OpEdNews - Page 4 of Article: Breaking the Nuremberg Code: The US Military's Human-Testing Program Returns

In May 2007, just one month after the Defense Department’s controversial report to Congress, the Pentagon quietly announced it would release "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, "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 no health or safety hazards to people or the environment."

But it’s not quite that simple. Sulfur hexafluoride is a suspected respiratory toxicant; as such, exposure in certain amounts may be especially 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

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