Cold War Tests on U.S. Troops Investigated

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Cold War Tests on U.S. Troops Investigated

Associated Press | November 09, 2005

WASHINGTON - Lawmakers called Tuesday for an independent commission to investigate a Cold War program that tested chemical and biological weapons on U.S. troops, accusing the Pentagon of stalling on disclosing information.
After first denying the tests existed, the Pentagon acknowledged in 2003 that 5,842 soldiers and sailors were involved in experiments between 1962 and 1973 to determine the effectiveness of biological and chemical weapons. Some of the tests involved potentially deadly agents.

Lawmakers and veterans' advocates complained Tuesday that the Defense Department's investigation apparently stopped there - even though congressional investigators found in 2004 that the Pentagon likely had not identified all the military and civilian personnel who were exposed.

"We finally were able to get DOD to admit that, in fact, they did expose veterans unknowingly," said Rep. Mike Thompson, a California Democrat. "The problem is we got conflicting reports in regard to who's been exposed and the extent of it. ... They've really dragged their feet and their work has been incomplete."

Thompson and Rep. Denny Rehberg, a Montana Republican, held a news conference with veterans groups to announce Legislation that would create a 10-member independent commission to investigate the tests and ensure those involved are informed.

Fifty tests were identified by the Pentagon as having occurred under programs known as Project 112 and the Shipboard Hazard and Defense Project. They were conducted on U.S. and foreign soil and aboard ships in the North Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

Many of the soldiers and sailors involved were unwitting guinea pigs, and an untold number of civilians also may have been exposed. In most cases, supposedly harmless substances were involved, although in a number of cases potentially deadly nerve agents were used, including sarin and VX.

A Government Accountability Office report in 2004 said that all the service members and civilians who were involved probably had not been identified because the Pentagon had trouble finding records, did not specifically search for civilians and did not conduct an exhaustive search.

A Pentagon spokeswoman did not immediately return a call and e-mails for comment, and a Veterans Affairs spokesman did not immediately respond to questions about how many veterans involved in the tests have been notified of their condition, or treated.