The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1949-03-25
GERM WARFARE - :


food crops. Because of the widespread
nature Of the discussions, Secretary of
Defense James Forrestal recently issued
public statement to correct nlisunder-
standings Of the potentialities Of biological
warfare. ~ sls
Mr. Forrestal calls fantastic. and
without "basis in fact the following as
sertions:
On That single plane, with small
bomb, filled with biological agent. could
wipe out the population Of an entire city
with single blow;
(2) That one ounce of particular
material would be sufficient to kill 200,-
100000 people;
(3) That biological warfare makes it.
possible to kill the inhabitants of an en-
tire continent very quickly:
(4) That it would be a simple matter
to spread plague in the United States or
that the dropping of few capsules from
an airplane would spread various diseases
among millions of people.
The Secretary Of Defense calls atten-
ton to the fact that. during the recent
war; intelligence reports Iof enemy ac-
tivities caused intensive Investigations Of
the possibilities and potentialites of bio
logical warfare.
Because press release was issued
some months ago to tell of the combined
efforts of American scientists and indus
try to develop means for defense against
possible biological warfare, there has
been number of ''extravagant, inaccu-
rate and unduly spectacular" articles in
the press of the nation
Some were 80 sensational as to be
completely misleading says the Secre-
tary, who adds that sthe public has been
given an exaggerated impression as to
the potency and state of development of
biological warfare" There is, he asserts,
mo factual basis for extravagant claims
of the existence of biological super
weapon" 60.
Mr.. Forrestal points out that, in view
of the reports received during the war, it
would have been foolish for the United
States and its allies to overlook the pos
siblity that desperate enemy might at
sequently, it was necessary to develop
adequate defense and the study that
had been conducted by the responsible
officials of the nation has been devoted
largely to the defensive measures that
must be developed before any attack is
made.
Mr. Forrestal states that large-scale
biological warfare has never been used
by any nation but he admits that re-
search indicates that *germs or their
poisonous products could be used effec-
lively as weapons of war" Consequent
ly the nation should not only be able to
set up defense against any attack, but
it should also be able to utilize the weap-
on in the future if it becomes necessary.
In this connection, Major-General AL
den H. Watt, Chiefsof the Army .Chemi-
cal Corps, says that the United States is
prepared to cope" with any use of germ
warfare bp an enemy He says that, at
the end of World War II, this nation was
far ahead of it's enemies and while bio
logical warfare "has great potentiality,"
it is a weapon of the future
The General asserts emphatically
that "if the enemy uses gas or biological
warfare, it does not follow necessarily that
the United States will use them" At the
same time, he assures the American peo-
pie that the armed forces are alert to the
problem and will be as well prepared, if
not better, than any potential enemy.
General Watt says that there are no
stockpiles of germ weapons" in this
country but he says that scientists are
working on defense for every agent
we can, develop" The techniques are
highly secret but the General says that if
treatment or minimizing AGENTS. found
for disease affecting the people as a
whole, security would be cast aside and
the treatment would be made available
to the world