Medical Aspects of Chemical Warfare (2008) - The Black Vault

Medical Aspects of Chemical WarfareIt is the policy of the United States to develop andmaintain a defensive chemical-biological (CB) capabilityso that U.S. military forces could operate forsome period of time in a toxic environment if necessary;to develop and maintain a limited offensive capabilityin order to deter all use of CB weapons by thethreat of retaliation in kind; and to continue a programof research and development in this area to minimizethe possibility of technological surprise. 164(p193)Despite this statement, the UN released a report onchemical weapons that July condemning the productionand stockpiling of weapons of mass destruction.Six days later, the United States acknowledged theOkinawa accident. 4 On July 11, 1969, Congress revealedthat the Army was conducting open-air testingwith nerve agents at Edgewood Arsenal (the nameof the Army Chemical Center had reverted in 1963)and at Fort McClellan during training events. Shortlyafter the disclosure, more than 100 people protested atthe gates of Edgewood Arsenal. Three days later theArmy announced suspension of open-air testing atthe two sites and promised to conduct a safety reviewof all such testing. However, the public was againdispleased when the Army revealed that it had alsoconducted nerve agent testing in Hawaii between 1966and 1967, something it had previously denied. 4In October the secretary of the Army announcedthat the safety review had been completed, with thefollowing conclusion: “The lethal testing program atEdgewood Arsenal during the past two decades hascompiled an enviable record for safety. The testingprocedures that have been evolved are clearly effectivein minimizing danger to base personnel andcivilians in adjacent areas.” 165(p16) The committee’s onlymajor concern was the movement of chemical agentsby truck on public roads. It recommended resumptionof lethal agent open-air testing at Edgewood. 165Before testing resumed, however, Congress passedPublic Law 91-121 in November, imposing controlson the storage, testing, and disposal of agents outsidethe United States and the testing and transportationof chemical agents within the country. Further openairtesting of lethal chemical agents was effectivelybanned. 4In November 1969 President Richard Nixon tookaction against chemical warfare, effectively stoppingthe production of chemical weapons in the UnitedStates. 166 First, he reaffirmed the no-first-use policyfor chemical weapons, saying, “I hereby reaffirmthat the United States will never be the first countryto use chemical weapons to kill. And I have also extendedthis renunciation to chemical weapons thatincapacitate.” 166(p5) Second, he decided to resubmitthe 1925 Geneva Protocol to the US Senate for ratification.The Senate had refused to ratify the treaty whenit was first signed, and President Harry S Trumanhad withdrawn the treaty from the Senate in 1947.Nixon explained his future hopes: “Mankind alreadycarries in its own hands too many of the seeds of itsown destruction. By the examples that we set today,we hope to contribute to an atmosphere of peace andunderstanding between all nations.” 166(p4) (The USSenate did not grant Nixon’s request till 1974, andPresident Ford officially signed the protocol on January22, 1975, after exempting riot control agents andherbicides from the agreement. 4 )The 1970s: the Near End of the Chemical CorpsThe events of 1969 had a severe impact on thefuture of the US Army chemical warfare program. InFebruary 1970 President Nixon added toxins to thelist of banned weapons and ordered all existing stocksof toxin agents destroyed. About a month later, theArmy revealed it had conducted chemical testing inAlaska but reported that the testing had stopped. TheArmy also announced that the chemical weapons onOkinawa would be moved to Umatilla Army Depotin Oregon, which triggered a series of lawsuits thatattracted the congressional concern. The next year,Public Law 91-672 prohibited the Army from movingthe weapons from Okinawa to anywhere on theUS mainland. Finally, Operation Red Hat moved thestockpile on Okinawa to Johnston Atoll, a small USisland in the South Pacific, for long-term storage andeventual demilitarization. 167Because of heightened environmental concerns inthe 1970s, demilitarization was not an easy project. Onelast sea dump took place in 1970 when, despite muchnegative press, CHASE 10 disposed of more M55 sarinrockets. (CHASE 10 had originally been scheduled tostart earlier; although now out of numerical order, thedesignation was unchanged.) Two years later PublicLaw 92-532 prohibited the sea dumping of chemicalmunitions. 167A senior Department of Defense official reflectedon the impact the restrictions had during the 1970s:“During most of the 1970s, the United States allowedits chemical retaliatory capability to decline, didlittle to improve chemical protection, and neglectedrelevant training and doctrine. The United States hasnot produced lethal or incapacitating chemical agents,or filled munitions since 1969.” 167(p3) The Army madeplans to abolish the Chemical Corps entirely. In 1973,with the Paris Peace Accords and the end of the draft,60