THE POT CALLING THE KETTLE BLACK: A HISTORY OF BIO-CHEMICAL WEAPONS
By Zoltan Grossman
400s BC. Spartan Greeks use sulfur fumes against enemy soldiers.
1346 BC. Crimean Tatars catapult plague-infected corpses into
Italian trade settlement.
1800s. Blankets infected with smallpox deliberately given to
Native Americans, causing widespread epidemics.
1907. Hague Convention outlaws chemical weapons;
U.S. does not participate.
1914. World War I begins; poison gas produces 100,000 deaths,
900,000 injuries.
1920s. Britain uses chemical weapons in Iraq "as an
experiment" against Kurdish rebels seeking independence;
Winston Churchill "strongly" backs the use of
"poisoned gas against uncivilised tribes."
1925. Geneva Protocol prohibits gas and bacteriological
warfare; most countries that ratify it prohibit only the
first use of such weapons.
1935. Italy begins conquest of Abyssinia (Ethiopia),
using mustard gas.
1939. World War II begins; neither side uses bio-chemical
arms, due to fears of retaliation in kind.
1941. U.S. Enters World War II; President Roosevelt
pledges U.S. will not be first to use bio-chemical weapons.
1945. Japanese military discovered to have conducted
biological warfare experiments on POWs, killing 3000.
U.S. shields officers in charge from war crimes trials,
in return for data.
1947. U.S. possesses germ warfare weapons; President
Truman withdraws Geneva Protocol from Senate consideration.
1949. U.S. dismisses Soviet trials of Japanese for germ
warfare as "propaganda." Army begins secret tests of
biological agents in U.S. cities.
1950. Korean War begins; North Korea and China accuse U.S.
of germ warfare--charges still not proven.
San Francisco disease outbreak matching Army bacteria used on city.
1951. African-Americans exposed to potentially fatal simulant
in Virginia test of race-specific fungal weapons.
1956. Army manual explicitly states that bio-chemical warfare
is not banned.
1959. House resolution against first use of bio-chemical weapons
is defeated.
1962. Chemical weapons loaded on U.S. planes during Cuban
missile crisis.
1966. Army germ warfare experiment in New York subway system.
1969. Utah chemical weapons accident kills thousands of sheep;
President Nixon bans further production.
U.N. General Assembly bans use of herbicides (plant killers) and
tear gasses in warfare; U.S. one of three opposing votes. U.S. has
caused tear gas fatalities in Vietnamese guerrilla tunnels.
1971. U.S. ends direct use of herbicides such as Agent Orange;
had spread over Indochinese forests, and destroyed at least
six percent of South Vietnamese cropland, enough to feed
600,000 people for a year.
1972. Biological and Toxic Weapons Convention.
Cuba accuses CIA of instilling swine fever virus that
leads to death of 500,000 hogs.
1974. U.S. finally ratifies 1925 Geneva Protocol.
1975. Indonesia annexes East Timor; planes spread herbicides
on croplands.
1979. Washington Post reports on U.S. program against
Cuban agriculture since 1962, including CIA biological
warfare component.
1980. U.S. intelligence officials allege Soviet chemical use
in Afghanistan, while admitting "no confirmation."
1981. U.S. accuses Vietnam and allies of using mycotoxins
(fungal poisons) in Laos and Cambodia. Some refugees report
casualties; one analysis reveals "yellow rain" as bee feces.
Israel bombs Iraqi nuclear reactor, leading to Iraqi decision
to build chemical weapons.
1984. U.N. confirms Iraq using mustard and nerve gasses
against Iranian "human wave" attacks in border war;
State Department issues mild condemnation, yet restores
diplomatic relations with Iraq, and opposes U.N. action
against Iraq.
Bhopal fertilizer plant accident in India kills 2000;
shows risks of chemical plants being damaged in warfare.
1986. U.S. resumes open-air testing of biological agents.
1987. Senate ties in three votes on resuming production of
chemical weapons; Vice President Bush breaks all three ties
in favor of resumption.
1988. Iraq uses chemical weapons against Kurdish minority
in Halabjah; U.S. continues to maintain agricultural credits with
Iraq; President Reagan blocks congressional sanctions against Iraq.
1989. Paris conference of 149 nations condemns chemical
weapons, urges quick ban to emerge from Geneva treaty
negotiations; U.S. revealed to plan poison gas production even
after treaty signed.
1990. U.S., Soviets pledge to reduce chemical weapons stockpiles
to 20 percent of current U.S. supply by 2002, and to eliminate
poison gas weapons when all nations have signed future Geneva treaty.
Israel admits possession of chemical weapons; Iraq threatens to use
chemical weapons on Israel if it is attacked.
1991. U.S. and Coalition forces bomb at least 28 alleged bio-
chemical production or storage sites in Iraq during Gulf War,
including fertilizer and other civilian plants. CNN reports "green
flames" from one chemical plant, and the deaths of 50 Iraqi troops
from anthrax after air strike on another site. New York Times quotes
Soviet chemical weapons commander that air strikes on Iraqi
chemical weapons would have "little effect beyond neighboring
villages," but that strikes on biological weapons could spread
disease "to adjoining countries." Czechoslovak chemical warfare
unit detects sarin nerve gas during air war. Egyptian doctor
reports outbreak of "strange disease" inside Iraq. U.S. troops
use explosives to destroy Iraqi chemical weapons storage
bunkers after the war.
1992. Reports intensify of U.S. and Allied veterans of
Gulf War developing health problems, involving a variety of
symptoms, collectively called Gulf War Syndrome. U.N.
sanctions intensify civilian health crisis inside Iraq, making
identification of similar symptoms potentially difficult.
1993. President Clinton continues intermittent
bombing and missile raids against Iraqi facilities;
U.N. inspectors step up program to dismantle Iraqi weapons.
1995. Japanese cult launches deadly sarin nerve gas attack
on Tokyo subway system.
1996. Congressional hearings on Gulf War Syndrome focuses
on Iraqi storage bunker destruction, rather than other possible
causes, and does not call for international investigation
of symptoms among Iraqis.
1997. Cuba accuses U.S. of spraying crops with biological agents .
Iraq expels U.S. citizens in U.N. inspection teams, which are
allowed to continue work without Americans, but choose to
evacuate all inspectors. U.S. mobilizes for military action.
Compiled from articles in "Z" magazine by Stephen Shalom and
Noam Chomsky (February 1991) and Zoltan Grossman (March 1991).
Zoltan Grossman is a cartographer/geographer and writer
on ethnic relations and geopolitics, based in Madison, Wisconsin.
Feel free to circulate or to publish (with attribution and copy).
Zoltan Grossman, 731 State St., Madison WI 53703 USA;
Tel. 608-246-2256; E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Web: http://ns1.netphoria.com/wort/shows/apa.html#zoltan
LIST OF U.S. MILITARY INTERVENTIONS (1890-1990s) at
http://www.neravt.com/left/invade.htm
