Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
“carry out BW trials in Canada, elsewhere than at Suffield, without very
good reason.” In a subsequent report, conveyed to the US Air Force, the
advantages of Suffield's 700-square-mile operation were carefully out-
lined, notably the special “mile-square area fenced with rodent proof
fence for the conduct of BW trials...abursting chamber of about
200 cu.m. [cubic meter] capacity which will handle shells up to 25 pd.
[pound] size. It has a vacuum system and lines to allow sampling of dis-
persed agents from six positions in the chamber . . . [with] an animal ex-
posure chamber attached.” 21
These discussions coincided with major upgrades in the US BW system,
notably the establishment of a huge manufacturing plant at Pine Bluff,
Arkansas, with an initial capability to produce four pathogens (brucel-
losis, tularemia, anthrax, and botulinum toxin); along with improve-
ments in delivery systems, with a range of new bombs, sprays, rockets,
and insect vectors. In addition, there were apparent changes in the US
position toward the offensive use of BW, a trend that Porton's David
Henderson noted during his March 1952 visit to the US: “American col-
leagues of long standing had become very offensive minded...emphasis
was now entirely on anti-personnel and anti-crop weapons . . . [and] the
Services had gained complete control of BW matters in the US.” 22
From the Korean War to the Cuban Missile Crisis
During the Korean War, Canada's involvement with BW came under in-
tense public scrutiny at home and abroad, particularly after the 1952
Communist-bloc allegations that the US had used germ warfare in North
Korea and northeastern China. In part, this crisis reflected growing inter-
national concern about BW, fueled by a variety of doomsday predictions.
One of the most graphic declarations came from Dr. Brock Chisholm, the
Canadian-born director general of the World Health Organization, who
gave the following warning in a September 1949 address to the World
Union of Peace Organizations: “Biological warfare is not a new kind of
war, it is just the latest step . . . Some seven ounces of a certain biological
agent, if it could be effectively distributed, would be sufficient to kill all
the people of the world . . . Large armies, navies and air forces, including
the Atomic bomb, which have been regarded as the symbol and fact of
Power, are now obsolete.” 23
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