بيولوجيا الجحيم: التاريخ السري لأمريكا في الحرب الجرثومية

by Ed Regis, أحمد فوزي عبد الحميد (Translator)

Few voices have been louder than the American government's in condemning the spread of biological weapons programs around the world. How astonishing, then, to discover that for thirty years the United States conducted its own large-scale covert biological weapons project. Ed Regis tells the story of this project from its origins in World War II to its abrupt cancellation in 1969. At its peak, the program employed 4,036 people, tested pathogens on more than 2,000 live human volunteers, and secretly conducted open-air pathogen tests on American soil. By its end, the project's scientists had weaponized three lethal biological agents and toxins and four incapacitating agents, covertly sprayed its own cities with bacterial aerosols, and had stockpiled more than two million biological bombs ready for deployment on the battlefield. Yet, suprisingly, almost nothing has been published about the program before now. Based on 2,000 pages of declassified documents, and personal interviews with many of the original project's top scientists, this expose of America's last Cold War secret is both fascinating and shocking.

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, History

305 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1999

About the author

Ed Regis holds a Ph.D. in philosophy from New York University and taught for many years at Howard University. He is now a full-time science writer, contributing to Scientific American, Harper's Magazine, Wired, Discover, and The New York Times, among other periodicals.

Reviews

[Nicolette · Rating 1 out of 5]

"...and Pam Regis (to whom I am indebted for the concept of biological warfare as 'green' warfare)."

...Wait, what? Here my husband was, thinking he was getting me a book that would give me an interesting perspective on the internal workings of bioweapons during the Cold War era, and MAYBE something I could use for my Masters' thesis. Instead, I got a load of FOIA-acceptable, USAMRIID-sponsored-and-interviewed crap. Barely a touch on the death of Frank Olsen, who is one of the most interesting players in the entire thing. And hey, isn't it great that the Whitecoats were Seventh-Day Adventists and could get doused with bioweapons? And don't worry, from all the testing the US Government did, the bombs that carried these infectious agents couldn't POSSIBLY make it anywhere they weren't supposed to be (despite the equipment being manufactured by the lowest bidder). Oh, and does Ed Regis know anything about virology? Anything at all? Lest we forget that shit MUTATES. It happens, and he doesn't even think to touch on it because well, the Army didn't see it and Nixon is BIG AND BAD and shut the entire program down anyway so OBVIOUSLY all the samples were destroyed and USAMRIID now works on happy things like unicorns and ponies (see: The Hot Zone for a debunking of that theory).

Okay, okay, maybe they're interested in bioweapon "defense" but seriously, Regis just sweeps this under the rug like we're so high and mighty for using germs to fight wars, because they're ~*natural*~. Ugh, what did I just read. Seriously. It's causing me to abuse caps lock, and I don't like doing that.

If you really want to read something interesting about the Cold War and bioweapons that doesn't suck (albeit from the other side), pick up Biohazard: The Chilling True Story of the Largest Covert Biological Weapons Program in the World--Told from Inside by the Man Who Ran It. Or maybe Lab 257: The Disturbing Story of the Government's Secret Germ Laboratory, which explains why Regis is pretty much entirely wrong about bioweapons NEVER DOING ANYTHING THE GOVERNMENT TELLS THEM NOT TO DO. Because, you know, germs are rational and can listen to orders.

Ugh.

[Xonrad · Rating 2 out of 5]

Intriguing subject matter which far surpasses the chosen style of writing.

I don't want to say 'textbook', but at times it does give off a rather boring you-have-to-read-this-to-pass-your-course feel in many passages... not because it gets technical (which it does, though on a very light level)... maybe a couple hundred more pages would have allowed for more seamless transitions from event to event, or perhaps a more rigid adherence to actual continuity per nation (or era) would have made it downright enthralling.

Whatever the cause, I am left with an impression that it was very informative... but could have been much "more"

[Andy Yanagihara · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was an interesting topic, but I struggled to stay engaged with the writing, and it felt like something was missing when I finished it. Overall, this was a decent read, but I think had it been longer, it would have been better.

[Ben Savage · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent undertaking of America's Biological Warfare Experiences. Will update later