In military venues[edit]
In August 1949 a
U.S. Army Special Operations Division, operating out of
Fort Detrick in
Maryland, set up its first test at
The Pentagon in
Washington, D.C. Operatives sprayed harmless bacteria into the building's air conditioning system and observed as the microbes spread throughout the Pentagon.
[55]
The U.S. military acknowledges that it tested several chemical and biological weapons on US military personnel in the desert facility, including the
East Demilitarization Area near
Deseret Chemical Depot/
Deseret Chemical Test Center at
Fort Douglas, Utah, but takes the position that the tests have contributed to long-term illnesses in only a handful of exposed personnel.
[56] Veterans who took part believe they were also exposed to
Agent Orange. The
Department of Veterans Affairs denies almost all claims for care and compensation made by veterans who believe they got sick as a result of the tests. The U.S. military for decades remained silent about "
Project 112" and its victims, a slew of tests overseen by the Army's Deseret Test Center in Salt Lake City. Project 112 starting in the 1960s tested chemical and biological agents, including VX, sarin and E. coli, on military personnel who did not know they were being tested. After the Defense Department finally acknowledged conducting the tests on unwitting human subjects, it agreed to help the Veterans' Affairs Department track down those who were exposed, but a General Accountability Office report in 2008 scolded the military for ceasing the effort.
[56]
In civilian venues[edit]
Medical experiments were conducted on a large scale on civilians who had not consented to participate. Often, these experiments took place in urban areas in order to test dispersion methods. Questions were raised about detrimental health effects after experiments in
San Francisco,
California, were followed by a spike in hospital visits; however, in 1977 the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention determined that there was no association between the testing and the occurrence of
pneumonia or
influenza.
[57] The San Francisco test involved a
U.S. Navy ship that sprayed
Serratia marcescens from the bay; it traveled more than 30 miles.
[57] One dispersion test involved laboratory personnel disguised as passengers spraying harmless bacteria in
Washington National Airport.
[57]
Scientists tested biological pathogens, including
Bacillus globigii, which were thought to be harmless, at public places such as subways. A light bulb containing
Bacillus globigii was dropped on
New York City's
subway system; the result was strong enough to affect people prone to illness (also known as Subway Experiment).
[58] Based on the circulation measurements, thousands of people would have been killed if a dangerous microbe was released in the same manner.
[57]
A
jet aircraft released material over
Victoria, Texas, that was monitored in the
Florida Keys.
[57]
The reason the story eminates from North Korea is because of the US involvement in the Korean war and the allegations that the US military used biological warfare.
Korean War[edit]
Main article:
Allegations of biological warfare in the Korean War
In 1952, during the
Korean War, the Chinese and North Koreans insinuated that mysterious outbreaks of disease in North Korea and China
[37] were due to U.S. biological attacks.
[38] Despite contrary assertions from the
International Red Cross and
World Health Organization, whom the Chinese denounced as Western-biased, the Chinese government pursued an investigation by the
World Peace Council.
[39] A committee led by
Joseph Needham gathered evidence for a report that included testimony from eyewitnesses, doctors, and four American Korean War prisoners who confirmed use of biological weapons by the U.S.
[39] The U.S. government denied the accusations and their denial was generally supported by top scientists in the West.
[39] In eastern Europe, China, and North Korea it was widely believed that the accusations were true.
[37] A 1988 book on the Korean War, by Western historians
Jon Halliday and
Bruce Cumings also suggested the claims might be true.
[40][41]
There is also allegations that the US has used chemical warfare against Cuba.
