As most of you know I was used in the chemical weapons and drug experiments at Edgewood Arsenal in June thru August 1974. The program was determined to be in violation of the Nuremberg Codes of 1947 by an Army Lt. General named Taylor who was the Army Inspector General in 1975, This report led to Senate hearings and other investigations.
I received an e mail yesterday from the BWPP it is a bulletin board of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) calling attention to a new book by a Doctor James Ketchum who particpated in the staff who conducted the experiments.
Considering the hard time I have had getting the government to even admit I am one of the 7120 enlisted men used in the experiments, I was shocked to see a book written by one of the researchers about the classified research. I am glad that the wall is starting to come down about the experiments conducted by this nation with LSD, PCP, BZ and 251 other substances, however I do resent the rewriting of history to portray this program as a misunderstood research program, by one of the main players in it. His claim that it was not part of MKULTRA makes me question how much of the entire project he knew and how much information he was actually given.
He claims that the experiments at Edgewood Arsenal from 1955 thru 1975 had nothing to do with the CIA program known as MKULTRA is either from a misinformed position or a deliberate attempt to ignore the Army's complicity in the CIA program. It has already been established that Dr Sidney Gottlieb was the CIA officer that was in charge of the Special Operation Division (SOD) at Fort Detrick, Maryland where the funds came thru from the CIA for biological experiments at Fort Detrick and chemical weapons and drug experiments at Edgewood Arsenal.
In 1975 after the program was stopped the Army and the CIA apologized for their role in these experiments, the DOD remained silent, the Sec of Defense in 1975 was Donald Rumsfeld.
This book written and self published by Doctor Ketchum claims there was no relation to the CIA program MKULTRA, that the experiments conducted at Edgewood Arsenal were safe and no one was hurt, he uses the 1985 IOM studies that did not show many problems, yet he ignores the March 2003 IOM Sarin Study based on the Edgewood volunteers that shows a 74.43% death and disability rate, hardly a "safe" program where no one was hurt, he ignored the long term health consequences.
This past Kos Diary, written by TxSharon for me explains the extent of the damage done by the Edgewood experiments, it does not match Dr Ketchum's blissful rememberance.
Hereis a copy of the email that alerted me to the interview
Forwarded Message:
Subj: [BWPP DF] Hallucinogenic Weapons: The Other Chemical Warfare
Date: 1/13/2007 10:08:22 PM Eastern Standard Time
From: forum@bwpp.org
To: testvet@aol.com
Sent from the Internet (Details)
By: JP Zanders
On: 13.01.07 21:06
Hallucinogenic Weapons: The Other Chemical Warfare
By RU Sirius
January 10th, 2007
http://www.10zenmonkeys.com/...
There were many acid tests happening in the 1950s and 1960s. Ken Kesey and his Merry Pranksters dosed sometimes-unsuspecting proto-hippies. The CIA was dosing unsuspecting mainstreamers. Leary dosed fully cognizant artists, therapists and students. But meanwhile, over at Army Chemical Center at Edgewood Arsenal in Maryland, psychiatrist James S. Ketchum was testing LSD, BZ and other psychedelic and deliriant compounds on fully informed volunteers for the U.S. military.
Dr. James S. Ketchum was hired by Edgewood, first as a research psychiatrist in 1961. He became Chief of the Psychopharmacology Branch in 1963, and then became Acting Chief of Clinical Research in 1966. After a brief hiatus at Stanford University, he returned as Edgewoods’ Chief of Clinical Research in 1968, staying there until 1971. Dr. Ketchum and his team were looking, primarily, for non-lethal incapacitating agents, and he was central to many of the experiments with these compounds that took place during that time.
Now, Dr. Ketchum has released his fascinating self-published memoir, Chemical Warfare: Secrets Almost Forgotten, primarily detailing his times at Edgewood. The book boasts charts, graphs and experimental reports — a veritable goldmine of information for those who are interested in psychedelics, deliriants, or chemical warfare. It’s also a funny, observant, and reflective personal memoir, casting a light not only on Ketchum and his work, but on a decade that saw 60s counterculture and the military share an oddly intersecting obsession with mind-altering drugs.
Dr. Ketchum himself has remained intrigued by these chemicals, as reflected in his ongoing friendship with Dr. Alexander (Sasha) Shulgin, who wrote a foreword for this book.
I recently interviewed him for The RU Sirius Show. Steve Robles joined me.
Why is this man permitted to write a book on the abuse of 7120 enlisted men of whom as an Officer of the military had a duty to protect, not abuse and as a Doctor had sworn to "do no harm" on research that is still considered classified by the DOD?
I realize people have their own opinions but they can NOT make up their own facts.