Statement on Chemical and Biological Defense Policies and Programs
The "Statement on Chemical and Biological Defense Policies and Programs" was a speech delivered on November 25, 1969, by U.S. President Richard Nixon.
[2] The Pentagon balked and the result was Laird's memorandum to National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger urging a review of those weapons programs.
[2] Laird's memorandum to Kissinger expresses fear that the United States will be under "increasing fire" for the program and calls for the National Security Council to initiate a study.
[1] With Laird's impetus, and the concurrence of the National Security Council staff, in late May 1969 Kissinger directed key administration officials to begin a review of CBW "policies, programs and operational concepts" with a report to be issued no later than September.
[1] The Joint Chiefs made two demands, one was to continue defensive germ warfare research and the other was that they be allowed to maintain the U.S. chemical arsenal as a deterrent to the Soviet Union.
[1] In June 1969 Kissinger asked a former Harvard colleague, Matthew Meselson to prepare a position paper on U.S. chemical and biological weapons programs.
[2] Meselson and his colleagues argued that a biological attack would likely inflict a great toll on civilian populations while remaining largely militarily ineffective.
In August 1969 the Senate passed an amendment to the Military Procurement Bill which unilaterally renounced first-use of chemical weapons.
Nixon issued his "Statement on Chemical and Biological Defense Policies and Programs" on November 25, 1969, in a speech from Fort Detrick.
The United States will confine its biological research to defensive measures such as immunization and safety measures.In his speech Nixon called his move "unprecedented"; and it was in fact the first review of the U.S. BW program since 1954.
[5] The Nixon statement also addressed the topics of chemical warfare and U.S. ratification of the Geneva Protocol,[5] which, at the time, the nation had yet to ratify.
[2] The U.S. commitment to end BW programs helped provide the lead for ongoing talks led by the United Kingdom in Geneva.
[1] The official U.S. Army history of the U.S. biological warfare program, which spans from the early Cold War to 1969 and includes an overview of biowarfare research, Fort Derick contracts between U.S. universities and the private industry, as well as testing on human volunteers, was published online by the National Security Archives.
[13] While there were some political considerations involved in Nixon's decision, the result brought the topic into international forums for years following his declaration.
[5] Nixon knew Democrats could not afford to oppose his renunciation of BW programs in light of rising opposition to the use of non-lethal chemicals in Vietnam and other events such as the Skull Valley sheep kill in Utah.
Besides the issue of proliferation raised by Meselson, the specter of growing dissent over Vietnam loomed large, as did the fact that the U.S. had never ratified the Geneva Protocol.
