Word: meselson
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...whole body of other evidence contradicts the speculation that people are being bombed with bee droppings," says one ranking State Department official who is following the issue. His views reflect the chorus of official denunciation and rejection that followed Meselson's disclosure, that included one scientist who tested samples for the government and labelled the finds "childish" and "absurd...
...surprise that the government protest over Meselson's hypothesis has been loud and local. If the Harvard scientists' suspicions are right--and it is proved that the yellow rain charges are false--U.S. credibility with its allies will be severely damaged, given the insistent public position it has taken in the past two years that the Soviets are guilty. Conversely, it's been alleged that much of Meselson's commitment to the issue is equally political; Meselson has been said to be unable to face up to the terrible fact of blatant violations of the treaty he worked so hard...
...chemical warfare--consistent, specific reports from refugees; a definite, clear idea of what chemical is being used; and the discovery of a spent or unspent munitions containing the chemical agent involved. Seven years after reports started filtering into the West that biochemical weapons may be in use in Asia. Meselson says, none of these conditions have been filled to his satisfaction--none, he emphasizes...
...Meselson doesn't deny that chemical warfare involving trichothecenes carried in bee pollen may the going on. But he gives some other scenarios that might explain the situation in the war-torn area. Maybe, he suggests, chemical warfare not involving trichothecens, where bees, frightened by the airplanes carrying an agent, go out and defecate. Or perhaps bees are alone responsible for the spots known as yellow rain. Finally, he speculates, maybe the rampant disease in the area--combined with the long-standing reports and superstition about the use of chemicals in war dating back to the middle of the Vietnam...
Whatever the real scenario, Meselson emphasizes, right now he sees the situation as "the worst of both worlds." If the allegations are wrong, the U.S. is simply delaying the day it can help the people of Southeast Asia solve their natural problems, as well being embarrassed by being wrong. If the allegations are correct--as the State Department believes--then a serious violation of two international agreements will have been perpetrated (not only the 1972 treaty, but also the 1925 Geneva Protocol). Substantiated allegations, many observers believe, call into question the whole idea of arms control, as well...