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Project Jefferson
Project Jefferson was a covert U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency program designed to determine if the current anthrax vaccine was effective against genetically modified bacteria. The program's legal status under the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) is disputed. History The operation Project Jefferson began in 1997 and was designed to reproduce a strain of genetically modified anthrax isolated by Russian scientists during the 1990s. The goal was to determine whether or not the strain was resistant to the commercially available U.S. anthrax vaccine.Tucker, Jonathan B.Biological Threat Assessment: Is the Cure Worse Than the Disease?", ''Arms Control Today'', October 2004. Retrieved January 6, 2009. Reportage The project was disclosed in a September 4, 2001 article in ''The New York Times''. Miller, Judith, Engelberg, Stephen and Broad, William J.U.S. Germ Warfare Research Pushes Treaty Limits, ''The New York Times'', September 4, 2001. Retrieved January 6, 2009. Reporters ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Covert
Secrecy is the practice of hiding information from certain individuals or groups who do not have the "need to know", perhaps while sharing it with other individuals. That which is kept hidden is known as the secret. Secrecy is often controversial, depending on the content or nature of the secret, the group or people keeping the secret, and the motivation for secrecy. Secrecy by government entities is often decried as excessive or in promotion of poor operation; excessive revelation of information on individuals can conflict with virtues of privacy and confidentiality. It is often contrasted with social transparency. Secrecy can exist in a number of different ways: encoding or encryption (where mathematical and technical strategies are used to hide messages), true secrecy (where restrictions are put upon those who take part of the message, such as through government security classification) and obfuscation, where secrets are hidden in plain sight behind complex idiosyncrati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Project Bacchus
Project Bacchus was a covert investigation by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency US Defense Department to determine whether it is possible to construct a bioweapons production facility with off-the-shelf equipment. History The project Project Bacchus operated from 1999-2000 to investigate whether would-be terrorists could build an anthrax production facility and remain undetected. During the two-year simulation, the facility was constructed, and successfully produced an anthrax-like bacterium. The participating scientists were able to make about of highly refined bacterial particles.MacKenzie, Debora Anthrax in Florida and New York "the same strain", ''New Scientist'', October 18, 2001. Retrieved January 6, 2009. Reportage The secret Project Bacchus was disclosed in a September 2001 article in ''The New York Times''. Reporters Judith Miller, Stephen Engelberg and William J. Broad collaborated on the article. Shortly after it appeared, they published a book containing further de ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Biological Warfare
Biological warfare, also known as germ warfare, is the use of biological toxins or infectious agents such as bacteria, viruses, insects, and fungi with the intent to kill, harm or incapacitate humans, animals or plants as an act of war. Biological weapons (often termed "bio-weapons", "biological threat agents", or "bio-agents") are living organisms or replicating entities ( ''i.e.'' viruses, which are not universally considered "alive"). Entomological (insect) warfare is a subtype of biological warfare. Offensive biological warfare is prohibited under customary international humanitarian law and several international treaties. In particular, the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) bans the development, production, acquisition, transfer, stockpiling and use of biological weapons. Therefore, the use of biological agents in armed conflict is a war crime. In contrast, defensive biological research for prophylactic, protective or other peaceful purposes is not proh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arms Control
Arms control is a term for international restrictions upon the development, production, stockpiling, proliferation and usage of small arms, conventional weapons, and weapons of mass destruction. Arms control is typically exercised through the use of diplomacy which seeks to impose such limitations upon consenting participants through international treaties and agreements, although it may also comprise efforts by a nation or group of nations to enforce limitations upon a non-consenting country. Enactment Arms control treaties and agreements are often seen as a way to avoid costly arms races which could prove counter-productive to national aims and future peace. Some are used as ways to stop the spread of certain military technologies (such as nuclear weaponry or missile technology) in return for assurances to potential developers that they will not be victims of those technologies. Additionally, some arms control agreements are entered to limit the damage done by warfare, es ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George W
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he previously served as the 46th governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000. While in his twenties, Bush flew warplanes in the Texas Air National Guard. After graduating from Harvard Business School in 1975, he worked in the oil industry. In 1978, Bush unsuccessfully ran for the House of Representatives. He later co-owned the Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball before he was elected governor of Texas in 1994. As governor, Bush successfully sponsored legislation for tort reform, increased education funding, set higher standards for schools, and reformed the criminal justice system. He also helped make Texas the leading producer of wind powered electricity in the nation. In the 2000 presidential election, Bush defeated Democratic incum ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clinton Administration
Bill Clinton's tenure as the 42nd president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1993, and ended on January 20, 2001. Clinton, a Democrat from Arkansas, took office following a decisive election victory over Republican incumbent president George H. W. Bush and independent businessman Ross Perot in 1992. Four years later, in 1996, he defeated Perot again (then as the nominee of the Reform Party) and Republican nominee Bob Dole, to win re-election; in neither ballot did he obtain a majority of the popular vote. Clinton was succeeded by Republican George W. Bush, who won the 2000 presidential election. The nation experienced an extended period of economic prosperity during the Clinton presidency. While the economy remained strong, his presidency oscillated dramatically from high to low and back again, which historian Gil Troy characterized in six Acts. Act I in early 1993 was "Bush League" with amateurish distractions. By mid-1993 Clinton ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Pentagon
The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense. It was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As a symbol of the U.S. military, the phrase ''The Pentagon'' is often used as a metonym for the Department of Defense and its leadership. Located in Arlington County, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C., the building was designed by American architect George Bergstrom and built by contractor John McShain. Ground was broken on 11 September 1941, and the building was dedicated on 15 January 1943. General Brehon Somervell provided the major impetus to gain Congressional approval for the project; Colonel Leslie Groves was responsible for overseeing the project for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which supervised it. The Pentagon is the world's largest office building, with about of floor space, of which are used as offices. Some 23,000 military and civilian employees, and another 3,000 non-defense sup ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Defense Intelligence Agency
The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) is an intelligence agency and combat support agency of the United States Department of Defense, specializing in defense and military intelligence. A component of the Department of Defense (DoD) and the Intelligence Community (IC), DIA informs national civilian and defense policymakers about the military intentions and capabilities of foreign governments and non-state actors. It also provides intelligence assistance, integration and coordination across uniformed military service intelligence components, which remain structurally separate from DIA. The agency's role encompasses the collection and analysis of military-related foreign political, economic, industrial, geographic, and medical and health intelligence. DIA produces approximately one-quarter of all intelligence content that goes into the President's Daily Brief. DIA's intelligence operations extend beyond the zones of combat, and approximately half of its employees serve oversea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Project Clear Vision
Project Clear Vision was a covert examination of Soviet-made biological bomblets conducted by the Battelle Memorial Institute under contract with the CIA. The legality of this project under the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) of 1972 is disputed. History The operation Project Clear Vision was conducted between 1997 and 2000, during the Clinton Administration. Miller, Judith, Engelberg, Stephen and Broad, William J.U.S. Germ Warfare Research Pushes Treaty Limits, ''The New York Times'', September 4, 2001. Retrieved January 6, 2009. The project's stated goal was to assess the efficacy of bio-agent dissemination from bomblets. The program received criticism due to suspicions that its findings could possibly be used in a covert US bioweapons program. Reportage The secret project was disclosed in a September 2001 article in ''The New York Times''. Reporters Judith Miller, Stephen Engelberg and William J. Broad collaborated to write the article. Shortly after the article appeare ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Biological Weapons And America's Secret War
Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary information encoded in genes, which can be transmitted to future generations. Another major theme is evolution, which explains the unity and diversity of life. Energy processing is also important to life as it allows organisms to move, grow, and reproduce. Finally, all organisms are able to regulate their own internal environments. Biologists are able to study life at multiple levels of organization, from the molecular biology of a cell to the anatomy and physiology of plants and animals, and evolution of populations.Based on definition from: Hence, there are multiple subdisciplines within biology, each defined by the nature of their research questions and the tools that they use. Like other scientists, biologists use the scientific ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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