U.S. bioterrorism research leaps past defensive tactics

June 9, 2004 6:13 PM

U.S. bioterrorism research leaps past defensive tactics - Scientists are now able to explore creating genetically engineered superbugs, plus the means to mass-produce and spread them ... 'If any other country set forth a program like this, U.S. intelligence undoubtedly would call it an offensive program,' said Edward Hammond, head of the Sunshine Project, a group in Austin, Texas, that tracks bioweapons and biodefense issues.
posted by eraserhed (34 comments total)

Yes, but it's not "any other country" -- it's the United States of America, and we have an obligation - literally, the duty - to prepare for any possible contingency, and be ready to save the world if necessary.

Not hypocrisy -- just simple facts.
posted by davidmsc at 6:37 PM on June 9, 2004

Wow. Cobra Commander couldn't have said it better.
posted by ulotrichous at 6:53 PM on June 9, 2004

davidmsc - there is a slim but traceable public record of US research into biological agents - which goes back, literally, for decades - engineered to target specfic ethnic groups ; and although this research falls under "black budget" Pentagon financing, it's existence is still fairly widely known.

I'll offer more tomorrow, if necessary.
posted by troutfishing at 6:56 PM on June 9, 2004

Yeah, but we're the good guys, remember? Those other countries lie, and torture people, and start aggressive wars and stuff.
posted by bashos_frog at 7:07 PM on June 9, 2004

A classified presidential directive and other documents offer a roadmap for the new research as part of the first effort at coordinating all federal biodefense research since the October 2001 anthrax attacks by mail.

"Mother Nature has created a number of nasty pathogens," said Gerald Parker, head of science-based threat analysis and re-sponse for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. "But we have to be worried about the future, too, and worry about comprehensive threats."

Better that we know as much as possible about all forms of bio-terrorism -- their creation, use, and defending AGAINST them. If our nation didn't do this, we would leave ourselves even more vulnerable than we are now.
posted by davidmsc at 7:08 PM on June 9, 2004

Bioweapons labs outed by own research
posted by homunculus at 7:15 PM on June 9, 2004

Better that we know as much as possible about all forms of bio-terrorism -- their creation, use, and defending AGAINST them.

Step 1. Think like a terrorist - create a really nasty disease which is easily spread and very hard to defend against. For example, Ebola.

Step 2. Invent a cure - in our example, like the cure for Ebola

Step 3... Hang on... What's that you say? there is no cure for Ebola? Well, then - just fire up the old time machine and make sure step 1 doesn't happen.

What?! No time machine either? Well, then better make sure the terrorists never, ever get the technology to make this bug. That would be almost as bad as if, say, Pakistan or North Korea had nuclear weapons.

They do?!

Good thing we've been working on those defenses all along. If we hadn't, those nukes might really be a threat.

Now, back to the bio-defense lab...
posted by bashos_frog at 7:50 PM on June 9, 2004

What a terrific idea. I can't see how anything could possibly go wrong with creating and deploying untold numbers of genetically engineered superbugs. That's the recipe for a sound night's sleep.
posted by soyjoy at 8:29 PM on June 9, 2004

So are we better off to just lay off this area of national defense? Just ignore the entire topic of bioterrorism and not research it? If we don't, somebody else will. I tend to think not Also keep in mind that this area of research also leads helpful discoveries in other research areas.
posted by jmd82 at 9:08 PM on June 9, 2004

So it's OK for America to develop biological weapons... yet it's also fine for America to invade another country because that country might have been doing the same?

America is insanely hypocritical in cases like this. It's fine for America and its buddies (including Israel) to have WMD, but as soon as they fall into the hands of whatever America decides is a "rogue state", you'd better get out of the damn way.

Remember this news story next time you wonder why the world hates America.
posted by reklaw at 9:18 PM on June 9, 2004

reklaw: So it's OK for America to develop biological weapons... yet it's also fine for America to invade another country because that country might have been doing the same?

Um, in a word: YES. Have you forgotten that Hussein used these weapons against his & Iran's people? Killing thousands of people? Last time I checked, we have never done such a thing.
posted by davidmsc at 9:24 PM on June 9, 2004

Last time I checked, we have never done such a thing.

Yeah, America's never used WMD against anyone!

except Japan
posted by reklaw at 9:36 PM on June 9, 2004

syphilis. plutonium. malaria. mustard gas. fluoride. yellow fever. lsd. dioxin. various and sundry untested vaccines.

not to mention good old mkultra.

oh. right. that was the *other* us.
posted by dorian at 10:16 PM on June 9, 2004

Have you forgotten that Hussein used these weapons against his & Iran's people? Killing thousands of people? Last time I checked, we have never done such a thing.

Rumsfeld met Saddam in 1984 with instructions to improve relations, Despite chemical weapons use and sanctuary for terrorists.
posted by homunculus at 10:29 PM on June 9, 2004

Have you forgotten that Hussein used these weapons against his & Iran's people? Killing thousands of people? Last time I checked, we have never done such a thing.

"The evidence is categoric. Last April [2002], a conference at Yale University attended by the world's leading environmental scientists, who reviewed the latest research, concluded that in Vietnam the US had conducted the "largest chemical warfare campaign in history". And yet no money is forthcoming, no aid in kind. For the US, there has only ever been one contemporary incident of note involving weapons of mass destruction - Colin Powell told the UN Security Council in February that, "in the history of chemical warfare, no country has had more battlefield experience with chemical weapons since world war one than Saddam Hussein's Iraq". [Emphasis mine]
posted by talos at 10:39 PM on June 9, 2004

If would be mildly interesting to ascertain whether or not the US has killed more people with WMDs than the rest of the world put together. I suppose the only real question is whether or not gas chamber deaths count -- if they do, then Germany may in fact be the winner.

"Winner."

Ah, what a world.
posted by Ptrin at 10:43 PM on June 9, 2004

Last time I checked, we have never done such a thing.

Yeah, we just gave Hussein the go-ahead, with a wink, a nod and a handshake from Rummy.

And what dorian said.
posted by bashos_frog at 10:47 PM on June 9, 2004

Just for the record, I'd rather be killed by American bioweapons, than Those Others bioweapons. It would be more patriotic that way.
posted by five fresh fish at 11:17 PM on June 9, 2004

Better that we know as much as possible about all forms of bio-terrorism -- their creation, use, and defending AGAINST them. If our nation didn't do this, we would leave ourselves even more vulnerable than we are now.

davidmsc: I generally favor a strong defense, and I think there are some problems with the comparison of defoliants - as indirectly lethal as they might be - to chemical agents which are intended to be immediately lethal to people.

But the problem with your logic is that research into offensive weapons programs doesn't necessarily help the development of defensive measures. On the other hand, it certainly agitates others into pursuing offensive measures when they otherwise might not. We certainly don't need offensive chemical weapons capability - we have massive conventional and nuclear capability. We should actively discourage the development of chemical and biological weapons, and we should lead by example. Otherwise we just encourage everyone else to pursue this capability, which we can't easily counter no matter how much research we do.
posted by me & my monkey at 11:19 PM on June 9, 2004

US research into biological agents - which goes back, literally, for decades - engineered to target specfic ethnic groups ; and although this research falls under "black budget" Pentagon financing, it's existence is still fairly widely known.

I'm highly skeptical of this statement. Considering that humans share 99% of their genome with the great apes, and the fact that some African ethnic groups are more closely related to Europeans than other African ethnic groups on the same continent, it is virtually impossible to distinguish between ethnic groups by looking at their genome type.

Of course certain genome markers might occur with higher frequency in certain ethnic groups but then you run the risk of exterminating the millions of people in your own evil ethnic group who have the genome as well...

(This charge is often lobbied against Israel, who is accused of creating a 'Palestinian-only' virus, except that the accusers don't realise that such a virus would probably wipe out the 60% of Israeli's who are Sephardi)
posted by PenDevil at 12:15 AM on June 10, 2004

Um, in a word: YES. Have you forgotten that Hussein used these weapons against his & Iran's people? Killing thousands of people? Last time I checked, we have never done such a thing.

You look cold. Care for a blanket?
posted by XQUZYPHYR at 5:09 AM on June 10, 2004

davidmsc - there is a slim but traceable public record .....
I'll offer more tomorrow, if necessary.

Why bother? Davidmsc is not encumbured by facts or truth or even a firm grasp of reality.

You are not gonna convince davidmsc where his worldview lacks facts. Because if he was to ever read about the Nazi's "Final Solution" was inspired by the US Government syphilis blankets to Indians program, his world would come crashing down around him.

It might be useful to see a link like that. Odds are someone has a 'Bioweapons in the US of A' megapage....somewhere, and having a bookmark of it would make for interesting reading some later day.
posted by rough ashlar at 6:28 AM on June 10, 2004

Do any of you believe that it's possible to be the leader of the free world and NOT have an extremely advanced military?

When you are #1, everyone is gunning for you. When you stand for freedom, equality, etc., then you are a target for everyone who does not believe in those things.

The US needs to maintain the edge in military defense (or offense) just to ensure the survival of what it stands for.

Fucking christ, it was (and continues to be) military might that gives us all the ability to sit here and bitch about it in the first place.
posted by eas98 at 6:45 AM on June 10, 2004

When you are #1, everyone is gunning for you.

Here's to China taking that burden from us ASAP!
posted by john at 7:51 AM on June 10, 2004

Um, in a word: YES.

That, right there, is what's wrong with the right. We're the good guys, therefore we get a free pass. They're the bad guys, therefore they don't. End of story. It boggles my mind that anyone can cling to such a circular world-view without getting dizzy and falling down.

When you are #1, everyone is gunning for you. When you stand for freedom, equality, etc., then you are a target for everyone who does not believe in those things.

And when you're the one inventing the damn WMDs in the first place, it's just that much easier for everyone else to use them against you. Not to mention that if we start developing bioweapons, so will every other nation that can lay hands on a centrifuge.

And.... #1 what? Is it a horse race?
posted by ook at 7:53 AM on June 10, 2004

rough ashlar - here's a research entry point into the whole nasty subject.

Pendevil - No, not impossible.

Real.

Here.

Now.

The mapping of the Human Genome is proceeding rapidly, but genetic differences between (so called) "racial" and ethnic groups have been known of for decades, and US research into targeted biological agents (for "defensive" purposes) has been ongoing for the past 3 decades. The project is not impossible at all - merely inadvisable, in my opinion (for various practical reasons, especially the ones Pendevil noted) but also - primarily - for moral and ethical considerations, as in : Hitler loved the idea and wished at the time that he had such an efficient technology for mass killing. Fortunately, he did not*

A 1999 article in the Federation of American Scientists' "Public Interest Report" confirms the existence of at least ongoing defensive research into "ethnic weapons"

"By K.P. Kavanaugh
Journal of the Federation of American Scientists (F.A.S.)
Volume 52, Number 2
March/April 1999

It has long been rumored that modern biological weapons could be designed to attack specific vulnerabilities of particular ethnic groups. Early in the development of the US offensive biological weapons program Colonel Creasey, Chief of Research and Engineering of the US Chemical Corps, suggested that agents may be selected because of known susceptibility of the target population. This shows that the differential susceptibility of different populations to various diseases had been considered at that time and, according to scientists at Defense Advance Research Projects Agency (DARPA), is continuing today.......

.....in 1992 the journal Defense News carried a report which noted a scientist arguing that genetic engineering may enable us to:

...recognize DNA from different people and attach different things that will kill only that group of people...You will be able to determine the difference between blacks and whites and Asians and Jews and Swedes and Finns and develop an agent that will kill only a particular group.

Shown this quotation in February, scientists within the DOD confirmed that defensive research was being done specifically in this area. Thus the threat would appear to slide along the spectrum from the merely theoretical through the potentially possible to the patently workable. Such arguments have been set out at greater length in an appendix to the 1993 Stockholm Peace Research Institute's Yearbook. The most pertinent aspect of the appendix entitled, "Benefits and threats of developments in biotechnology and genetic engineering," reads:

While modern biotechniques are revolutionizing medicine and agriculture, the possibility exists of their misuse for political ends, for clandestine production and refinement of biological weapons (BW), and for future development of weapons of mass extermination which could be used for genocide.

Particular reference is then made to the possible misuse of knowledge gained from the Human Genome Project and knowledge about genetic diversity. The element of critical significance here is contained in the last sub-section of section VI where the question is clearly stated, "Can't genetic weapons be developed?" The answer is that if:

investigations provide sufficient data on ethnic genetic differences between population groups, it may be possible to use such data to target suitable micro-organisms to attack known receptor sites for which differences exist at a cell membrane level or even target DNA sequences inside cells by viral vectors......

Today, warnings are coming not only from the medical community, but also from other specially credible sources. There have been indications, for example, that the US Secretary of Defense is concerned about the possible development of genetic weapons."

__________________________

While the Guardian newspaper has recently reported on the more savory aspects (in a very unsavory business) of US biological warfare research, there is a rather extensive chronology of US experimentation on civilian and military populations with chemical and biological agents and - judging merely from US Congressional testimony - the existence of US research into "Ethnic Weapons" is clear.

The topic was first openly discussed in 1970 in "US Military Review" (see below) and research - in the US and elsewhere almost certainly continues :

"LONDON (AP) -- Israel is trying to identity genes carried only by Arabs that could be used to develop a biological weapon that would harm Arabs but not Jews, the Sunday Times reported. " (this news story appeared in 1998, I believe)

A year later, this :

[ Thu, Jan 21, 1999, By Patricia Reaney ]
"LONDON (Reuters) - Biological and genetic weapons designed to kill specific ethnic or racial groups are no longer the stuff of science fiction, British researchers said Thursday. A designer plague that would only kill Serbs or a toxin engineered to affect Israelis or Kurds does not exist yet but advances in biotechnology and the mapping of all human genes could be misused to develop lethal weapons within five to 10 years.

Dr Vivienne Nathanson, the head of health policy research at the British Medical Association (BMA), said genetic information is already being used to enhance biological weapons. "It would be a tragedy if in 10 years time the world faces the reality of genetically engineered and possibly genetically targeted weapons," she
told a news conference to launch a new book entitled "Biotechnology Weapons and Humanity."

"It is not technology and information that is available today, but it is becoming increasingly available. We do have a window of opportunity before weapons of that type are manufactured to make sure we have effective
measures of prevention." The book by Professor Malcolm Dando, of the Department of Peace Studies at the University of Bradford in northern England, paints a terrifying picture of the power of biological weapons......

"An ethnically targeted weapon becomes more of a reality." The designer weapon works on a similar principle to gene therapy but instead of replacing faulty genes that don't work it exploits genetic variations to target its victims."

________________________

"Military Review of November 1970. This journal for command-level military personnel was published by the US Army Command and General Staff College in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. The feature, entitled "Ethnic Weapons," authored by Carl A. Larson, outlines the history, desirability, and possibilities of engineered biological pathogens which would affect only those races which historically have no natural defense against certain "enzyme inhibitors." Larson is listed as head of the "Department of Human Genetics at the Institute of Genetics, Lund, Sweden" as well as a licensed physician. The Hippocratic oath was apparently not administered in Sweden when Larson received his accreditation.

[ QUOTE from article : ""Friendly forces would discriminatingly use incapacitants in entangled situations to give friend and foe a short period of enforced rest to sort them out. By gentle persuasion, aided by psychochemicals, civilians in enemy cities could be reeducated. The adversary would use incapacitants to spare those whom he could use for slaves." ]

Larson explains that many of the chemical activities and functions within the human body are caused by the interactions of enzymes. One of the more significant activities enabled by enzyme chemical reactions are the contraction and relaxation of muscle tissue. If the activities of these enzymes are blocked, the victim will be paralyzed, even to the point of death by asphyxiation. Not coincidentally, the enzyme-blocking action of compounds called organophosphates were discovered in Germany in the 1930s when experimental insecticides killed the people unlucky enough to have used them. This discovery led to the mass production of a substance named "Trilon," later used to impressive effect in the extermination of groups of people the Nazis considered little more than insects. This substance and others of similar makeup became known as "nerve gas." A concentration of 40 milligrams per cubic meter can kill in about 10 minutes. Stronger agents were later developed which can do the job with a single drop on the skin.

The author points out that genetic variation between races is mirrored in concurrent differences in tolerance for various substances. As an example, it has been noted that large segments of southeast Asian populations historically display a lactose intolerance, due to the near absence of the enzyme lactase in the digestive system. A chemical or biological weapon (CBW) which takes advantage of this genetic variance could conceivably kill or incapacitate entire populations, leaving invading armies relatively unscathed, as long as they are ethnically homogenous, or the at-risk members had at least been prepared to tolerate the attack. In effect, the poison or viruses would not be recognized by their bodies.

The Sunday Times article states that Israeli researchers have "pinpointed 'a characteristic in the genetic profile of certain Arab communities, particularly the Iraqi people.'" This may be more palatable to westerners, since some consider the Iraqi race the enemy, and excluding other Arab gene pools might seem like a more "humane" way to carry on more studies.

Larson is even more explicit in a way that would probably never make it into the mainstream press. In a passage that would make Doctor Strangelove proud, he muses uncontrollably on the possibilities of genetically-sensitive chemicals to subdue enemy populations: "Friendly forces would discriminatingly use incapacitants in entangled situations to give friend and foe a short period of enforced rest to sort them out. By gentle persuasion, aided by psychochemicals, civilians in enemy cities could be reeducated. The adversary would use incapacitants to spare those whom he could use for slaves." This was published in a serious, staid professional journal read by US military strategists. He concludes with the statement that "the functions of life [now] lie bare to attack."

According to Charles Piller and Keith Yamamoto in their 1988 book Gene Wars, Larson's article was the first time that the subject of ethnically targeted CBWs was broached publicly, and that in "the military's private circles it was old news."

....It was recently revealed that the Truth and Reconciliation hearings in South Africa had presented witnesses who testified that scientists working for the apartheid regime had pursued efforts along similar lines.

......In the 28 intervening years since the Military Review article was published, the study of genetics has advanced to levels undreamed of by Dr. Larson at the time."

_____________________________________

Among the more damning of the facts on public record, culled from the widely circulated timeline (first publishd on HealthNews.net) HISTORY OF SECRET EXPERIMENTATION ON UNITED STATES CITIZENS:

[ biowarfare has a long history and certainly long predated this early New World use : "1763 The British during the French-Indian War. The Native Americans greatly outnumbered the British and were suspected of being on the side of the French. As an "act of good will" the British give blankets to the Native Americans, but the dirty blankets came from a hospital that was treating smallpox victims and consequently smallpox raged through the Native American community and devastated their numbers."]

[ note : my own addition to this timeline, testimony from these public hearings in 1969 ]

CHEMICAL-BIOLOGICAL WARFARE: U.S. POLICIES AND INTERNATIONAL EFFECTS HEARINGS BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON NATIONAL SECURITY POLICY AND SCIENTIFIC DEVELOPMENTS OF THE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
NINETY-FIRST CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION

NOVEMBER 18, 20; DECEMBER 2, 9, 18, AND 19, 1969

""Dr. D. M. MacArthur testified before the House Military Appropriations Committee, and stated:

"Within the next 5 to 10 years [ remember, this testimony was made in 1969 ], it would probably be possible to make a new infective microorganism which could differ in certain important aspects from any known disease- causing organisms. Most important of these is that it might be refractory to the immuno- logical and therapeutic processes upon which we depend to maintain our relative freedom from infectious disease. . . . A research program to explore the feasibility of this could be completed in approximately 5 years at a total cost of $10 million.......it was considered possible to initiate an adequate program through the National Academy of Sciences-National Research Council (NAS-NRC)....The matter was discussed with the NAS-NRC, and tentative plans were made to initiate the program. However, decreasing funds in CB, growing criticism of the CB program, and our reluctance to involve the NAS-NRC in such a controversial endeavor have led us to postpone it for the past 2 years.

It is a highly controversial issue....."

_____________________________

"1970 - United States intensifies its development of "ethnic weapons" (Military Review, Nov., 1970)

"1977 Senate hearings on Health and Scientific Research confirm that 239 populated areas had been contaminated with biological agents between 1949 and 1969. Some of the areas included San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Key West, Panama City, Minneapolis, and St. Louis."

"1986 - A report to Congress reveals that the U.S. Government's current generation of biological agents includes: modified viruses, naturally occurring toxins, and agents that are altered through genetic engineering to change immunological character and prevent treatment by all existing vaccines.

1987 - Department of Defense admits that, despite a treaty banning research and development of biological agents, it continues to operate research facilities at 127 facilities and universities around the nation.

1994 With a technique called "gene tracking," Dr. Garth Nicolson at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, TX discovers that many returning Desert Storm veterans are infected with an altered strain of Mycoplasma incognitus, a microbe commonly used in the production of biological weapons. Incorporated into its molecular structure is 40 percent of the HIV protein coat, indicating that it had been man-made.

1994 Senator John D. Rockefeller issues a report revealing that for at least 50 years the Department of Defense has used hundreds of thousands of military personnel in human experiments and for intentional exposure to dangerous substances. Materials included mustard and nerve gas, ionizing radiation, psycho chemicals, hallucinogens, and drugs used during the Gulf War .

1995 U.S. Government admits that it had offered Japanese war criminals and scientists who had performed human medical experiments salaries and immunity from prosecution in exchange for data on biological warfare research.

1995 Dr. Garth Nicolson, uncovers evidence that the biological agents used during the Gulf War had been manufactured in Houston, TX and Boca Raton, Fl and tested on prisoners in the Texas Department of Corrections.

1996: Under pressure from Congress and the public, after a 60 Minutes segment, the U.S. Department of Defense finally admits that at least 20,000 U.S. servicemen "may" have been exposed to chemical weapons during operation 'Desert Storm'.....

1997 Eighty eight members of Congress sign a letter demanding an investigation into bio-weapons use & Gulf War Syndrome. "

I haven't researched all the numerous leads, but there are plenty of them - all pointing in the same general direction.

This lead is telling :

"There have been indications, for example, that the US Secretary of Defense is concerned about the possible development of genetic weapons.

In June 1997, Jane's Defense Weekly reported that Secretary Cohen "quoted other reports about what he called 'certain types of pathogens that would be ethnic specific so that they could eliminate certain ethnic groups or races.'" Then after a later interview with the Defense Secretary in August 1997, it was stated again in Jane's Defense Weekly that "he also continued to insist that the science community is 'very close' to being able to manufacture 'genetically engineered pathogens that could be ethnically specific'". "

[ culled from an extensive article on biowarfare published in "Signs of the Times"

_______________________________

When I first brought this up on Metafilter on October 16, 2002, most were dismissive. I referred to the statement in the PNAC document "Rebuilding America's Defenses" [ which was actually merely a continuation of the US Quadrennial Defense Review commissioned by Dick Cheney, under George Bush Sr., in '91 or '92 ] which stated :

"advanced forms of biological warfare that can 'target' specific genotypes may transform biological warfare from the realm of terror to a politically useful tool"

"Politically useful tool" Politics through biological warfare. Let's think about the symantic nature of that statement : NOT useful as a threat, as were nuclear weapons during the Cold War. Not as a StrangeLovian "Final Weapon". No - as a "tool".

So, how would these "tools" be used ? In what context ? Depopulation of entire regions, destruction of targeted populations ? In more "benign" applications, perhaps ? :

"Due to a generally non lethal outbreak of a new, mysterious infectious agent that seems to only target African American populations, the 2004 Election has been postponed."



*Footnote : - However, a number of Nazi and Japanese scientists who had committed experiments on living humans with biological agents during WW2 (they committed War Crimes, in other words) were imported into the US, secretly at the time, under "Project [or Operation] Paperclip". The Japanese had been conducting research into biological warfare since 1918 - it was considered cost effective. [Although these facts are known, the trail of these individuals - and what projects they may have worked on for the US after their arrival in the States - becomes hazy soon after that point.]
posted by troutfishing at 7:54 AM on June 10, 2004

There is also a basic obfustication ongoing in CURRENT rationals for such testing :

Although the justification for such research may have been greater during the Cold War - and the Soviet Union did indeed conduct biological warfare research on a scale, if anything, greater than did the US at the time - now the US is, very likely, the World leader in biological warfare technology.

The usual claim is that "terrorists" will obtain biological agents.

Yes, that may be true. But, the most advanced of those agents are being researched and manufactured in the United States and - if such weapons were used on a large scale against human populations, it would raise the question of culpability :

Who made such terrible weapons, and why ? Was it Fear ?

Americans have become at once fearful, fearsome, and widely feared and - as Peter Gabriel immortally sang : "Fear, she's the Mother of Violence."

" "Mother Of Violence"

Walking the street with her naked feet,
So full of rhythm but I can't find the beat.
Snapping her heels, clicking her toes,
Everybody knows just where she goes.

Fear, Fear, she's the mother of Violence,
Making me tense to watch the way she breed.
Fear, she's the mother of Violence,
You know self-defense is all you need.
It's getting hard to breathe,
It's getting so hard to believe,
To believe in anything at all.

Mouth all dry, eyes bloodshot,
Data stored on a microdot.
Kicking the cloud with my moccasin shoes,
TV dinner, TV news.

Fear, Fear, she's the mother of Violence,
Don't make any sense to watch the way she breed.
Fear, she's the mother of Violence,
Making me tense to watch the way she feed.
The only way you know she's there
Is the subtle flavor in the air.
Getting hard to breathe,
Getting hard to believe in anything at all
But Fear."
posted by troutfishing at 8:09 AM on June 10, 2004

Very interesting research, troutfishing. However, from what you've posted, I think it is important to note that it appears current possible use of ethnic biological weapons is geared towards resultants of different genetic makeups- not attacking the genes themselves such as in the lactase case where the enzyme deficiency is attacked a a result of genetic makeup. Another example would be for Africans who are less susceptible to Malaria due to sicle-cell anemia traits could use that to their advantage by deploying Malaria in WMD because it would not effect them as much.
posted by jmd82 at 9:11 AM on June 10, 2004

2001 Anthrax attacks.
posted by asok at 9:47 AM on June 10, 2004

The only biowarfare attack against Americans did in fact use American "weapons-grade" anthrax (see here for example.)

The attacks exposed the fact that the US was culturing anthrax as a weapon -- but they also exposed the fact that the US had no plans and no tools to protect Americans against cultured anthrax.

Oh, and why did Saddam have chemical weapons? Why, we (the US and Britain) gave them to him.
posted by lupus_yonderboy at 11:30 AM on June 10, 2004

You are not gonna convince davidmsc where his worldview lacks facts. Because if he was to ever read about the Nazi's "Final Solution" was inspired by the US Government syphilis blankets to Indians program, his world would come crashing down around him.

Well, rough ashlar and XQ...unless somehow, magically, Lord Amherst was somehow part of the the American government before it existed, I too would have the wrold come crashing down around me...but for different reasons then you might asume.
posted by Snyder at 12:35 PM on June 10, 2004

Snyder - You and rough ashlar are both thinking of Smallpox infected blankets (rather than Syphilis infectd blankets), I believe :

BBC : "At the time of the Pontiac rebellion in 1763, Sir Jeffrey Amherst, the Commander-in-Chief of the British forces in North America, wrote to Colonel Henry Bouquet: 'Could it not be contrived to send smallpox among these disaffected tribes of Indians? We must use every stratagem in our power to reduce them.' The colonel replied: 'I will try to inoculate the [Native American tribe] with some blankets that may fall in their hands, and take care not to get the disease myself.' Smallpox decimated the Native Americans, who had never been exposed to the disease before and had no immunity.

It has been alleged that smallpox was also used as a weapon during the American Revolutionary War (1775-83)."
posted by troutfishing at 10:06 PM on June 10, 2004

snyder - here's the cite:
Hitler praised the "efficiency of America's extermination--by starvation and uneven combat--of the red savages who could not be tamed by captivity."
See John Toland, Adolf Hitler (Doubleday, 1976), Vol. II, p. 802.
posted by bashos_frog at 11:45 PM on June 10, 2004

bashos_frog : great quote. I bet there are many more like it - the US Eugenics movement was one of the principle inpirations both to the Nazi movement generally and for the Holocaust.

Americans and Germans do share a love of efficiency now, don't they.
____________

jmd82 - I'm not quite sure I understand your point, but I saw - in that material I posted - a wide possible range of approaches. Further, much of this research is secret.

But, I see little that's unclear in this quote (from the FAS article I began my long comment with) :

"......"You will be able to determine the difference between blacks and whites and Asians and Jews and Swedes and Finns and develop an agent that will kill only a particular group."

Shown this quotation in February [ 1999 ], scientists within the DOD confirmed that defensive research was being done specifically in this area. Thus the threat would appear to slide along the spectrum from the merely theoretical through the potentially possible to the patently workable."
posted by troutfishing at 7:19 AM on June 11, 2004