Toxic release - Breaking the Nuremberg Code: The US Military’s Human-Testing Program Returns

[Guest guest]

" The Pentagon is slated to release a suspected toxicant in Crystal

City, Virginia this week, ostensibly to test air sensors. "

http://www.heatherwokusch.com/index.php?name=News & file=article & sid=137

Note: Originally published: March 6, 2008

http://www.heatherwokusch.com/index.php?name=News & file=article & sid=137

video on the webpage of heather wokusch speaking

Breaking the Nuremberg Code: The US Military’s Human-Testing Program Returns

<http://www.heatherwokusch.com/index.php?name=News & catid= & topic=5>

warcrimes

The Pentagon is slated to release a suspected

toxicant in Crystal City, Virginia this week, ostensibly to test air sensors.

The operation is just the latest example of the

Defense Department’s long history of using

service members and civilians as human test

subjects, often without their consent or awareness.

Gas chambers in land

Wray C. Forrest learned about the US military’s

human-testing program the hard way. In 1973, the

Army sent then 23-year-old Forrest to its

Edgewood Arsenal chemical-research center in

land, promising patriotic service and a four-day work week.

Instead, he became one of roughly 6,720 soldiers

used as Edgewood Arsenal test subjects between 1950-1975.

Forrest was given a new identity at Edgewood:

Research Subject #6692. He says, " That was the

number assigned to me … similar to the numbers

assigned to the Jews in the concentration/death camps in Germany during WWII. "

The US military tested heart drugs on Forrest,

which he says were administered by IV and various

types of injections. Forrest was also exposed to

" contaminated drinking water, food, and various

ground contaminates that permeate Edgewood

Arsenal. BZ [a chemical incapacitating agent],

napalm, mustard agents, and any number of other

contaminates in the ground and drinking water

there, from previous testing done there by the military. "

A total of 254 different chemicals were

researched on soldiers at Edgewood, and Forrest

notes, " We were never informed as to exactly what

we were being given. We also did not sign any

informed consent prior to the testing. This was a

direct violation of the Geneva Convention rules

for the use of humans in chemical and drug experiments/research. "

The Edgewood Arsenal facility played a role in

WWII human subject testing as well. Roughly 4,000

US soldiers were used as human guinea pigs in

chemical research which often took place in gas chambers.

US Navy member Nat Schnurman, for example, was

sent to an Edgewood gas chamber six times one

week in 1942. As The Detroit Free Press reported:

" On his last visit, a blend of mustard gas and

lewisite was piped in.

<http://www.cwwg.org/dfp11.11.04.html>Schnurman

was overcome with toxins, vomited into his mask

and begged for release. The request was denied.

His next memory is of coming to on a snowbank outside the chamber. "

A pattern of abuse and neglect

If the sagas of Forrest and Schnurman were

isolated, they would represent a disgraceful yet

closed chapter of US military history.

Unfortunately, the Pentagon’s human-testing

program has extended far beyond Edgewood Arsenal.

<http://archive.gao.gov/t2pbat2/152601.pdf>Human

Experimentation, a 1994 report from the

congressional General Accounting Office (GAO),

lays out the Defense Department’s sordid history in detail.

Between 1949 and 1969, for example, the Army

sprayed bacterial tracers or simulants on

unsuspecting populations in hundreds of

biological warfare tests. According to the GAO:

" Some of the tests involved spraying large areas,

such as the cities of St. Louis and San

Francisco, and others involved spraying more

focused areas, such as the New York City subway

system and Washington National Airport. "

No coherent attempt was made to warn those

affected or to offer follow-up medical care.

Between 1952-1975, the CIA tested LSD and other

psychochemical agents on " an undetermined number

of people without their knowledge or consent. "

No coherent attempt was made to offer follow-up information or care.

Over 235 atmospheric nuclear tests and

experiments were conducted on roughly 210,000

personnel affiliated to the US Defense Department

from 1945-1962. A further 199,000 " were exposed to radiation through work. "

No coherent attempt was made to warn those

affected or to offer follow-up medical care.

One of the best known examples of US military

human-testing is Project 112, whereby the

Pentagon used biological/chemical agents on 5,842

service members in secret trials conducted over a ten-year period (1962-73).

Project 112, and the affiliated Project SHAD,

tested everything from Sarin nerve agent to an E.

coli simulant aboard Navy ships and in land

trials. Tests were conducted in six states

(Alaska, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, land,

Utah) Canada and Britain and often without the

consent or awareness of those exposed.

Only in 2003, after crucial documents slowly

became declassified, did the veterans’ health

complaints start to be acknowledged. By then,

over 750 Project 112 veterans were already dead.

The Veterans’ Administration still had not

notified more than 40% of those used in Project

112/SHAD human testing by 2004. The Defense

Department was blamed for foot-dragging in

identifying the potentially affected service members and civilians.

The battle to receive care

Wray Forrest knows firsthand about fighting

official neglect and denial over human-testing.

When his health started to deteriorate, Forrest

was forbidden to get medical support: " We could

not tell what we were exposed to due to the

classification of the project, nor could we seek

medical help due to the alleged non-disclosure papers we signed. "

Forrest was discharged from the military in 1982

for health reasons (deemed " unsuitable for

service " ). He was still unable to talk to anyone

about Edgewood Arsenal, so kept his " agreed

silence, and took what the military dished out calling me, UNSUITABLE. "

In July 2006, the Veterans’ Administration (VA)

released a document on health care eligibility

listing Edgewood Arsenal survivors as a Category

6 disability rating, which meant that affected

veterans would be eligible for clinical

evaluation and " necessary treatment of conditions

related to exposure without copays. " But when

Forrest called the VA to seek help, he was told

that the publication was an error and in fact

Edgewood Arsenal veterans have no VA health care eligibility.

" How sweet, they have killed us, buried us, and

now they want us to go away, " he concluded.

Forrest is not the only veteran subjected to

human-testing who has fought to receive care.

Even in well-documented and recent cases, compensation is elusive.

In December 2007, for example, a federal judge

dismissed a lawsuit brought by the widows of five

veterans who died after being enrolled in

fraudulent drug studies at the Stratton VA Medical Center in Albany, NY.

Stratton had been plagued by allegations of

research violations from the early 1990s. Then in

1999, the facility hired Kornak to be its

Research Coordinator, despite the fact that

Kornak had forged his credentials, falsified his

college transcript and been arrested in

Pennsylvania years earlier for related fraud.

Apparently, background checks for health

professionals were minimal at Stratton VA Medical Center.

From 1999-2003, Kornak falsified veterans’

medical records at Stratton, inappropriately

enrolling them in studies for drug marketability.

In 2001, for example, Stratton tested a powerful

three-drug chemotherapy combination on Carl M.

Steubing, a 78-year-old Battle of the Bulge

veteran, despite his previous bout with cancer and poor kidney function.

Steubing died in early 2002. His widow still

wonders if the fraudulent human-test studies at

Stratton cost her husband his life.

In court, the five widows’ lawyer argued that

Stratton " committed every kind of research ethics

violation imaginable, " adding

<http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/06/nyregion/06vets.html?pagewanted=print & positio\

n=> " when

you use individuals, humans, as guinea pigs, you do them harm. "

The US government responded by saying there was

no way to prove the veterans had experienced pain

or died early as a result of the corrupt drug experiments.

Case closed.

Open-air testing

If veterans with solid proof of having been used

as test subjects cannot receive compensation, the

possibilities are miniscule for service members

and civilians used in trials without their consent or awareness.

Open-air testing of chemical and biological (CB) agents is one such case.

After 6,000 sheep died following the apparent

release of a nerve agent at an Army facility in

Utah in 1969, open-air testing was officially said to have ended in the US.

But the Defense Department’s April 2007 report to

Congress on

<http://www.fas.org/irp/threat/cbdp2007.pdf> " Chemical

and Biological Defense " strongly suggests an imminent resumption.

According to Francis A. Boyle, Professor of

International Law at the University of Illinois

College of Law and author of the Biological

Weapons Anti-Terrorism Act of 1989, at least

three passages of the Pentagon’s 2007 report

indicate a planned continuance of open-air

testing. While one section of the document, for

example, mentions the use of " live-CB-agent full

system test chambers, " another passage (page 67)

reads: " More than thirty years have passed since

outdoor live agent chemical tests were banned in

the United States, and the last outdoor test with

live chemical agent was performed, so much of the

infrastructure for the field testing of chemical

detectors no longer exists or is seriously

outdated. The currently budgeted improvements in

the T & E infrastructure will greatly enhance both

the developmental and operational field testing

of full systems, with better simulated

representation of threats and characterization of system response. "

As Dr. Boyle notes, both " test chambers " and

" field testing " are mentioned in the report.

In addition, the passage says that improvements

in the T & E (testing and evaluation)

infrastructure and " better simulated

representation of threats " are going to be

carried out using " full systems " rather than simulants.

Dr. Boyle says, " It is clear they will be

engaging in ‘Field Trials’ (not in test chambers)

of ‘full systems,’ which means ‘live CB agents,’ not simulants. "

Another troublesome passage from the Defense

Department’s April 2007 report (page 65) is:

" Current T & E shortfalls lie in the full systems

and platform test chambers and supporting

instrumentation and fixtures. These test fixtures

must be able to introduce and adequately control

live CB agent challenges and provide a range of

environmental and challenge conditions to

simulate evolving threats, while performing

end-to-end systems operations of CBD equipment. "

Dr. Boyle points out that the passage says " full

systems " rather than " simulants, " and it makes a

distinction between " test fixtures " and " test

chambers. " He adds that talking about " ‘a range

of environmental and challenge conditions’ in a

test chamber " is nonsensical. " A test chamber

does not have a ‘range of environmental and challenge conditions.’ "

" What they are talking about here, " Dr. Boyle

concludes, " is testing live CB (chemical and

biological) agents in Field Tests – open-air

testing, where there will be a ‘range of

environmental and challenge conditions’ to confront, test and verify. "

Gassing Crystal City

In May 2007, just one month after the Defense

Department’s controversial report to Congress,

the Pentagon quietly announced it would release

<http://www.defenselink.mil/advisories/advisory.aspx?advisoryid=2845> " a

dust simulating a biological attack in the

Pentagon South Parking Lot. " The stated purpose

was to study " the subsequent clean-up of

roadways, people and equipment after the release. "

The announcement cryptically described the " dust "

as containing " a harmless inert bacterium found in soil, water and air. "

Kirt P. Love, Director of the Desert Storm Battle

Registry (DSBR), a Gulf War veterans’ group

dealing with the exposures of the 1991 conflict,

repeatedly phoned the Pentagon to clarify exactly

what " dust " would be used in the imminent open-air test.

He soon found, however, that " the departments

involved were not communicating with each other …

only the people who handled the agent knew anything. "

Love described the situation as " disquieting " and

said, " I thought this was very unfair to the

Pentagon Police and other innocent bystanders who

didn't need to be kept in the dark about this.

How could they conduct an open air test of a

microbe and not tell people what it was up front? "

Eventually, Love’s phone calls paid off. A

Pentagon representative told him the substance to

be tested was Bacillus Subtilis, which

intriguingly, was also used during the US

military’s Project SHAD human testing in the 1960s-70s.

The Pentagon’s announcement was correct in saying

that Bacillus Subtilis is found in soil. It

failed to mention, however, that the bacterium

has been linked to pulmonary disease and irreversible lung damage.

The Defense Department quietly carried out its

Bacillus Subtilis release in early June 2007. A

Pentagon spokesperson would not confirm if the

roughly 50 test subjects and numerous bystanders

had been informed about the possible health risks.

And the open air tests continue.

In the next few days, the Pentagon is slated to

release perfluorocarbon tracers and sulfur

hexafluoride in Crystal City, Virginia.

Dubbed " Urban Shield: Crystal City Urban

Transport Study, " the operation will test the

effectiveness of the city’s chemical sensors, and

according to The Examiner newspaper,

<http://www.examiner.com/a-1251975%7EPentagon_to_test_invisible_gases_in_Crystal\

_City.html?cid=rss-Washington_DC> " the

data will help the Pentagon and Arlington shape

their lockdown policies for chemical and

biological attacks or accidents. " Lockdown policies.

According to a Pentagon press release from late

February 2008, the study " will involve releasing

a colorless, odorless, tasteless, and inert

tracer gas that poses

<http://www.defenselink.mil/advisories/advisory.aspx?advisoryid=2958>no

health or safety hazards to people or the environment. "

But it’s not quite that simple.

<http://www.scorecard.org/chemical-profiles/summary.tcl?edf_substance_id=2551-62\

-4>Sulfur

hexafluoride is a suspected respiratory toxicant;

as such, exposure in certain amounts may be

harmful for those with asthma, emphysema and

other respiratory issues. It also is a suspected

neurotoxicant, with potential untold consequences

for the nervous systems of those vulnerable.

That part is left out of the Pentagon’s press release.

Crystal City is one of the " urban villages " of

Arlington County, Virginia. It features upscale

offices and residential areas - in other words a

lot of civilians. You would think that if the

Pentagon is releasing suspected toxicants into

such a compressed urban area there would be more

warning about potential health risks.

Yet repeated phone calls to the Pentagon

yesterday yielded no results. The Force

Protection Agency seemed unaware of the upcoming

test and the press office was of no help either.

No one could – or would – answer basic questions

such as how many people could be exposed in the

open-air test, if any attempt had been made to

brief citizens on potential health risks or if

there would be any medical follow-up provided.

Perfectly legal

The Pentagon’s laissez faire approach to these

open-air tests raises questions about the

possibilities for further testing on the general US population.

There is a tricky clause in Chapter 32/Title 50

of the United States Code (the aggregation of US

general and permanent laws). Specifically,

Section 1520a lists the following cases in which

the

<http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode50/usc_sec_50_00001520---a000-.htm\

l>Secretary

of Defense can conduct a chemical or biological

agent test or experiment on humans if informed

consent has been obtained: (1) Any peaceful

purpose that is related to a medical,

therapeutic, pharmaceutical, agricultural,

industrial, or research activity. (2) Any purpose

that is directly related to protection against

toxic chemicals or biological weapons and agents.

(3) Any law enforcement purpose, including any purpose related to riot control.

In other words, there are many circumstances

under which the Secretary of Defense can test

chemical or biological agents on human beings,

but at least informed consent has to be obtained in advance.

Or does it. Section 1515, another part of Chapter

32, is entitled

<http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode50/usc_sec_50_00001515----000-.htm\

l> " Suspension;

Presidential authorization " and says: After

November 19, 1969, the operation of this chapter,

or any portion thereof, may be suspended by the

President during the period of any war declared

by Congress and during the period of any national

emergency declared by Congress or by the President.

Essentially, if the President or Congress decides

that we are at war then the Secretary of Defense

does not need anybody’s consent to test chemical

or biological agents on human beings. Gives one

pause during these days of a perpetual " war on terror. "

Ominously, in June 2007, National Intelligence

Director Mike McConnell gained White House

approval to update a 1981 presidential order on

how US spy agencies operate. Potentially up for

review in the highly secretive overhaul, referred

to as Order 12333, is the topic of human experimentation.

A surge in US WMD spending

The Bush administration has quietly channeled

tens of billions of dollars into chemical and

biological weapons. Bush’s 2007 budget, for

example, earmarked almost $2 billion for

biodefense research and development via the

National Institutes of Health alone.

Research aims are often dubious. In October 2005,

for example, US scientists resurrected the 1918

Spanish flu, a virus which had killed almost 50

million people. And a virologist in St. Louis has

been working on a more lethal form of mousepox

(related to smallpox) just to try stopping the virus once it has been created.

Since the R & D is top secret and oversight

limited, the public is rarely aware of escalating

dangers. As of August 2007, for example,

biological weapons laboratories across the

country had reported 36 lost shipments and

accidents for that year, almost double the number for all of 2004.

In addition to challenging international

non-proliferation agreements and risking a global

arms race, the Bush administration’s surge in

chemical and biological weapons spending raises

questions over what deadly weapons may have been

tested on populations abroad. And what may be

tested domestically, with or without the public’s consent.

For Wray Forrest, the battle for government

accountability continues: " On September 29, 2006,

Congress passed a bill that will inform veterans

exactly what they were exposed to, within the

next two or three years. I can just see it now:

They visit my grave site and post it on my tomb

stone, in order to inform me of what I was

exposed to and just what exposure caused me to die. "

Wray Forrest and other veterans have put together

a DVD on " how our Federal Government treated its

troops at not only Edgewood Arsenal, but also at

other military installations in the United States

of America. " For a free copy, send a blank DVD+R

and self-addressed postage paid DVD Envelope to:

EDGEWOOD RESEARCH VETERAN, 3910 Drive Apt

14, Colorado Springs, Colorado 80916.

Note: Originally published: March 6, 2008

--------------------------------------------------------

Sheri Nakken, former R.N., MA, Hahnemannian Homeopath

Vaccination Information & Choice Network, Nevada City CA & Wales UK

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