BREAKING NEWS January 7, 2005
Feds Whitewash US Bio-Chemical Tests in Alaska By Greg Szymanski (below this article note important information released by The American Gulf War Veterans Association that was posted in Oct. 1998)
http://www.rense.com/general61/bio.htm
Feds Whitewash US Bio-Chemical Tests in Alaska
By Greg Szymanski
American Free Press.com
1-2-5
President Bush extended holiday greetings to military troops this Christmas, but
one gift he'll never open is the executive order he signed, which keeps
sensitive documents secret about biological and chemical testing at Fort Greely
near Fairbanks, Alaska.
The president, by sealing important documents, obviously feels military
health concerns were of secondary importance to protecting the Department of
Defense (DOD) against potential exposure for injuries resulting from chemical
testing and dumping.
What little is known about chemical and biological testing at Fort Greely has
surfaced from leaked documents, eyewitness accounts and other general
information provided reluctantly by the DOD after health problems began to
surface by those living near the base.
Other information, scratching the surface of what really happened, has also
appeared in Seymour Hersh's book Chemical and Biological Testing: America's
Hidden Arsenal, a historical account of the base by Norman Chase and a March
2003 article entitled "Northern Exposure" in The Nation magazine by Korey
Capozza.
"The real story of what went on is in the classified documents kept secret by
the DOD and President Bush," said Capozza, a critic of the recent executive
order signed by Bush. "They have yet to give veterans a clear definition of
possible causes of their health problems. The DOD also refuses to grant any of
the veterans health care based on exposure to agents used in the secret site's
experiments."
Records show that Fort Greely, as far back as 1952 and continuing to at least
1970, was used for the explicit purpose of testing chemical and biological
weapons. The base, located 100 miles southwest of Fairbanks on 640,000 acres,
originally began operating in 1942 as a staging area for planes ferried to the
Soviet Union during World War II.
However, seven years later a nuclear reactor was built to serve as the
military's power plant. Then in 1966, the Army began testing biological,
chemical and various other weapons. The reactor was dismantled in 1973, and in
1995 the base was scheduled for closure.
But recently, under the Bush administration, the DOD proposed Fort Greely be
used as a storage site for interceptor missiles in support of the space-based
missile defense program.
However, what transpired on the base during the 1960s and 1970s is still heavily
debated as veterans are now surfacing with what amounts to "chemical horror"
stories.
According to several veterans who spoke to VA officials, between 1962 and 1967,
the Army blasted hundreds of rockets and bombs containing sarin and VX nerve gas
into the region which is densely populated by forests and wildlife.
Veterans recall canisters of VX nerve agents being indiscriminately buried
approximately a mile from the Alaskan highway or tossed in a nearby frozen lake
in the winter of 1966, where the canisters later sank to the bottom when the ice
melted in the spring. Regular dumping expeditions were reportedly carried out
until 1970, when the testing discontinued.
Now, 30 years later, veterans and civilians are coming forward with serious
health concerns, but since no records are available due to Fort Greely's
top-secret status, VA officials at first had a hard time believing the veterans'
credibility.
After heavy pressure was applied by watchdog groups, the DOD has released some
documents revealing the test site may have been operated with blatant disregard
for human and environmental safety.
The documents also suggest that some of the deadly materials used may still be
unaccounted for and buried somewhere beneath the pristine Alaskan wilderness.
Critics suggest the executive order signed by Bush was designed to protect
the DOD against conclusive evidence, hiding a massive cover-up of illegal
chemical and biological testing.
Not Copyrighted. Readers can reprint and are free to redistribute - as long as
full credit is given to American Free Press - 645 Pennsylvania Avenue SE, Suite
100 Washington, D.C. 20003
http://www.americanfreepress.net/html/bio-chemical_tests.html
Read The News Release titled "40 Years of Government
Sponsored Ecological Terrorism" BY Joyce Riley vonKleist posted Oct. 1998:
http://www.gulfwarvets.com/greely.htm
Read The FULL TEXT Document of "INSTALLATION ASSESSMENT OF
GERSTLE RIVER TEST SITE" :
http://www.gulfwarvets.com/greely/greely.html (Posted on the website
Oct. 1998)
Related articles:
*
ANCHORAGE (AP) -- Gov. Tony Knowles is demanding that the Department of Defense
reveal all Cold War-era chemical or biological weapons testing in Alaska.
* Oct. 9, 2002
Fact Sheet from The Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Health
Affairs)
Deployment Health Support Directive.