Report: France ‘deliberately’ used soldiers as ‘nuclear guinea pigs’
Today, troops in the middle east are spraying automatic munitions around containing depleted uranium. That dust has been blamed for massive spikes in birth defects in Iraq and Afghanistan. See these reports from Global Research and The Guardian. (Don’t worry though, the extent of your exposure this time round will be limited to graphic, disturbing images and whatever gets carried on the wind. Unless you’re a veteran. Remember Gulf War syndrome?) Your government cares. Really, they do.
Flashback: ‘They were looking for the ideal Manchurian Candidate’ | Government Experiments on U.S. Soldiers: Shocking Claims Come to Light in New Court Case | Psychologists Helped Guide CIA Interrogations | Vets Sue CIA Over Mind Control Tests | Atomic-testing veterans to receive whopping $24,000 each in compensation | Remembering Brainwashing | Chinese Torture Techniques Inspired Interrogations at Guantánamo | Canadian MKULTRA project mind control victim to tell of pills, shocks, brainwashing | Much of Britain sprayed in secret germ warfare tests
Agence France Presse
February 16, 2010
France used soldiers as guinea pigs in nuclear tests in the 1960s, deliberately exposing them to radiation from atomic blasts to test the effects, according to a report revealed on Tuesday.
The secret military report, obtained by AFP, said that between 1960 and 1966 France sent troops onto Algerian desert test sites “to study the physiological and psychological effects caused on humans by an atomic weapon.”
One operation in 1961 involved military personnel advancing on foot and in trucks to within a few hundred metres (yards) of the epicentre of a nuclear blast less than an hour after detonation, according to the report.
The conscripts were given 45 minutes to dig foxholes in the contaminated desert earth, protected only by the military-issue boots, capes, gloves and simple face masks.
“It appeared from the results that at 800 metres from point zero and outside the fall-out zone, the combatant was physically able to continue fighting,” the report said.
The tests aimed to help the military develop “physical preparation and morale training for the modern combatant” and teach soldiers how to protect themselves after a nuclear blast, it said.
France has allocated 10 million euros ($13.6 million) to compensate victims of nuclear tests in the Sahara and in Polynesia, but bitter political and medical fallout still lingers 50 years after the tests.
According to campaigners, children are still born with deformities in the irradiated Algerian desert, while in France elderly army veterans complain of multiple unexplained cancers.
AVEN, an association representing the troops exposed to the 210 tests carried out by France in Algeria and French Polynesia between 1960 and 1996, says it has gathered 4,500 testimonies from victims and their spouses.
“Immediately after the explosion, they said to us ‘go and look at the result’,” said one veteran, August Ribet, 74, who suffers from throat cancer.
“They gave us nice suits in white fabric which were no use at all, and a gas mask,” he said, speaking to AFP recently. Ribet hopes one day that the courts will recognise him as a victim of the tests.
Defence Minister Herve Morin told AFP he would ensure “transparency” concerning the levels of radiation in all of France’s nuclear tests.
The report by unnamed military officials dates back to 1998. Morin said that in 2007 the defence ministry made a summary of the findings of what he described as “tactical experiments” in Algeria.
Source | See Also under History: CSIS won’t open full Tommy Douglas file | Hitchens: North Korean’s stature, worldview stunted by authoritarian hate and ignorance | Blair defends decision to join U.S. in Iraq | Manufactured ‘Science’: Another IPCC Scientist Reveals How UN Scientists talked about ‘trying to make IPCC report so dramatic that US would just have to sign Kyoto Protocol’ | Why Did the ‘Stimulus’ Fail to Help the US Economy? | UK: Cover-up claims as David Kelly post mortem set to stay under wraps for 70 years | UK: 50 years on, an apology to thalidomide scandal survivors | Wall Street’s leading bankers admit: we made mistakes | Canada no longer a haven for war resisters | Grisly Skull and Bones trophies to be auctioned | The future of the residential school commission — An interview with Judge Murray Sinclair | Blackwater guards linked to secret CIA raids | Blackwater’s Erik Prince: Tycoon, Contractor, Soldier, Spy | David Mulroney testifies war confused issue of torture | Condi set sights on Iraq as 9/11 unfolded: UK diplomat | Blair lied and lied again: Mandarins reveal that 10 days before Iraq invasion PM knew Saddam couldn’t use WMDs | Ethnic hostility is a big, maybe the biggest, part of the Afghan war | Canada’s royal link has rusted out | The universality of war propaganda | Omar Khadr ‘innocent’ in death of U.S. soldier | Castro’s sister says she was a CIA spy | Pentagon used psychological operation on US public, documents show | The JFK Assassination: New York Times Acknowledges CIA Deceptions | Toronto 18 video evidence released | Israel rules out Gaza probe | UN body endorses Gaza war crimes report | Danish Prime Minister Knew WTC Would Collapse | UN body debates Gaza war crimes report | GG relaunches Truth and Reconciliation Commission | Nazi Olympics exhibit opens in Vancouver | Italian dictator Mussolini was British WWI agent | UN condemns ‘war crimes’ in Gaza | American dissenters urge: “Stop the 9-11 cover-up” | Serve your country to honour memory of 9/11: Obama | Able Danger and DIA had advanced knowledge of 9/11 | China’s crackdown for patriotism on 60th anniversary | How the collapse of Lehman Brothers pushed Wall Street to the brink | Bernier’s mislaid files held foreign policy secrets: report | BC chiefs kill flawed aboriginal rights law | U.S. probes ‘inhumane’ CIA tactics under Bush | US Officer responsible for Vietnam massacre finally apologizes | ‘Coalition of the willing’ comes to end in Iraq | A Sibel Edmonds Bombshell — Bin Laden Worked for U.S. Until 9/11 | U.S. native activist Peltier up for parole hearing | UK: Did MI5 kill Dr David Kelly? | Israeli soldiers allege abuses against Palestinians | Swine flu ‘related’ to 1918 pandemic virus — survivors exhibit resistance | Professor fingers Thermite charges as responsible for 9/11 demolition | UK: As rumours swell that the government staged 7/7, victims’ relatives call for a proper inquiry | Did leak from a laboratory cause swine flu pandemic? | US Congress Passes the 1,200-page Climate Bill that it was not allowed to read | Goldman Sachs: The Great American Bubble Machine | Leaked documents in 9/11 suit show House of Saud links to ‘Al-Qaeda’, extremism | Bankster “Holiday” Planned for September? | New members tapped for residential school commission: report | Police pounce on 20th Tiananmen anniversary | Tiananmen Square: briefly, anything seemed possible | ‘Brothers’ Bush, Clinton draw ire, ovations during Toronto visit | State Of War Between Two Koreas After Armistice Ended | Abuse ‘endemic’ in Irish Roman Catholic schools: Report | Former aide challenges Mulroney claim he cancelled arms plant | Claim of Swiss account ‘preposterous,’ Mulroney says | Secret report details Nazi plan to create a European Union | Airbus funds likely source of Schreiber’s ‘Britan’ account: witness | Lessons of 1976: swine flu, fear, mass vaccinations, wasted millions | Memo: 9/11 Commission Witnesses Were Intimidated By Government “Minders” | Al-Qaeda Chief In Iraq: Captured, Killed, Never Actually Existed, Now Captured Again | US Homeland Security forced to retract statement accusing Canada of importing 9/11 terrorists | 9/11 Commission Counsel: Government Agreed to Lie About 9/11 | BC Court Tells Ottawa to Amend Status Rules for Natives | Vioxx, Gardasil maker Merck and Co drew up doctor hit list | Intelligence made it clear Saddam was not a threat, diplomat tells MPs | Mainstream Financial Publication Finally Admits that Austrian Economists Were Right | New book details Mossad false flag assassination attempt on Canadian passports | Chair to have final say as residential schools commission jobs rewritten | Geronimo’s descendants fight Yale secret society for their ancestor’s remains | Obama signs stimulus bill | Huffington Post article calls for new 9/11 investigation | Fire Consumes Beijing Skyscraper, Unlike WTC7 Building Does Not Collapse | Remaining 2 members resign from residential schools commission | Former President Jimmy Carter Supports Call For New 9/11 Investigation | Obama shuts network of CIA ‘ghost prisons’ | Inauguration triggers joy, jubilation around world | A decade later, Lastman proud he called in army | Mulroney-Schreiber probe has no jurisdiction to find liability | Vets Sue CIA Over Mind Control Tests | They hate us for our bombs | Researchers unlock secrets of 1918 flu pandemic | Kissinger Calls For New International System Out Of World Crises | The ugly spectre of ‘new Keynesianism’ and the self-appointed Guardians | They killed their neighbors: genocide’s foot soldiers | Mulroney confidant knew about Airbus commissions: CBC News investigation | Author wins award for work identifying categories of state corruption | Take note Naomi Klein: Democrats consider crises as opportunities, too | Commission to Probe Graves at Native ‘Residential School’ Sites | Landmark E. Howard Hunt JFK Confession Video Tape Ignored | Government to hold talks over future of residential-schools commission | History: How the US Government Was Overthrown In Three Easy Steps | Delta Force Officer: We Weren’t Allowed to Kill Osama Bin Laden | Liberal candidate asked to step down over 9/11 comments | Stalin’s mass murders were ‘entirely rational’ says new Russian textbook praising tyrant | ‘88 uprising scorched in Burmese memory | Long history of Tibet, China, and British interference means all sides guilty of abuses | White House ‘buried British intelligence on Iraq WMDs’ | Literary icon that exposed Stalinist state labour camps dies at 89 | CIA, Pakistani ISI have long, complicated relationship | U.S. Intel Officer: Al Qaeda Leadership Allowed To Operate Freely in Pakistan | Chinese Torture Techniques Inspired Interrogations at Guantánamo | Don’t blame right-wing thugs for eugenics – Socialists made it fashionable | Actually, it’s time to imagine a new world order | Canadian connection in the Martin Luther King assassination | Declassified: Israel, USA Attempted Deliberate Sinking of USS Liberty During Mideast War | Harper, Bush Share Roots in Controversial Philosophy | Project Paperclip: The US Nazi Amnesty | Much of Britain sprayed in secret germ warfare tests | Alberta Barren: The Mannings and forced sterilization in Canada
February 24th, 2010 at 8:49 am
[...] Alternate Coverage 1 2 | See also under Torture: Poland releases details on CIA ‘black sites’ | Report: France ‘deliberately’ used soldiers as ‘nuclear guinea pigs’ | Bruce Anderson: We not only have a right to use torture. We have a duty | MI5 chief denies [...]
February 26th, 2010 at 11:51 am
[...] the truth of residential schools is irreconcilable: commissioner | The truth about the Mossad | Report: France ‘deliberately’ used soldiers as ‘nuclear guinea pigs’ | CSIS won’t open full Tommy Douglas file | Hitchens: North Korean’s stature, worldview stunted [...]
February 27th, 2010 at 5:51 pm
[...] to Toronto man’s torture: Inquiry | Poland releases details on CIA ‘black sites’ | Report: France ‘deliberately’ used soldiers as ‘nuclear guinea pigs’ | Bruce Anderson: We not only have a right to use torture. We have a duty | MI5 chief denies [...]
March 13th, 2010 at 11:35 am
[...] Report: France ‘deliberately’ used soldiers as ‘nuclear guinea pigs’ | ‘They were looking for the ideal Manchurian Candidate’ | Government Experiments on U.S. [...]
May 1st, 2010 at 9:14 pm
[...] | USA: Fourth Amendment Trashed As Airport Tyranny Hits The Streets | RCMP to test Taser cameras | Report: France ‘deliberately’ used soldiers as ‘nuclear guinea pigs’ | UK Police use spy drone for first domestic arrest  without airspace clearance | Global [...]
May 2nd, 2010 at 10:46 am
[...] plan | Combine H1N1, seasonal flu vaccines: WHO | ‘Influenza vaccine has no effect’: study | Report: France ‘deliberately’ used soldiers as ‘nuclear guinea pigs’ | Raw milk farmer to continue fight | Ont. appealing raw milk producer’s acquittal | Risky [...]
June 3rd, 2010 at 1:38 pm
[...] plan | Combine H1N1, seasonal flu vaccines: WHO | ‘Influenza vaccine has no effect’: study | Report: France ‘deliberately’ used soldiers as ‘nuclear guinea pigs’ | Raw milk farmer to continue fight | Ont. appealing raw milk producer’s acquittal | Risky [...]
June 3rd, 2010 at 4:14 pm
[...] [...]
June 4th, 2010 at 5:19 am
[...] [...]
June 6th, 2010 at 4:42 pm
[...] plan | Combine H1N1, seasonal flu vaccines: WHO | ‘Influenza vaccine has no effect’: study | Report: France ‘deliberately’ used soldiers as ‘nuclear guinea pigs’ | Raw milk farmer to continue fight | Ont. appealing raw milk producer’s acquittal | Risky [...]
June 14th, 2010 at 2:09 pm
[...] to Toronto man’s torture: Inquiry | Poland releases details on CIA ‘black sites’ | Report: France ‘deliberately’ used soldiers as ‘nuclear guinea pigs’ | Bruce Anderson: We not only have a right to use torture. We have a duty | MI5 chief denies [...]