Germs : biological weapons and America's secret war

Format:

Book (regular print)

Title:

Germs : biological weapons and America's secret war

Author:

Miller, Judith, 1948-

ISBN:

9780684871585

Publication Information:

New York : Simon & Schuster, 2001.

Physical Description:

382 pages ; 25 cm

Contents:

Attack -- Warrior -- Revelations -- Saddam -- Secrets and lies -- Cult -- Evil empire -- Breakthrough -- Taking charge -- President -- Defenders -- Future.

Summary:

"Deadly germs sprayed in shopping malls, bomblets spewing anthrax spores over battlefields, tiny vials of plague scattered in Times Square - these are the poor man's hydrogen bombs, hideous weapons of mass destruction that can be made in a simple laboratory." "In this 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 bio-terrorism are fast becoming our worst national nightmare." "Germs also shows how a small group of scientists and senior officials persuaded President Bill Clinton to launch a controversial multibillion-dollar program to detect a germ attack on U.S. soil and to aid its victims - a program that, so far, is struggling to provide real protection." "Based on hundreds of interviews with scientists and senior officials, including President Clinton, as well as on recently declassified documents and on-site reporting from the former Soviet Union's sinister bio-weapons labs, Germs shows us bio-warriors past and present at work at their trade. There is the American scientist who devoted his professional life to perfecting biological weapons, and the Nobel laureate who helped pioneer the new biology of genetically modified germs and is now trying to stop its misuse. 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."--Jacket.

Subject(s):

Biological warfare -- United States -- Safety measures.

Biological warfare -- Research -- United States.

Biological warfare.

Geographic Term:

United States

Added Author:

Engelberg, Stephen, 1958-

Broad, William J.

Holds:

Available:*

Library	Call Number	Status
Searching... Woodburn Public Library	358.38 MILLER 2001	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Monmouth Public Library	358.38 Miller, J. 2001	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Salem Main Library	358.38 Miller 2001	Searching... Unknown

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Author Notes

Judith Miller has been a correspondent for the Times since 1977, reporting from throughout the world, concentrating on the Middle East and the former Soviet republics. She lives in the New York City area.

(Publisher Provided)

Reviews (3)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Methodically researched and cogently argued by three New York Times reporters (one of whom received an anthrax-tainted letter recently), this survey of the modern history of biological weapons is a worthy, albeit frightening, exercise in investigative journalism. The book details the evolution of biowarfare (beginning about 60 years ago)from the U.S. to Iraq and the Soviet Union, vividly portraying these weapons in all their power and nightmarish possibilities. Guyer brings a dry but authoritative and appropriate journalistic tone to his reading. His is the steady, baritone voice of a network news anchor, and it works well conveying weighty information about major international events and politics. Thankfully, despite the topic's sensationalist possibilities, this production stays true to the sober, reasoned style of the text and steers clear of punctuating the reading with ominous or melodramatic musical flourishes. There's plenty in the facts themselves to convey unease, and while it might not be the lightest listening, there is no doubt that this is a high-quality production of a balanced and informative look at a growing global threat. Based on the S&S hardcover. (Nov.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Booklist Review

International treaties are intended to keep us safe, but as the authors, New York Times reporters, show, confidence in international law may be misplaced. The 1972 Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention was systematically violated on industrial scales by the Soviet Union and Iraq. Each of these legal reprobates manufactured (as did the U.S., before President Nixon terminated U.S. production in 1969) pathogens in quantities sufficient to annihilate humanity. Reconstructing the Soviet and Iraqi germ warfare programs, the authors recount how these violations impacted the debates and actions of U.S. government officials. Some doubted the Soviets were flouting the convention; others, convinced they were, insisted the U.S. continue "defensive" research on anthrax and its ilk. Because the hard-liners were vindicated, focus since the Soviet collapse has been on keeping scientists from selling their expertise to the Iraqs of the world. Meanwhile, Iraq tried to bamboozle the UN disarmament commission about its involvement in germ warfare, prompting the U.S. military to worry about whether it should vaccinate troops. Though some of the authors' conclusions are being challenged by other experts, Germs provides chilling context about a nefarious weapon. Gilbert Taylor

Choice Review

New York Times writers Miller, Engelberg, and Broad trace the modern history of real and potential germ warfare, starting with a warning made 50 years ago to Secretary of Defense James Forrestal: the US was defenseless against germ attacks. Better intelligence, research, drug stockpiles, and medical surveillance systems were needed--recommendations long ignored. The Bhagwan Shree cult's 1980s attack using salmonella on Oregon salad bars is narrated. US research on deadly microbes in the 1950s and 1960s is described, research discontinued in 1969 by order of President Nixon. Unfortunately, the Soviet Union secretly continued ghoulish, huge-scale research into the 1990s. The book describes efforts of US and Soviet scientists working for and against biological weapons, and the 1990s employment of Russian scientists with their dangerous knowledge. Iraq's germ-warfare work, which it vigorously tried to hide from UN inspectors, is extensively examined. Occasions when the US was tempted to use biological weapons are narrated, along with difficulties the US faces in doing defensive research work without crossing the line into the offensive weapons research forbidden by the 1972 Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention. Germs confronts future dangers (and potential organisms such as anthrax, plague, and small pox). General readers; upper-division undergraduates through professionals. M. K. Hill University of Maine

Preface	p. 11
1. The Attack	p. 15
2. Warrior	p. 34
3. Revelations	p. 66
4. Saddam	p. 98
5. Secrets and Lies	p. 124
6. The Cult	p. 151
7. Evil Empire	p. 165
8. Breakthrough	p. 183
9. Taking Charge	p. 202
10. The President	p. 223
11. Defenders	p. 256
12. The Future	p. 287
Afterword	p. 315
Notes	p. 343
Select Bibliography	p. 385
Acknowledgments	p. 389
Index	p. 395

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Summary

Summary

Author Notes

Reviews (3)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Booklist Review

Choice Review

Table of Contents