Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
Because all trilateral inspections ceased after 1994 and because four
Russian military BW facilities remain closed to outside inspection, skepti-
cism persists regarding the Russian Federation's abandonment of its BW
program. Is this resistance due to pressure from a hard-core military es-
tablishment unwilling to let former enemies into top-secret facilities, or
are continued violations of the BWC under way?
The major postwar concern, however, has centered on CBW prolif-
eration and its relationship to terrorism. These fears were greatly height-
ened by the discovery of the extensive Iraqi CBW program at the end
of the 1991 Gulf War and by the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks in
New York City and Washington and the October anthrax letters. How-
ever, the subsequent failure to locate CBW in occupied Iraq at the close
of the 2003 war, despite confident CIA assertions of the existence of
such stockpiles, is a sobering reminder regarding the limitations of intel-
ligence.
148
Former BW Facilities
Starting in 1971, the former US BW facilities were quickly converted.
Detrick became the Frederick Cancer Research Center and home to a
number of military organizations: the field operating agency of the Sur-
geon General of the Army Medical Intelligence and Information Agency,
the Naval Medical Logistics Command, and the US Army Medical Re-
search Institute of Infectious Diseases, all of which conducted only defen-
sive BW research or conventional medical research.
149
The conversion of Pine Bluff has an ironic ring. According to a draft of
the announcement on its conversion, it was to become the National Cen-
ter for Toxicological Research, after the cleanup of its BW, to be taken
over by the Food and Drug Administration in fiscal year 1973: “The Cen-
ter will examine the biological effects of a number of chemical substances
which are found in man's surroundings, such as pesticides, food addi-
tives, and therapeutic drugs.”
150
Dugway Proving Ground became the exclusive facility for outdoor test-
ing. Edgewood became the site for detection research. But despite the
general divestment, the US military kept control over all the facilities ex-
cept for the area at Fort Detrick yielded to cancer research. In 2003 Plum
Island was turned over to the Department of Homeland Security.
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