U.S. considered Cold War radiological weapon (to assassinate "important individuals")

[sabra]

Source: AP

WASHINGTON — In one of the longest-held secrets of the Cold War, the U.S. Army explored the potential for using radioactive poisons to assassinate "important individuals" such as military or civilian leaders, according to newly declassified documents obtained by the Associated Press.

Approved at the highest levels of the Army in 1948, the effort was a well-hidden part of the military's pursuit of a "new concept of warfare" using radioactive materials from atomic bombmaking to contaminate swaths of enemy land or to target military bases, factories or troop formations.

Military historians who have researched the broader radiological warfare program said in interviews that they had never before seen evidence that it included pursuit of an assassination weapon. Targeting public figures in such attacks is not unheard of; just last year an unknown assailant used a tiny amount of radioactive polonium-210 to kill Kremlin critic Alexander Litvinenko in London.

No targeted individuals are mentioned in references to the assassination weapon in the government documents declassified in response to a Freedom of Information Act request filed by the AP in 1995.

The decades-old records were released recently to the AP, heavily censored by the government to remove specifics about radiological warfare agents and other details. The censorship reflects concern that the potential for using radioactive poisons as a weapon is more than a historic footnote; it is believed to be sought by present-day terrorists bent on attacking U.S. targets.

Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-10-08-radiological-weapon_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip

[monktonman]

1. I wonder if this is what Speaker Pelosi is so afraid of??

Edit to add: This article in and of itself is sufficient threat to scare the crap out of anyone.
Just by printing something like this it tells us that there are those in our government that are so evil that they'd even poison our own people.

[defendandprotect]

2. Church Hearings exposed the CIA's weapon which fired a tiny dart with poison --

they were certainy studying LSD to use as a weapon --

Can, of course, they were involved in using cancer as a weapon ---

THIS is the first radiological weapon . . . . perhaps . . .

Btw, the Church Hearings are still classified -- though there were open hearings -- and closed hearings.

This is the alleged weapon used by "Umbrella Man" in the JFK coup . . . to fire a small dart to immobilize the the president so he would remain in a sitting position.

[deminks]

3. Interesting that they bring up the Litvinenko incident...

(snip)

The Dec. 16, 1948, memo said a lethal attack against individuals using radiological material should be done in a way that makes it impossible to trace the U.S. government's involvement, a concept known as "plausible deniability" that is central to U.S. covert actions.

O Brave New World, that has such people in it.

KnR

[Thothmes]

4. Assassination

Much more suttle than a P-38.

[maddezmom]

5. kick

[Lone_Star_Dem]

6. US considered poisons for assassinations

Source: AP

WASHINGTON - In one of the longest-held secrets of the Cold War, the U.S. Army explored the potential for using radioactive poisons to assassinate "important individuals" such as military or civilian leaders, according to newly declassified documents obtained by The Associated Press.

Approved at the highest levels of the Army in 1948, the effort was a well-hidden part of the military's pursuit of a "new concept of warfare" using radioactive materials from atomic bombmaking to contaminate swaths of enemy land or to target military bases, factories or troop formations.

Military historians who have researched the broader radiological warfare program said in interviews that they had never before seen evidence that it included pursuit of an assassination weapon. Targeting public figures in such attacks is not unheard of; just last year an unknown assailant used a tiny amount of radioactive polonium-210 to kill Kremlin critic Alexander Litvinenko in London.

No targeted individuals are mentioned in references to the assassination weapon in the government documents declassified in response to a Freedom of Information Act request filed by the AP in 1995.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071008/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/assassination_weapon;_ylt=Am5qwe79Xvez5FgQyKpS_uGs0NUE

[LiberalVoice]

7. Ummm...no shit?

Does this come as a surprise to anyone?

[lynnertic]

8. (self-edit)

[LynnTheDem]

9. But "America the Moral Authority" would never ever use "wmd"

or murder people!

Only the "bad guys" would do that shit.

[monktonman]

10. I wonder if this is what Speaker Pelosi is so afraid of.

Hmmmmm..........
Wasn't that Russian guy poisoned with something like a millionth of a gram
of radioactive nastiness?
I could imagine when this made front page news, a newspaper was sent
to every congressional office in the country.
To: name your Dem
From: anonymous
Wink-wink.

[lligrd]

11. They Didn't Just Consider It. They Did It.

Remember the anthrax attacks!

[Orsino]

12. You know, this story doesn't creep me out much.

I would assume that in a massive military-industrial complex, someone somehwere was paid a tidy sum to study the possibility. I'm more interested in why the record shows the idea was shelved, and in whether or not it was pursued or employed anyway.

The idea of assassination itself outrages me much more than this single possible avenue for it.

[Vidar]

13. Color me "not surprised".

[TexasLawyer]

14. Army sought radiation to kill Cold War leaders (and contaminate enemy land)

Source: AP

Army sought radiation to kill Cold War leaders

By Robert Burns - The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Oct 9, 2007

In one of the longest-held secrets of the Cold War, the Army explored the potential for using radioactive poisons to assassinate “important individuals” such as military or civilian leaders, according to newly declassified documents obtained by The Associated Press.

Approved at the highest levels of the Army in 1948, the effort was a well-hidden part of the military’s pursuit of a “new concept of warfare” using radioactive materials from atomic bomb-making to contaminate swaths of enemy land or to target military bases, factories or troop formations.

Military historians who have researched the broader radiological warfare program said in interviews that they had never before seen evidence that it included pursuit of an assassination weapon. Targeting public figures in such attacks is not unheard of. Last year, an unknown assailant used a tiny amount of radioactive polonium-210 to kill Kremlin critic Alexander Litvinenko in London.

No targeted individuals are mentioned in references to the assassination weapon in the government documents declassified in response to a Freedom of Information Act request filed by the AP in 1995. The decades-old records were released recently to the AP, heavily censored by the government to remove specifics about radiological warfare agents and other details. The censorship reflects concern that the potential for using radioactive poisons as a weapon is more than a historic footnote; it is believed to be sought by present-day terrorists bent on attacking U.S. targets.



Read more: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2007/10/ap_coldwarweapon_071009/