From tear gas and LSD to highly lethal nerve agents, like VX
August 30, 2018 9:35 AM Subscribe
Operation Delirium: Cold War Experiments in Chemical Warfare The soldiers were never told what they were given, or what the specific effects might be, and the Army made no effort to track how they did afterward. "At an Army research facility, a soldier given a powerful mind-altering drug said, “I feel like my life is not worth a nickel here." (SL New Yorker)
To demonstrate the effects of VX, he was known to dip his finger in a beaker containing the lethal agent, then rub it on the back of a shaved rabbit; as the animal convulsed and died, he would casually walk across the room and bathe his finger in a Martini to wash off the VX. “I thought they were crazy,” a doctor who served under him told me. “I was going to New York, and Colonel Lindsey tells me, ‘How about taking a vial of nerve gas to New York to make a demonstration.’ And I am looking at the guy and thinking, If I have an accident on the Thruway, I could kill thousands of people—thousands of people. I said, ‘No. It’s that simple.’ ”
To demonstrate the effects of VX, he was known to dip his finger in a beaker containing the lethal agent, then rub it on the back of a shaved rabbit; as the animal convulsed and died, he would casually walk across the room and bathe his finger in a Martini to wash off the VX. “I thought they were crazy,” a doctor who served under him told me. “I was going to New York, and Colonel Lindsey tells me, ‘How about taking a vial of nerve gas to New York to make a demonstration.’ And I am looking at the guy and thinking, If I have an accident on the Thruway, I could kill thousands of people—thousands of people. I said, ‘No. It’s that simple.’ ”
Down at the arsenal they keep the nerve gasses
Guarded day and night by caged white rabbits...
posted by TedW at 10:20 AM on August 30, 2018 [2 favorites]
Guarded day and night by caged white rabbits...
posted by TedW at 10:20 AM on August 30, 2018 [2 favorites]
There may be some ethical problems with all of this, but I'd still rather get dosed with BZ than blown up by a landmine.
posted by kozad at 10:21 AM on August 30, 2018
posted by kozad at 10:21 AM on August 30, 2018
I would too, but a military strategist would probably dose you with BZ to make you lose control and wander into the minefield.
posted by jamjam at 10:36 AM on August 30, 2018 [7 favorites]
posted by jamjam at 10:36 AM on August 30, 2018 [7 favorites]
Stories of these experiments and programs always make it seem like some sociopath scientist got into a position of authority and used it to do cruel experiments for their sick amusement under the guise of research.
“Well, Mike,” he wrote to another veteran, “I guess some people find it satisfying to look back and condemn what doctors and others did half a century ago, especially if it lends itself to sensationalized movies, and entitles them to disability pensions.”
Ketchum seems exactly like the kind of piece of shit scientist I mentioned.
"During a Thanksgiving holiday, when Walter Reed’s laboratories were empty, he opened up a cat’s brain and embedded electrodes in it, to see if he could give the animal a new way to communicate. He left to play tennis, thinking that a veterinarian would care for the animal, and returned, a week later, to find the cat half-dead from an infection. He tried to nurse it to health in his bathtub, but it had sustained permanent brain damage."
Oh my god, I think I officially hate this man.
"The Army decided to pursue sarin. The chemical was about twenty-five times as deadly as cyanide, and readily made into an aerosol. It was virtually impossible to handle without casualties; in one year, seven technicians required immediate treatment following accidental exposure. As the vapor was released after tests, birds passing over the flue of the gas chambers fell dead, and had to be cleared off the roof. "
This is like a goddamn cartoon, complete with evil villains having birds drop out of the sky from the skull and crossbones gas. The juxtaposition of something like this and the fact our nation and its people consider themselves "good" is absurd, hilarious, and terrifying.
"“I did not like the idea of what I was doing with individual human beings. But I understood what I was doing in the context of the defense of this country.”"
I hope Sim understands now that what he was doing was not in defense of the country in the slightest.
"A physician named Mark Needle told me that he thought Ketchum’s human experiments were run like the Keystone Kops. “There was nobody qualified,” he said. “And the fact that they were allowed to do it without people who knew what they were doing was very, very scary. There was no humanity in it. There was no morality in it. If anything happened to the volunteers, we could say, ‘You were offered an out,’ but then we were also telling them, ‘Listen, this is the Army, and we are at war.’ Our view was that this was a terrible thing to do to these kids, because who the hell knew what could happen?”"
"Instead of reprimanding the recalcitrant doctors, Ketchum debated them. He frequently argued with Al Daniels, a newly drafted physician, who told me, “I said, ‘I’m not going to do that kind of research.’ I was, like, ‘Fuck you, throw me in jail.’ ”"
Ketchum is garbage of the lowest order.
"“This is a medical research laboratory! This is not Buchenwald, not a prison, or a stockade, doing sneaky, poorly designed work for nefarious motives!”"
Holy fuck, it literally was a a place for doing poorly designed work with nefarious motives!
"Ketchum wrote to him, “I cannot see how any chemical agent can compete with the macabre agony which projectiles, flame and bayonets can produce.” "
This fucking idiot working first hand with this shit can't see how it could be worse than something less worse than it!
"his August, Ketchum, while sitting beside his archive, had a stroke"
First good thing I've read in this article.
"As he grew older, he came to live “with psychic pain, and a tendency to be depressed,” he later confessed. Free-associating at his typewriter, he wrote, “I am about to be consigned to the junk heap of mediocrity and obscurity. So be it.”"
Yeah fucking right. The only thing he seems to regret is not being more famous and lauded for his cruel experiments.
"“It’s tough, I know,” he said. “I struggle with these things.” He looked at me, and added, “But I have always had the feeling that I am doing more the right thing than the wrong thing, here.”"
Fuck James S Ketchum. I know there are others involved who are likewise guilty, shitty, people, but goddamn the mental gymnastics this dude does to live with himself is infuriating. I do not like that people like him are allowed to live on this planet, especially with the power like that. His entire life since the experiments seems to mostly be about making himself feel better bout the evils he did by convincing himself he didn't even do the evils he did. Excuse, rationalizing, dismissal. Fuck this person right to hell.
posted by GoblinHoney at 10:41 AM on August 30, 2018 [8 favorites]
“Well, Mike,” he wrote to another veteran, “I guess some people find it satisfying to look back and condemn what doctors and others did half a century ago, especially if it lends itself to sensationalized movies, and entitles them to disability pensions.”
Ketchum seems exactly like the kind of piece of shit scientist I mentioned.
"During a Thanksgiving holiday, when Walter Reed’s laboratories were empty, he opened up a cat’s brain and embedded electrodes in it, to see if he could give the animal a new way to communicate. He left to play tennis, thinking that a veterinarian would care for the animal, and returned, a week later, to find the cat half-dead from an infection. He tried to nurse it to health in his bathtub, but it had sustained permanent brain damage."
Oh my god, I think I officially hate this man.
"The Army decided to pursue sarin. The chemical was about twenty-five times as deadly as cyanide, and readily made into an aerosol. It was virtually impossible to handle without casualties; in one year, seven technicians required immediate treatment following accidental exposure. As the vapor was released after tests, birds passing over the flue of the gas chambers fell dead, and had to be cleared off the roof. "
This is like a goddamn cartoon, complete with evil villains having birds drop out of the sky from the skull and crossbones gas. The juxtaposition of something like this and the fact our nation and its people consider themselves "good" is absurd, hilarious, and terrifying.
"“I did not like the idea of what I was doing with individual human beings. But I understood what I was doing in the context of the defense of this country.”"
I hope Sim understands now that what he was doing was not in defense of the country in the slightest.
"A physician named Mark Needle told me that he thought Ketchum’s human experiments were run like the Keystone Kops. “There was nobody qualified,” he said. “And the fact that they were allowed to do it without people who knew what they were doing was very, very scary. There was no humanity in it. There was no morality in it. If anything happened to the volunteers, we could say, ‘You were offered an out,’ but then we were also telling them, ‘Listen, this is the Army, and we are at war.’ Our view was that this was a terrible thing to do to these kids, because who the hell knew what could happen?”"
"Instead of reprimanding the recalcitrant doctors, Ketchum debated them. He frequently argued with Al Daniels, a newly drafted physician, who told me, “I said, ‘I’m not going to do that kind of research.’ I was, like, ‘Fuck you, throw me in jail.’ ”"
Ketchum is garbage of the lowest order.
"“This is a medical research laboratory! This is not Buchenwald, not a prison, or a stockade, doing sneaky, poorly designed work for nefarious motives!”"
Holy fuck, it literally was a a place for doing poorly designed work with nefarious motives!
"Ketchum wrote to him, “I cannot see how any chemical agent can compete with the macabre agony which projectiles, flame and bayonets can produce.” "
This fucking idiot working first hand with this shit can't see how it could be worse than something less worse than it!
"his August, Ketchum, while sitting beside his archive, had a stroke"
First good thing I've read in this article.
"As he grew older, he came to live “with psychic pain, and a tendency to be depressed,” he later confessed. Free-associating at his typewriter, he wrote, “I am about to be consigned to the junk heap of mediocrity and obscurity. So be it.”"
Yeah fucking right. The only thing he seems to regret is not being more famous and lauded for his cruel experiments.
"“It’s tough, I know,” he said. “I struggle with these things.” He looked at me, and added, “But I have always had the feeling that I am doing more the right thing than the wrong thing, here.”"
Fuck James S Ketchum. I know there are others involved who are likewise guilty, shitty, people, but goddamn the mental gymnastics this dude does to live with himself is infuriating. I do not like that people like him are allowed to live on this planet, especially with the power like that. His entire life since the experiments seems to mostly be about making himself feel better bout the evils he did by convincing himself he didn't even do the evils he did. Excuse, rationalizing, dismissal. Fuck this person right to hell.
posted by GoblinHoney at 10:41 AM on August 30, 2018 [8 favorites]
In 1991 I was given a nerve agent pill to help "inure" me to potential battlefield effects by the US Army. It was disorienting, nauseating, and gave me the worst headache of my life. I had no choice, and doubt seriously if this was FDA approved. I'm not sure this had anything to do with fathering an autistic daughter. But I'm not sure it didn't either.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 10:51 AM on August 30, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 10:51 AM on August 30, 2018 [3 favorites]
Perhaps he can retell his life in reverse, like Time's Arrow, and find that he went to Edgewood and helped so many people feel better and get over all these traumatic effects.
posted by rmd1023 at 10:56 AM on August 30, 2018
posted by rmd1023 at 10:56 AM on August 30, 2018
Once, Ketchum walked into his office and found a barrel the size of an oil drum standing in a corner. No one explained why it was in his office, or who had put it there. After a couple of days, he waited until evening and opened it. Inside, he found dozens of small glass vials, each containing a precisely measured amount of pure LSD; he figured there was enough to make several hundred million people go bonkers—and later calculated the street value of the barrel to be roughly a billion dollars. At the end of the week, the barrel vanished just as mysteriously as it had appeared. No one spoke about it. He never learned what it was for.
I would pay good money to see a Coen Brothers film entirely about this barrel.
posted by Damienmce at 11:03 AM on August 30, 2018 [15 favorites]
I would pay good money to see a Coen Brothers film entirely about this barrel.
posted by Damienmce at 11:03 AM on August 30, 2018 [15 favorites]
Oh my god yes I want this barrel heist.
posted by poffin boffin at 11:19 AM on August 30, 2018
posted by poffin boffin at 11:19 AM on August 30, 2018
Fun project: read the article and see how many violations of the Nuremburg Code you can count.
posted by TedW at 11:44 AM on August 30, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by TedW at 11:44 AM on August 30, 2018 [3 favorites]
Speaking of the Nuremburg Code... One of the first sets of experiments that the Nazis did on prisoners was at Dachau, where they did research on how long people could survive immersed in freezing water. The goal was to help save the lives of German pilots shot down over cold ocean water. The experiments were horrific, and many of the subjects died. But I can easily imagine the researchers offering the same rationales to themselves and each other - we're at war! this will save lives! And always, implicit under that, is the belief that the other side will transgress these ethical boundaries, so we *must* in order to stay competitive.
posted by rmd1023 at 12:02 PM on August 30, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by rmd1023 at 12:02 PM on August 30, 2018 [2 favorites]
Once, Ketchum walked into his office and found a barrel the size of an oil drum standing in a corner. No one explained why it was in his office, or who had put it there. After a couple of days, he waited until evening and opened it. Inside, he found dozens of small glass vials, each containing a precisely measured amount of pure LSD; he figured there was enough to make several hundred million people go bonkers—and later calculated the street value of the barrel to be roughly a billion dollars. At the end of the week, the barrel vanished just as mysteriously as it had appeared. No one spoke about it. He never learned what it was for.
I would say, given every wretched, criminal, and degenerate thing else about this project, that some higher authority wanted him to start using his 'volunteers' to study the effects of LSD, but was determined to preserve absolute deniability in case it ever came out.
Interesting he didn't bite, because he must've known what was going on, I'd think.
I hope his stroke was precipitated by some lingering residue of nerve agents wafting from his archives, but that raises the question of how much the experimenters themselves were poisoned by the experiments, and how that affected their judgement -- I would guess quite a lot.
posted by jamjam at 12:38 PM on August 30, 2018 [1 favorite]
I would say, given every wretched, criminal, and degenerate thing else about this project, that some higher authority wanted him to start using his 'volunteers' to study the effects of LSD, but was determined to preserve absolute deniability in case it ever came out.
Interesting he didn't bite, because he must've known what was going on, I'd think.
I hope his stroke was precipitated by some lingering residue of nerve agents wafting from his archives, but that raises the question of how much the experimenters themselves were poisoned by the experiments, and how that affected their judgement -- I would guess quite a lot.
posted by jamjam at 12:38 PM on August 30, 2018 [1 favorite]
MegaMengele horrors were happening in Imperial Japan's Unit 731, a "covert biological and chemical warfare research and development unit of the Imperial Japanese Army that undertook lethal human experimentation during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) of World War II. It was responsible for some of the most notorious war crimes carried out by Imperial Japan."
The difference is that:
posted by talos at 12:48 PM on August 30, 2018 [1 favorite]
The difference is that:
"Instead of being tried for war crimes after the war, the researchers involved in Unit 731 were secretly given immunity by the U.S. in exchange for the data they gathered through human experimentation... Victim accounts were then largely ignored or dismissed in the West as communist propaganda" [The Soviets on the other hand prosecuted the criminals].So the New Yorker story while very interesting, is pretty much par for the US army's ethics.
posted by talos at 12:48 PM on August 30, 2018 [1 favorite]
[During medical School] Ketchum began taking ten milligrams of Dexedrine, first intermittently, then three times a day—a habit that he maintained for decades—and he studied in bouts, memorizing swaths of information.
People in toxic environments, who can't quite succeed according to their expectations and are looking for a boost to help them, are prone to taking mind altering drugs. The article describes social isolation, paranoid behavior, focused but bizarre creativity; was all his work influenced by this?
posted by Emmy Noether at 12:55 PM on August 30, 2018 [3 favorites]
People in toxic environments, who can't quite succeed according to their expectations and are looking for a boost to help them, are prone to taking mind altering drugs. The article describes social isolation, paranoid behavior, focused but bizarre creativity; was all his work influenced by this?
posted by Emmy Noether at 12:55 PM on August 30, 2018 [3 favorites]
Lindsey regularly leaping from second-storey windows is like something out of a Kubrick movie.
posted by JamesBay at 2:01 PM on August 30, 2018
posted by JamesBay at 2:01 PM on August 30, 2018
Many years ago I worked with someone who used to be a chemist at the Army's CHEMDEMIL agency in Aberdeen, Maryland. At some point she told me that the reason she no longer worked there (we did environmental work) was that there had been so many accidental releases in the lab that when she no longer got frightened by a release, she knew it was time to leave. I believe, at the time, they were working on Sarin, but I couldn't be sure.
posted by suelac at 3:13 PM on August 30, 2018
posted by suelac at 3:13 PM on August 30, 2018
Ketchum responded defensively. “To be frank, I would consider it dishonest to claim regret simply to gain forgiveness by critics,” he said. But a few days later he pursued the question. “This morning I pulled out my notebook containing lists for each BZ-like compound, and was stunned when I found 3834 was indeed given in one hundred and fifty-six cases!” he wrote. “Some were done while I was actively in charge, but many while I was not.” He had searched his archive for more information. Some of the protocols, he said, were poorly designed. “I feel bad about what appears to be an inefficiency of testing,” he said.
Nowhere does he express regret for inflicting suffering. He's concerned about "design," and "process," not the suffering of other human beings at his hands.
But depraved individuals like Ketchum will tend to find their level - almost like a Peter Principle for people who are driven by ego, lacking in empathy, and incapable of feeling remorse - in an institution that creates the incentives, means, and opportunities for them to take their depravity to its limits:
Ketchum is seated beside him, urging the soldier to do a math problem, in order to judge how impaired he is. He tells the man to count backward by sevens, starting from ninety-eight.
“Subtract seven from ninety-eight, please,” he begins.
“Ohh,” the man gasps. He is holding his face, and looking downward, as if he could not attend to anything beyond his immediate agony. Ketchum, seated behind a table, tries to help: “Ninety-eight, ninety-one, then continue.”
The soldier doubles over. “Ohh,” he gasps, more forcefully. He bends low, seeming as if he might collapse.
“What would come next?” Ketchum asks.
The soldier raises his torso in two quick jerks, wincing with each gesture. “Ow,” he says, with a pained exhalation. With his head in his hands, he whispers, “Jesus.”
“Daryl,” Ketchum says. “What would come next?”
In a sudden moment of lucidity, the soldier raises his head. “I feel incapacitated,” he insists, then keels over again.
“Incapacitated,” Ketchum says. “Well, I’ll ask you more about that in a minute, but just try to subtract these sevens for me.” The soldier bolts upright, still clasping his head and stomach. “From what?” he asks. Then a wave of pain overwhelms him, and his body curls in on itself. “Sh-h-h-h-h,” he gasps.
“Well, you got ninety-one,” Ketchum continues patiently. “What’s next?” The soldier tries to sit up again; a stranger walking in might reasonably wonder if his appendix had burst.
“What’s seven from ninety-one?” Ketchum asks again. The soldier cannot answer.
There are two accompanying videos for this on the New Yorker site as well that contain excerpts from the films Ketchum made:
War of the Mind
Manufacturing Madness
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 5:29 PM on August 30, 2018 [1 favorite]
Nowhere does he express regret for inflicting suffering. He's concerned about "design," and "process," not the suffering of other human beings at his hands.
But depraved individuals like Ketchum will tend to find their level - almost like a Peter Principle for people who are driven by ego, lacking in empathy, and incapable of feeling remorse - in an institution that creates the incentives, means, and opportunities for them to take their depravity to its limits:
Ketchum is seated beside him, urging the soldier to do a math problem, in order to judge how impaired he is. He tells the man to count backward by sevens, starting from ninety-eight.
“Subtract seven from ninety-eight, please,” he begins.
“Ohh,” the man gasps. He is holding his face, and looking downward, as if he could not attend to anything beyond his immediate agony. Ketchum, seated behind a table, tries to help: “Ninety-eight, ninety-one, then continue.”
The soldier doubles over. “Ohh,” he gasps, more forcefully. He bends low, seeming as if he might collapse.
“What would come next?” Ketchum asks.
The soldier raises his torso in two quick jerks, wincing with each gesture. “Ow,” he says, with a pained exhalation. With his head in his hands, he whispers, “Jesus.”
“Daryl,” Ketchum says. “What would come next?”
In a sudden moment of lucidity, the soldier raises his head. “I feel incapacitated,” he insists, then keels over again.
“Incapacitated,” Ketchum says. “Well, I’ll ask you more about that in a minute, but just try to subtract these sevens for me.” The soldier bolts upright, still clasping his head and stomach. “From what?” he asks. Then a wave of pain overwhelms him, and his body curls in on itself. “Sh-h-h-h-h,” he gasps.
“Well, you got ninety-one,” Ketchum continues patiently. “What’s next?” The soldier tries to sit up again; a stranger walking in might reasonably wonder if his appendix had burst.
“What’s seven from ninety-one?” Ketchum asks again. The soldier cannot answer.
There are two accompanying videos for this on the New Yorker site as well that contain excerpts from the films Ketchum made:
War of the Mind
Manufacturing Madness
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 5:29 PM on August 30, 2018 [1 favorite]
I don't think that studying these things was inherently immoral (or no more immoral than other kinds of weapons research in the 1950s and 60s), there genuinely was a time where they had good reason to suspect that agents like BZ could be used against them and that it might be possible to create weapons that did not kill at all.
What I do not think is defensible is the haphazard and uncontrolled way that these experiments were conducted and how long they went on for. It became obvious relatively early that BZ and its derivatives have too low an effective dose window between disabling but temporary mental effects and serious physical damage for an air dispersed agent. I could see my way to understanding everything up to and including that test with the truck. After that though... it must have been clear that for biological and logistical reasons, these weapons would simply never work.
There is a difference between the morally dubious but comprehensible decision to test something potentially valuable, knowing that you are putting a small number of people at risk, and continuing those tests for years after you know that there is almost no chance of anything coming out of it.
posted by atrazine at 2:32 AM on August 31, 2018 [2 favorites]
What I do not think is defensible is the haphazard and uncontrolled way that these experiments were conducted and how long they went on for. It became obvious relatively early that BZ and its derivatives have too low an effective dose window between disabling but temporary mental effects and serious physical damage for an air dispersed agent. I could see my way to understanding everything up to and including that test with the truck. After that though... it must have been clear that for biological and logistical reasons, these weapons would simply never work.
There is a difference between the morally dubious but comprehensible decision to test something potentially valuable, knowing that you are putting a small number of people at risk, and continuing those tests for years after you know that there is almost no chance of anything coming out of it.
posted by atrazine at 2:32 AM on August 31, 2018 [2 favorites]
Also, some of those haphazard and uncontrolled experiments were being performed on people who were not able to meaningfully consent.
posted by rmd1023 at 5:07 AM on August 31, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by rmd1023 at 5:07 AM on August 31, 2018 [3 favorites]
It can certainly be argued that necessity can override suffering in some cases, but when you are experimenting solely or primarily on members of disadvantaged groups any moral defense one may have had goes right out the window.
Another part of that is actively taking responsibility for those actions. To pick an overused example out of convenience, I would totally torture and even someone if I was reasonably sure it would save my loved ones. I would be quite disappointed if I wasn't promptly charged with those criminal acts. If it isn't worth going to jail for, then it isn't that much of a moral imperative, was it?
I don't care one whit about the lies people tell themselves to keep from imploding, but the cognitive dissonance inherent in saying "but I had to do a terrible thing for these good ends" at the same time as "I don't deserve to be punished for my abuse of other human beings" really grates on me. Either it is work of such overriding importance it is worth any punishment or it isn't. You don't get to have it both ways.
posted by wierdo at 6:40 AM on August 31, 2018 [3 favorites]
Another part of that is actively taking responsibility for those actions. To pick an overused example out of convenience, I would totally torture and even someone if I was reasonably sure it would save my loved ones. I would be quite disappointed if I wasn't promptly charged with those criminal acts. If it isn't worth going to jail for, then it isn't that much of a moral imperative, was it?
I don't care one whit about the lies people tell themselves to keep from imploding, but the cognitive dissonance inherent in saying "but I had to do a terrible thing for these good ends" at the same time as "I don't deserve to be punished for my abuse of other human beings" really grates on me. Either it is work of such overriding importance it is worth any punishment or it isn't. You don't get to have it both ways.
posted by wierdo at 6:40 AM on August 31, 2018 [3 favorites]
the morally dubious but comprehensible decision
Except it seems that Lindsey, Sim, and Ketchum were not making "comprehensible" decisions. They were going full Colonel Kurtz, with the latter two individuals habitually loaded to the tits on demerol and dexedrine, respectively, and with Lindsey running around with a swagger stick made from a human fibula.
“I thought they were crazy,” a doctor who served under him told me. “I was going to New York, and Colonel Lindsey tells me, ‘How about taking a vial of nerve gas to New York to make a demonstration.’ And I am looking at the guy and thinking, If I have an accident on the Thruway, I could kill thousands of people—thousands of people. I said, ‘No. It’s that simple.’ ”
...and...
Periodically, a colleague at Edgewood wrote to update him on life at the arsenal. Among the new doctors, he said, insubordination was “a big problem.” Some of Ketchum’s calculations documenting BZ were not adding up; aerosol tests that he had initiated with LSD—even though the Army was no longer pursuing LSD as a weapon—had resulted in overdoses, and some subjects had become extremely agitated, violent, or hypersexual. For one of the doctors involved, the experience was “very traumatic.”
I think we can assume the reason "insubordination" was a "big problem" is that some of the people involved had - and were expressing - moral qualms with what they were being ordered to do.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 6:49 AM on August 31, 2018 [1 favorite]
Except it seems that Lindsey, Sim, and Ketchum were not making "comprehensible" decisions. They were going full Colonel Kurtz, with the latter two individuals habitually loaded to the tits on demerol and dexedrine, respectively, and with Lindsey running around with a swagger stick made from a human fibula.
“I thought they were crazy,” a doctor who served under him told me. “I was going to New York, and Colonel Lindsey tells me, ‘How about taking a vial of nerve gas to New York to make a demonstration.’ And I am looking at the guy and thinking, If I have an accident on the Thruway, I could kill thousands of people—thousands of people. I said, ‘No. It’s that simple.’ ”
...and...
Periodically, a colleague at Edgewood wrote to update him on life at the arsenal. Among the new doctors, he said, insubordination was “a big problem.” Some of Ketchum’s calculations documenting BZ were not adding up; aerosol tests that he had initiated with LSD—even though the Army was no longer pursuing LSD as a weapon—had resulted in overdoses, and some subjects had become extremely agitated, violent, or hypersexual. For one of the doctors involved, the experience was “very traumatic.”
I think we can assume the reason "insubordination" was a "big problem" is that some of the people involved had - and were expressing - moral qualms with what they were being ordered to do.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 6:49 AM on August 31, 2018 [1 favorite]
So as not to abuse the edit window: All of which is to say that it's interesting that people working on the same stuff at the same time and for the same cause as Lindsey, Sim, and Ketchum could look at what they were being told to do and go "Uhhh. No. This is not o.k." or find the work traumatic rather than fulfilling.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 6:56 AM on August 31, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 6:56 AM on August 31, 2018 [1 favorite]
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