Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
June 13, 2008
Lawmakers and veterans of secret Cold War-era chemical and germ tests on military personnel demanded help from the Bush administration Thursday. But officials from the Pentagon and Veterans Affairs Department said there was no need for legislation to guarantee health care and benefits to the veterans. Thousands of servicemembers were exposed, sometimes without their knowledge, to real and simulated chemical and biological agents, including sarin and VX. The tests were conducted at sea and above a half-dozen U.S. states from 1962-1973 to see how U.S. ships would withstand chemical and germ assaults and how such weapons would disperse. Among those exposed was retired Navy Reserve Lt. Commander Jack Alderson, who testified before the House Veterans Affairs subcommittee on disability assistance. Administration officials said there was no definitive link between the tests--Project 112 and Project SHAD--and illnesses, including cancer and respiratory problems, now afflicting Alderson and others.
June 13, 2008
Lawmakers and veterans of secret Cold War-era chemical and germ tests on military personnel demanded help from the Bush administration Thursday. But officials from the Pentagon and Veterans Affairs Department said there was no need for legislation to guarantee health care and benefits to the veterans. Thousands of servicemembers were exposed, sometimes without their knowledge, to real and simulated chemical and biological agents, including sarin and VX. The tests were conducted at sea and above a half-dozen U.S. states from 1962-1973 to see how U.S. ships would withstand chemical and germ assaults and how such weapons would disperse. Among those exposed was retired Navy Reserve Lt. Commander Jack Alderson, who testified before the House Veterans Affairs subcommittee on disability assistance. Administration officials said there was no definitive link between the tests--Project 112 and Project SHAD--and illnesses, including cancer and respiratory problems, now afflicting Alderson and others.