuasive in arguing that sending the
anthrax letters required not just access to the 'Ames strain'
of anthrax, but also knowledge of the weaponization technique
developed by Bill Patrick." Patrick is head of biological
weapons research at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of
Infectious Diseases at Ft. Detrick, Md.
All this should be kept in mind as the Pentagon tries to
corral support for a war against Iraq--all in the name of
preventing the proliferation of "weapons of mass
destruction."
Reprinted from the June 6, 2002, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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