-
- "The U.S. program of BW started in 1942. With the
acquisition of the Japanese data and the increased tensions of the cold
war, the U.S. program accelerated in activity and grew in size. In 1956
the former Soviet Union accused the U.S. of using biological weapons in
Korea, which lead them to threaten future use of Chemical and Biological
weapons. This changed the focus of the U.S. program to a more defensive
one. Before this, the bulk of the research was based at Ft. Detrick and
used "surrogate biological agents" to model more deadly organisms.
Most of the offensive tests were based on "secret spraying" of
organisms over populated areas. This program was shut down in 1969.
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- One of the biggest experiments involved the use of Serratia
marcescens being sprayed over San Francisco. This organism is especially
nice because it produces a red/pink pigment when grown on certain media,
which makes identification very easy. At one point, 5000 particles/minute
were sprayed from the coastal areas inward. During this time, 1 man died
(in the hospital) and 10 others became infected in what was described as
"a mystery to doctors." Although the military never did many
follow up studies on these tests, one results was that it showed nearly
every single person became infected with the test organism. In hindsight,
now that some of this information has become declassified, it's been shown
that during periods following spraying tests, there were 5-10 times the
normal infections reported.
-
- Other experiments included tests on Minneapolis that
were disguised as "smoke screen tests" because residents were
told a harmless smoke was being tested so that cities might be 'hidden'
from radar guided missiles. In 1966 Bacillus subtilis was released into
the subway system of New York City to determine how vulnerable it was to
attack. Results showed that the entire underground tunnel system could
be infected by release in only one station due to the winds created by
the trains!!! The bulk of the BW experiments conducted by the U.S. during
this time all pointed to two things: the U.S. was highly susceptible to
a biological weapon attack and that there was really nothing we could do
about it."
-
- (more info here) http://home.earthlink.net/~bkonop/GermWarfare.html
-
- "In 1977 the United States reached a significant
turning point in its history. For the first time, the U.S. Army admitted
carrying out hundreds of chemical and biological warfare tests, including
at least 25 that targeted civilian populations. Previously classified records
show that between 1951 and 1967, on at least 48 occasions, the Army used
disease causing microbes in open air tests and, that on at least 31 other
occasions, anti-crop substances were knowingly discharged into the environment.
Of course, all of this was done in the name of National Security. However,
a more disturbing element was thrown into the mix with a 1985 U.S. Supreme
Court decision. That decision essentially absolved the U.S. military from
any liability in cases where the military might be caught experimenting
on unknowing and unwilling human subjects. In fact, the Court's decision
did not differentiate between the case of a single experiment, which was
at the heart of the case under review, and broader actions which military
commanders might determine to undertake under the terms of liberally interpreted
orders.
-
- In its decision, written by Justice Antonin Scalia, the
Court determined that actions against the military would tend to disrupt
the military chain of command. This element was the key point of concern
rather than any legal foundations which might have been espoused. Thus,
anything which military commanders ordered, which might even remotely be
covered by the broader umbrella of the scope and authority of the military
mission, was not redressable in the courts. In fact, the military was essentially
absolved from all past wrongdoing while at the same time being given a
green light to undertake new activities so long as such actions did not
violate their orders. It was a decision which shocked fellow conservative,
Justice Sandra Day O'Connor who, in an impassioned dissent, cited the principles
of fundamental human rights, and the concepts formulated after the Nuremberg
War Crime Tribunals, as ample reason to hold military commanders culpable
for their misdeeds.
-
- We should already know, however, that human experimentation
in the United States is not news. The infamous Tuskegee Study, where 400
black men with syphilis were left untreated, some for as long as 40 years,
was only discontinued after it became public. More recently, we have seen
that many more people were victims of radiation experiments which were
conducted without required disclosure by our own Atomic Energy Commission.
However, one of the most disturbing experiments was undertaken during the
1930's where a single pathologist undertook studies in which he knowingly
infected his human subjects with cancer. This physician, Dr. Cornelious
Rhoads of the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Investigations, undertook
his experiments with little concern for his patients. In fact, Dr. Rhoads'
attitude about his subjects was chronicled in a letter which later served
as the basis for a criminal investigation. With regard to the subjects
and location of his experiments in Puerto Rico, Dr. Rhoads wrote:
-
- "What the island needs is not public health work,
but a tidal wave or something to totally exterminate the population."
-
- A criminal investigation, however, exonerated Dr. Rhoads
in the deaths of his patients. The prosecutor appointed by the North American
governor of the island dismissed the case, calling Rhoads merely "a
mentally ill person or a man of few scruples." Interestingly enough,
Dr. Rhoads went on to direct the establishment of U.S. Army chemical warfare
laboratories in Maryland, Utah, and the Panama Canal Zone. This "mentally
ill" doctor was subsequently awarded 'The Legion of Merit', and was
appointed to the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. It was the work and influence
of Dr. Cornelius Rhoads which serves as the foundation for the film ENEMIES
WITHIN. This suspense/mystery simply takes a look at a similar situation,
and updates the time and place. Where some might see great conspiracies
rising from governmental abuses, ENEMIES WITHIN examines a system which
makes it possible for a few people to have a drastic impact on society.
ENEMIES WITHIN looks at a man such as Dr. Rhoads, who with a little power
and influence, might be able to spread diseases which target narrow groups.
It examines the way in which our own loyalties can be used against us.
-
- In the case of Dr. Rhoads, the man revealing the charges
against him later claimed that he was being subjected to radiation experiments
after his arrest during the Puerto Rican Nationalists insurrection in 1950.
Subsequent to his release from prison, the man's health deteriorated, and
he died a short time later. It has only been within the last few years
that we've learned that the Atomic Energy Commission did indeed experiment
on unwitting prisoners, hospital patients, and soldiers. Dr. Rhoads achieved
his revenge for the charges made against him. But the question remains,
how many other 'like thinking' individuals do we have defending our National
Security? How many others may have been placed in positions of trust and
power without oversight to prevent their abuse of power? The Supreme Court
may have given some a way to fulfill their own visions, just as it appears
Dr. Rhoads was able to do."
-
- EVER HEAR OF UNIT 731 ? (FROM LINK) "In the midst
of continuous denial by important members of the Japanese government individually
or collectively that Japan was an aggressor in World War II, the planned
exhibition of the Smithsonian Institute to commemorate the end of WWII
in Asia has turned into an unusually fervid debate, with which an interest
in discussing and writing on Japan's wartime atrocities has been aroused.
Most prominent among numerous writings on the subject is "Japan Confronting
Gruesome War Atrocity" penned by Nicholas D. Kristof and published
inNew York Times on March 17, 1995. The article has given us a detailed
account of the most shocking, heinous, cruel crime the civilized world
has ever known: Japanese Unit 731 used human beings for vivisection in
order to develop biological weapons. Equally unbelievable is that the United
States has covered up the crime in exchange for the data on human experiments,
an act utterly ignoring international laws and human justice. What a great
irony to the lofty ideal of democracy and the so-called "American
civilization" of the 20th century!"
-
- http://www-users.cs.umn.edu/~dyue/wiihist/germwar/731rev.htm
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