Nexus - 0502 - New Times Magazine-pages

Page 40 of 85

Page 40 of 85
Nexus - 0502 - New Times Magazine-pages

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of ‘realistic, non-toxic simulants' in such tests—precisely the kind of simulants the army claims it has been using all along." "Since such tests are conducted secretly, people have no way of knowing whether and when they are being used as experimental subjects. No monitoring of the health of the affected population took place in the past, and there is no evidence that the army's approach to the issue has changed." To this date, it is believed that the US Army continues to con- duct open-air tests of the above-mentioned bacteria as well as other bacterial simulants. It is likely that some of the germ war- fare agents currently being trialled are genetically engineered. of ‘realistic, non-toxic simulants' in such tests—precisely the kind _ patient was kept in partial sensory isolation. of simulants the army claims it has been using all along." Cameron's application proposed trying a variety of drugs, "Since such tests are conducted secretly, people have no way of _ including the paralytic, curare, as part of a new technique. The knowing whether and when they are being used as experimental analogy to brainwashing was obvious to the CIA which provided subjects. No monitoring of the health of the affected population —_a $60,000 grant through the Human Ecology Society. took place in the past, and there is no evidence that the army's One of Cameron's patients, Rita Zimmerman, was "depat- approach to the issue has changed." terned" with 30 electroshock sessions followed by 56 days of To this date, it is believed that the US Army continues to con- drug-induced sleep. The treatment left her incontinent. Other duct open-air tests of the above-mentioned bacteria as well as patients suffered permanent brain damage, lost their jobs or other bacterial simulants. It is likely that some of the germ war- became disoriented. One of the few cases successfully brought fare agents currently being trialled are genetically engineered. before the courts was Orlikow vs USA, which was settled in 1988 for $750,000. (Cameron died in 1967.) UK Biowarfare Experiments Cases filed by prisoners and soldiers who were given a variety The UK Ministry of Defence conducted its own top-secret germ of drugs have been dismissed by judges who have ruled that, warfare tests from 1964 to 1977. Simulants, including Bacillus although subjects did not learn until the 1970s what had been globigii, Serratia marcescens and E. coli-162, were sprayed in done to them, the side effects and flashbacks they experienced public places including Waterloo Bridge and the Thames embank- immediately after the tests should have prompted "a reasonable ments. Reportedly, "massive quantities" of biological warfare man to seek legal advice at the time".” simulant were also launched off the Dorset coast. Some of the Despite promises to track down victims of drug testing, the CIA agents released could have caused pneumonia, septicaemia or has not conducted any legitimate follow-up on citizens who were ophthalmitis in young children, old people or those already ill.” used experimentally. Internal memos and depositions taken from Germ warfare agents were sprayed around the British biological CIA officials in a lawsuit against the Agency in the 1980s reveal and chemical weapons facility at Porton Down, as well as in that of the hundreds of experimental subjects used in the CIA's London's West End, central Southampton, Portland Bill, Maiden = MK-Ultra mind-control program, only 14 were ever notified, and Castle near Dorchester, Osmington only one was compensated—for Mills near Weymouth, and the Lyme $15,000. The 14 had all been given Bay area in Dorset. Internal memos and depositions LSD by CIA agents in San Francisco The micro-organisms, contained in taken from CIA officials in a in an attempt to test the drug in an boxes, were deliberately exposed to the air. Other boxes with vents lawsuit against the Agency reveal allowed air to circulate through so the that of the hundreds of EXPERIMENTAL VACCINE bio-contaminants could become air- . TRIALS ON INFANT ORPHANS borne. Many tests involved direct experimental subjects used in the While we are all conscious of the "operationally realistic setting". spraying of simulants into the air . toxic and sometimes deadly effects from vehicles, ships and aircraft. CIA's Mk-Ultra mind-control of vaccinations, few are aware that program, only 14 were ever the Australian and British govern- South Africa's Secret Testing ifi ments trialled experimental vaccines Apartheid-era scientists in South noti ied... on infants and babies who were wards of the state. During the 1960s, babies and Africa secretly tested deadly chemical substances on humans. The tests were carried out by the elite Seventh Medical young children with Down's syndrome were used as guinea pigs Battalion with the approval of the military leadership. The human _ by British doctors to test an experimental vaccine for measles.” subjects included political prisoners, soldiers and the Bushmen— In Australia, vaccine trials were conducted in Victorian orphan- South Africa's last aborigines. ages after World War II and continued until the 1970s. The experiments included trials of new vaccines that either did not MIND-CONTROL RESEARCH work or failed to pass safety tests in animals. Babies less than 12 Thousands of people served as unwitting guinea pigs for the months old were injected with large doses of an experimental vac- CIA's mind-control experiments, code-named MK-Ultra, conduct- cine against herpes; others were given a test vaccine against ed in the 1960s and 1970s. Psychotropic drugs, hypnosis, elec- whooping cough.” troshock and lobotomy were all studied as part of a vast US effort The vaccine trials in Australia were conducted by researchers to develop mind-control techniques. from the Commonwealth Serum Laboratories and the Walter and One of the grisliest CIA-funded experiments involved the work _ Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research. In the largest experi- of Canadian psychiatrist Dr D. Ewen Cameron. In the 1950s, ment, undertaken in 1970, 350 infants were injected with adult Cameron developed and implemented a method using what he doses of a trial influenza vaccine. Internal memos and depositions __ taken from CIA officials in a program, only 14 were ever notified... MIND-CONTROL RESEARCH Thousands of people served as unwitting guinea pigs for the CIA's mind-control experiments, code-named MK-Ultra, conduct- ed in the 1960s and 1970s. Psychotropic drugs, hypnosis, elec- troshock and lobotomy were all studied as part of a vast US effort to develop mind-control techniques. One of the grisliest CIA-funded experiments involved the work of Canadian psychiatrist Dr D. Ewen Cameron. In the 1950s, Cameron developed and implemented a method using what he called "depatterning" and "psychic driving" to treat psychotic peo- ple. According to a grant application that Cameron submitted in 1957 to the Society for the Investigation of Human Ecology (a CIA-funded front set up to support behaviour-control research), the procedure consisted of breaking down ongoing patterns of the patient's behaviour with particularly intensive electroshocks and in some cases with repeated doses of LSD.”' This procedure would be followed by intensive repetition, 16 hours a day for six or seven days, of a tape-recorded message, during which time the STERILISATION BY THE STATE Australia, Austria, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Italy, Japan, Norway, Switzerland, Sweden and the United States have recently owned up to scandals of forced sterilisations. Thousands, mostly women, were forcibly sterilised in what has long been standard practice in the care of people with intellectual and psychiatric disabilities. Few sterilisations were ever conduct- ed for medical or therapeutic purposes: they were carried out at NEXUS - 39 FEBRUARY - MARCH 1998