Clouds of Secrecy: The Army's Germ Warfare Tests Over Populated Areas

This book contains shocking but carefully documented details about germ warfare tests conducted by the U.S. Army in the 1960s. It is an eye opener about a range of Army experiments that exposed millions of Americans to various bacteria without their knowledge. The purpose supposedly was to see how vulnerable Americans would be to a germ attack. The book is clearly written and provides riveting descriptions of many of the tests. The most amazing thing about the tests was the number of American cities and their populations that were targeted. They included New York City, San Francisco, St. Louis and hundreds of other cities and towns. The germs were not true warfare agents like anthrax, but they apparently caused several people to become sick, some perhaps fatally. In the current climate of fear about terrorism, Clouds of Secrecy provides an invaluable reminder that secret government actions intended to protect the public may themselves create risks to its safety.

An interesting book on biological weapons testing during the 1950's. Unfortunately understanding the behavior of biological weapons was and is a necessity. This book reviews a few of the 239 admitted tests. It does not provide in depth information on the individual tests such as plume spread or pattern. It does expose the use of U.S. cities as the test tubes for these experiments. Several times the author refers to alleged violations of the BWC by the former USSR. As history has proven, they were not alleged but rampant violations of the BWC. Open air testing is likely to remain a priority for biological defense. This book describes what may be happening in your own backyard.

I have read a few books on the topic recently, and this one is short (~150 pages) and concise. Cole gives well documented examples of bio-warfare "experiments" conducted within the US on it's own populace as well as in Europe. The best part of the book documents the lawsuit of an American citizen who sued the US over the death of a family member who died from the government flu and lost becuase the court said what the feds were doing were not illegal. How nice. Need a quick reminder that the military and judicial branches of the government are not your friend? Get this book.