Germs: Biological Weapons and America's Secret War

maintained an active "bugs and gas" program in the '50s and early '60s, bio-weapons were effectively pulled off this country's agenda in 1972 when countries around the world, led by the United States, forswore development of such weapons at the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention. Three reporters from The New York Times survey the recent history of biological weapons and sound an alarm about the coming threat of the "poor man's hydrogen bomb." Germs begins ominously enough, recounting the chilling attack by the followers of the Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh in 1984 on the Dalles, Oregon--no one died, but nearly 1,000 were infected with a strain of salmonella that the cult had legally obtained, then cultured and distributed. The book's description of the Soviet program is horrific. Edwards. --Harry C. At its peak the program employed thousands of scientists, developing bioengineered pathogens as well as producing hundred

The situation and threat: MUCH worse than your nightmares This book has been hyped to death (no pun intended) and rightfully so: it was written BEFORE the terrorist attacks and Anthrax cases and is guarenteed to chill your spine -- and maybe haunt your dreams. The bottom line: for years (until 9/11) most Americans had no idea that behind the scenes horrific weapons were being developed that could potentially wipe out an entire country and that if these weapons did not work as expected the whole even world could be at risk. And, worse, tha. "Reads like a thriller, but it's real life" according to J. J. Kwashnak. Now the authors are riding the wave of topicality following the anthrax letters in October 2001, but the truth is that their book would be frightening at any time. The authors have played off each other's strengths and come up with a book that addressess the political, scientific, and historic context of germs as a weapon of mass destruction. It is scary to hear what the Soviet Union and Russia, and Iraq have been doing in this area, and how we react. If it was possible I'd like to. "Real, nuts and bolts information about potential dangers" according to Kcorn. After watching the World Trade Center attacks, trying frantically to reach friends in New York and then watching the day's events unfold (with an increasing feeling of horror and disbelief) while worrying about possible biological and chemical agents that might have been released (thank goodness, a false alarm in this case) I knew that I wanted more information about the potential dangers that face our country. This book provides that information, from accounts of experiments with

We meet former Soviet scientists who made enough plague, smallpox, and anthrax to kill everyone on Earth and whose expertise is now in great demand by terrorists, rogue states, and legitimate research labs alike. The Pentagon's chaotic efforts to improvise defenses against Iraq's biological weapons during the 1991 Persian Gulf War. In this groundbreaking work of investigative journalism, Judith Miller, Stephen Engelberg, and William Broad of "The New York Times" uncover the truth about biological weapons and show why bio-warfare and