Quote:
Originally Posted by Itse
Hey, remember when Nixon closed down US bioweapons program? You know, so they can only make "defensive" bioweapons? Funny stuff. |
This is a classic misinterpretation. Nixon did renounce biological weapons and set the pieces in motion to destroy the US stockpile, which, by all accounts was a step in the right direction, or as Nixon himself put it, "These important decisions have been taken as an initiative toward peace." Retaining small amounts of either cultures or agent for research purposes is not only scientifically beneficial, it is just plain common sense. These samples were important in helping the US Government create anthrax vaccines, which were used to inoculate US troops prior to Operation
Iraqi Freedom.
Further to that, retaining BW and CW samples for research frequently leads to innovation in soldier systems and troop defence/safety. For example, Canada never had an active offensive toxic organophosphate (TO) R&D program, though work on developing TO antidotes was considerable. Research in this area led to the creation of the Hi-6 multicomponent auto-injector, which has been adopted by the Canadian Forces as it's primary TO antidote. This work was undertaken at DRDC Suffield, using active agents and was a hugely successful and important project.
So personally, I don't really see how it is a bad thing.