US Armed Forces urge offensive biological weapons development

US Navy and Air Force biotechnology laboratories are proposing 
development of offensive biological weapons. The weapons, genetically 
engineered microbes that attack items such as fuel, plastics and asphalt, 
would violate US and international law.

The proposals have been made by the Naval Research Laboratory (Washington 
(DC) and the Armstrong Laboratory (Brooks Air Base, San Antonio, Texas). 
They date from 1997, but were recently submitted by the Marine corps for a 
high-level assessment by a panel of the US National Academies of Science 
(NAS).

The NAS panel prepared a draft report; but it has not been released to the 
public.

The uncovering of these proposals for an offensive biological weapons 
program comes at a critical political juncture.

The US has rejected a legally-binding system of United Nations inspections 
of suspected biological weapons facilities.

At the same time, the Bush administration is aggressively accusing other 
countries of developing biological weapons and expanding its so-called 
"Axis of Evil" based in large part on allegations of foreign biological 
weapons development.

But it is increasingly apparent that there are serious questions about the 
United States' own compliance with the Biological and Toxin Weapons 
Convention (BTWC).

While US allegations against other countries are generally undocumented, 
the proposals described in this press release were recently released to the 
Sunshine Project under the Freedom of Information Act and have been placed 
on the internet for independent analysis.

(see http://www.sunshine-project.org)

Explicitly for offence

In the murky world of biological weapons research, many technologies are 
"dual use", that is, they have both offensive and peaceful applications.

The alleged transfer of dual use technologies, such as vaccine research, is 
a basis of charges made against Cuba on May 6 by US Under Secretary of 
State John Bolton.

Documents released by the US armed forces, however, are not about "dual 
use" technology, they are explicit proposals for offensive weaponsmaking.

According to the Naval Research Laboratory, "It is the purpose of the 
proposed research to capitalise on the degrading potential of naturally 
occurring micro-organisms, and to engineer additional, focused degradative 
capabilities into [genetically modified micro-organisms], to produce 
systems that will degrade the warfighting capabilities of potential 
adversaries".

The Air Force proposes genetically engineered catalysts made of bacteria 
that carry out the destruction. "Catalysts can be engineered to destroy 
whatever war material is desired."

The proposals indicate these weapons might be used by all the armed forces, 
including Special Forces and in peacekeeping and anti-narcotics operations.

Additional documents suppressed

They are probably only the tip of the iceberg. For over one year, the 
Marine Corps has delayed response to a Sunshine Project Freedom of 
Information Act request that now includes 147 unclassified documents.

The two proposals described here are part of a recent first release of 
eight items from that request.

Another 139 related legal and weapons development documents remain 
unreleased. The Marine Corps says the delay is due to a lack of manpower.

The National Academies are also suppressing related documents. As part of 
the Marine Corps-commissioned study in 2001, at least 77 apparently 
chemical and biological weapons-related documents were deposited in the NAS 
Public Access Records File, a library open for inspection and copying by 
all persons.

After the Sunshine Project requested copies of these documents on March 12, 
2002, the National Academies placed a "security hold" on the public file.

The Sunshine Project believes that NAS is under pressure from high-ranking 
US officials to "Enron" the public record to avoid release of politically 
sensitive material.

Rather than assist a purge of public record, NAS -- a leading US non-profit 
scientific body -- must condemn and release the proposals for illegal 
weapons that is has received.

The research proposed by the Air Force and Navy raises serious legal 
questions. Under the US biological Weapons Anti-Terrorism Act, development 
of biological weapons, including those that attack materials, is subject to 
federal criminal and civil penalties.

The Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention, which the US and 143 other 
countries have ratified, prohibit development, acquisition, and stockpiling 
of any biological agents not justifiable for peaceful or prophylactic 
purposes.

There is no such justification for the offensive research proposed by the 
Navy and Air Force. The proposals are certain to weigh heavily on all 
countries' minds as they prepare for November's reconstituted 5th Review 
Conference of the BTWC.

The Sunshine Project is an NGO working on biological weapons issues.