Behind the Fog

Behind the Fog is the first in-depth, comprehensive examination of the United States' Cold War radiological weapons program. The book *examines controversial military-sponsored studies and field trials using radioactive "simulants" that exposed American civilians to radiation and other hazardous substances without their knowledge or consent during the Cold War. Although Western biological and chemical weapons programs have been analysed by a number of scholars, Behind the Fog* is a strong departure from the rest in that the United States radiological weapons program has been generally unknown to the public. Martino-Taylor establishes through social linkages and coordinated efforts by a relatively small group of military scientists who advanced a four-pronged secret program of human-subject radiation studies that targeted unsuspecting Americans for Cold War military purposes. Officials enabled such projects to advance through the layering of secrecy, by embedding classified studies in other studies, and through outright deception. Agency and academic partnerships advanced, supported, and concealed the studies from the public at large who ultimately served as unwitting test subjects.

Martino-Taylor's comprehensive research illuminates a dark chapter of government secrecy, the military-industrial-academic complex, and large-scale organizational deviance in American history. In its critical approach, Behind the Fog effectively examines the mechanisms that allow large-scale elite deviance to take place in modern society.

Autorentext

Lisa Martino-Taylor is Associate Professor of Sociology at St. Louis Community College. Martino-Taylor earned her doctorate in Sociology at the University of MissouriColumbia and researches issues related to power, elite deviance, social and environmental justice, and U.S. military development and testing of radiological weapons.

Klappentext

Behind the Fog is the first in-depth, comprehensive examination of the United States' Cold War radiological weapons program. The book examines controversial military-sponsored studies and field trials using radioactive "simulants" that exposed American civilians to radiation and other hazardous substances without their knowledge or consent during the Cold War. Although Western biological and chemical weapons programs have been analyzed by a number of scholars, Behind the Fog is a strong departure from the rest in that the United States radiological weapons program has been generally unknown to the public. Martino-Taylor documents the coordinated efforts of a small group of military scientists who advanced a four-pronged secret program of human-subject radiation studies that targeted unsuspecting Americans for Cold War military purposes. Officials enabled such projects to advance through the layering of secrecy, by embedding classified studies in other studies, and through outright deception. Agency and academic partnerships advanced, supported, and concealed the studies from the public at large who ultimately served as unwitting test subjects. Martino-Taylor's comprehensive research illuminates a dark chapter of government secrecy, the military-industrial-academic complex, and large-scale organizational deviance in American history. In its critical approach, Behind the Fog effectively examines the mechanisms that allow large-scale elite deviance to take place in modern society.

Zusammenfassung

Behind the Fog is the first in-depth, comprehensive examination of the United States' Cold War radiological weapons program. The book *examines controversial military-sponsored studies and field trials using radioactive "simulants" that exposed American civilians to radiation and other hazardous substances without their knowledge or consent during the Cold War. Although Western biological and chemical weapons programs have been analyzed by a number of scholars, Behind the Fog* is a strong departure from the rest in that the United States radiological weapons program has been generally unknown to the public. Martino-Taylor documents the coordinated efforts of a small group of military scientists who advanced a four-pronged secret program of human-subject radiation studies that targeted unsuspecting Americans for Cold War military purposes. Officials enabled such projects to advance through the layering of secrecy, by embedding classified studies in other studies, and through outright deception. Agency and academic partnerships advanced, supported, and concealed the studies from the public at large who ultimately served as unwitting test subjects.

Martino-Taylor's comprehensive research illuminates a dark chapter of government secrecy, the military-industrial-academic complex, and large-scale organizational deviance in American history. In its critical approach, Behind the Fog effectively examines the mechanisms that allow large-scale elite deviance to take place in modern society.

Inhalt

INTRODUCTION

I: ATOMIC WORLD

A Culture of Secrecy

Manhattan Project Phase Two- Radiological Weapons Experimentation

II: THE RADIUM LEGACY

III: BLINDED BY SCIENCE

Radioactive Warfare

IV: THE MILITARIZED ACADEMY

Militarization of the Academy

Stanford University/Stanford Research Institute

V: STRUCTURE OF DECEIT

PHS, NIH and Embedded Studies

No Turning Back

Military Crosshairs

Final Weapons Targets

Fernald School

VI: MILITARY ANALOGS

Hidden in Plain View

Target One: Minneapolis

St. Louis Army Chemical Corps Experiments

Winnipeg, Canada

Leighton Effects

A Parallel Study

A Dubious Narrative

The National Research Council Reviews Army Data

An Unlikely Champion

Parsons and the Army: A Lucrative Partnership

VII: THE ARMY CHEMICAL CORPS AND OPEN-AIR FIELD STUDIES

The St. Louis Open-Air Dispersion Study- Part Two

The Pruitt-Igoe Public Housing Complex

St. Louis Part II

SRI and the Atomic Veterans

Post-Study Claims by Officials

VIII: IN THIS HOUSE: EMBEDDEDNESS AND THE MILITARY RADIATION STUDIES

AEC Isotopes Project

Dual-Use Technology

Gabriel and Sunshine

The Vanderbilt Radiation Studies

IX: FALLOUT "SIMULANT" TESTING

Fallout Simulants

Canadian and U.K. Studies

U.S. Open Air Radiation Experiments

X: DEVIANCE, SECRECY, AND CLOSED WORLDS

Secrecy and Group Conformity

Closed World Dynamics

Control of Discourse

Dehumanization

CONCLUSION

After the Dust has Settled

A Tangle of Objectives

BIBLIOGRAPHY

METHODOLOGY AND AFTERWORD

Components for Future Exploration

APPENDIX A: ABBREVIATIONS LIST

INDEX