- Deep inside the sixth of eight glowing articles in its
series "10 Days in September" about what wonderful crisis
managers
George W. Bush and Condoleezza Rice are, The Washington Post on February
1 buried the following bit of information: The Pentagon was considering
poisoning Afghanistan's food supply.
-
- Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld prepared a briefing for
Bush on September 17, Bob Woodward and Dan Balz reported.
-
- Rice, head of the National Security Council, "and
Frank Miller, the senior NSC staffer for defense, went with the President
to the Pentagon. Before the briefing, Miller previewed the classified slide
presentation prepared for Bush and got a big surprise," Woodward and
Balz reported.
-
- "One slide about special operations in Afghanistan
said: Thinking Outside the Box--Poisoning Food Supply. Miller was shocked
and showed it to Rice. The United States doesn't know how to do this,
Miller
reminded her, and we're not allowed. It would effectively be a chemical
or biological attack--clearly banned by treaties that the United States
had signed, including the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention.
-
- "Rice took the slide to Rumsfeld. 'This slide is
not going to be shown to the President of the United States,' she
said.
-
- "Rumsfeld agreed. 'You're right,' he
said."
-
- Why this wasn't a major story in itself is beyond me:
The Secretary of Defense wanted to propose to the President that he poison
Afghanistan's food supply!
-
- The Pentagon, unchastened by reports that it had
intentionally
destroyed Iraq's water supply ten years ago, was still at its old tricks,
planning at the highest levels to pull a similarly lethal and illegal stunt
in Afghanistan, one that is banned by the Geneva Convention.
-
- I hope at least one courageous member of the House or
Senate Armed Services Committee will ask Rumsfeld about this the next time
he comes to Capitol Hill.
-
- -- Matthew Rothschild
- http://www.progressive.org
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