US nerve gas tests
8/7/08; http://blogs.theaustralian.news.com.au/letters/index.php/ theaustralian/comments/us_nerve_gas_tests/
The revelation that the US planned to test nerve gas on Australian soldiers in Queensland during the 1960s (”Answers sought over nerve gas plan”, 7/7) needs further investigation, because the US actually conducted tests like this in the Pacific islands at that time. Under Project Shipboard Hazard and Defense (SHAD), the US navy conducted six tests in the Marshall Islands and off the coast of Hawaii between 1964 and 1968. Pentagon documents released in 2002 show the US defence department sprayed live nerve and biological agents on ships and sailors, and sprayed a germ toxin on Enewetak Atoll in the Marshall Islands. These Cold War-era experiments to test the navy’s vulnerability to toxic warfare involved about 4300 US military personnel. Of the six SHAD tests where details are available, three used the nerve agent Sarin or the nerve gas VX, while one used the biological toxin Staphylococcal Enterotoxin B (SEB). Sarin and VX are both highly lethal and the other agents used in the tests included known carcinogens. A 1964 test named Flower Drum Phase I, conducted off the coast of Hawaii, sprayed Sarin and a chemical simulant on to a US navy cargo ship and into its ventilation system while the crew wore various levels of protective gear. Another SHAD test in 1965, code-named “Fearless Johnny”, sprayed VX nerve agent on to the same cargo ship, southwest of Honolulu. The full history of Project SHAD has yet to be declassified, so the Australian Government must call on the US to release further details, to clarify whether any such tests were ever conducted in Queensland. :Nic Maclellan; Brunswick, Vic
Tags: Arms, Human Rights, Terrorism, USA