Re: [Futurework] Finding weapons of mass destruction

[Darryl and Natalia]

Hi Ed,   Thanks for the C.B.C. "full" story. Darryl and I were loaned some tapes which are titled, "GERMS", Biological Weapons & America's Secret War, by: Judith Miller      Stephen Engelberg      William Broad and read by Murphy Guyer   Perhaps you recognize some of the names, the tapes were released at some point towards the end of Clinton's terms in office. No date visible. Maybe bootleg? The tapes seemed to us to be credible because the writers were describing a program that they felt was essential and in response to a "genuine" threat.   These tapes describe a rather more expanded program through the cold war years and well into Clinton's term. Clinton was supposedly obsessed with the idea of bio/chem weaponry, not just because of their effectiveness or the need to protect his nation, but the attrac- tion of the low cost involved in their production.   At the time of the gulf war, Desert Storm, with Bush I, the fear that Hussein would be using bio/chem weaponry urged the military to get a vaccine going to protect the troops. Of course, there was really nothing, and they barely had a clue as to what to use for the most commonly manufactured e.coli types, mostly untested especially in humans. However, they had zeroed in on some test subjects who were religious conscientious objectors (possibly Quakers) to the Viet Nam war, who sadly agreed to experimental testing as an alternative to going to war and knowingly hurting or killing someone, plus they enforced administrations upon their troops, who were not allowed to refuse or they were subject to court-martial, detention, corporal punishment--the usual. The vaccines were quite taxing to the system, but were prepared on the inadequate budget and time-frame for the front-line troops nonetheless.Yet, out of the approximate 10,000 inoculations prepared, only 7,000 were actually issued, and most of those apparently did not leave the Washington area. The suggestion was that top military brass, politicians, and other influential people were given first access to said vaccine, and possibly a thousand or so actually got to the troops. Sadly, no one informed the troops that inoculation took some weeks to take effect. Those inoculated were sick as dogs for combat.   There are many twists to this tale, yet what was being related certainly challenged the spin that the U.S. had ceased to manufacture W.M.D's, or any bio/chem weaponry throughout any of the years since their in- ception. Testing was tantamount to a fever, and spending in this field increased enormously. During the cold war, a million was a lot, then a billion became a lot. Today, what's three trillion missing? Bush would care if it wasn't in his pocket!   We've read many reports of extensive testing, some conducted in Canada with permission from the Canadian government, who were totally ignorant of the nature of several aerial releases of toxic substances.   The C.B.C. usually makes a better effort, but they are government owned.   Interesting that this came up. We had just finished the tapes four months ago.   Natalia   ----- Original Message ----- From: Ed Weick To: futurework Sent: Tuesday, July 01, 2003 6:12 AM Subject: [Futurework] Finding weapons of mass destruction It would seem that the Americans don't have to go to Iraq to look for WMDs. Ed Weick     C B C . C A   N e w s   -   F u l l   S t o r y : U.S. tested dangerous chemicals on its military in 60s Last Updated Mon Jun 30 23:25:22 2003 WASHINGTON -- Between 1962 and 1973, the Pentagon involved more than 5,800 service members in its secret testing of dangerous chemical and biological agents. Findings released Monday by the Pentagon said that during a 10-year period, 50 tests were conducted by the military to see how these chemical agents measured up. Some of the tests used non-lethal bacteria and other experiments tested ways to use submarines to distribute biological weapons. Officials said the tests were done to study the combat uses of biological and chemical weapons and how to protect American troops from such attacks. It was originally believed that simulated agents were used in the testing, but last year the Defence Department admitted that real chemical and biological weapons were used. One test called Blue Tango, involved spraying two types of bacteria, including E. coli, in a rain forest in Hawaii in 1968 to gauge how the bacteria would linger in the vegetation. Another test, Folded Arrow, involved spraying bacillus globigii from a submarine over part of Oahu, Hawaii, and over several boats off the coast in 1968 to gauge how Venezuelan equine encephalitis would be carried by wind. "It bespeaks the time, the early '60s, when we were in the Cold War, and we were concerned that Russia and perhaps China had chemical and biological capabilities that could be used against American troops and against us in the homeland," said an official with the Defence Department's Deployment Health Support Directorate. The U.S. scrapped its biological weapons program in the late 1960s and agreed in a 1997 treaty to destroy all its chemical weapons. Written by CBC News Online staff Copyright � 2003 Canadian Broadcasting Corporation - All Rights Reserved