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A: Historical Background of the U. S. Biological Warfare Program
Pages 112-121

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From page 113...
... by a foreign power against the United States and its allies, U.S. Secreta~y of War Henry Stimson in 1941 asked the National Research CounciV National Academy of Sciences to investigate all phases of BW.
From page 114...
... In short, the policy required extensive research and development to determine precisely our vulnerability, the efficacy of our protective measures, and the tactical and strategic capability of various BW agents and delivery systems. In the beginning and continuing throughout the BW program, there was a paucity of scientific and engineering knowledge and principles related to the vulnerability ofthe United States and its allies to 13W attacks.
From page 115...
... The second challenge arose from the impossibility of field testing BW agents in test areas that are typical of the probable targets, such as selected cities of the former Soviet Union. If pathogens or extremely toxic chemicals were to be tested, they had to be handled in remote, isolated areas, but such areas generally are atypical of habitable regions.
From page 116...
... They are chosen to resemble the size of BW agents for penetration in the respiratory tract; they are not themselves BW agents. The Army used both biologic and nonbiologic simulants in dispersion tests.
From page 117...
... 22~. SELECTION OF TEST CmES AN D OTH ER TEST S I I AS To accomplish the Army's goal of estimating munitions requirements for the strategic use of BW agents against cities, the researchers considered as test areas North American metropolitan areas that most closely matched the meteorologic, terrain, population, and physical characteristics of the Soviet cities of interest, such as Moscow and Leningrad (Stanford University 1952, pp.
From page 118...
... To avoid disclosing the exact nature and purpose of the operations, a cover story was devised: city officials were told that the work was to obtain data pertinent to smoke screening of cities to prevent aerial observation (Stanford University 1952, p.
From page 119...
... ARMY TESTS WITH B IO LOG IC AN D NON BIOLOGIC SIMULANTS In tests with the biologic and nonbiologic simulants, public safety was stated to be the foremost consideration (Stanford University 1952~. Organ~sms and materials that were considered by the scientific community to be safe were selected (U.S.
From page 120...
... The tests were purportedly used to develop and verify meteorologic models for estimating the dispersion of aerosols in various environments. However, the real purpose was to obtain information that would be useful for estimating the potential dispersion of BW agents and determining munitions requirements for the strategic use of BW agents against selected cities of the former Soviet Union.
From page 121...
... Stanford University and Ralph Parsons Company.


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