A Green Country. .. Knocked Silly by Guns

The non-use of chemical weapons in the Second World War did not lead to their abandonment. Since 1945 there have been numerous allegations that chemical and biological weapons have been used. Many of these have not been substantiated. They have, however, demonstrated the propaganda value of alleging the use by opponents of chemical weapons. This chapter considers some of the more serious allegations made since the Second World War. More recent claims of Soviet non-compliance with the Geneva Protocol and the Biological Weapons Convention are considered in chapter 5. 

In March 1951 it was alleged that the US had dropped bombs containing an asphyxiating gas on North Korea. Other allegations of gas attacks were made in a Chinese Red Cross publication in December 1951, and in a report prepared by a commission of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers.  

In May 1951 the North Korean government alleged in the United Nations (UN) that the US was using biological weapons in Korea. In December that year cases of typhus appeared in North Korea, which had previously been free of the disease. The North Korean Foreign Minister, Pak Hen, blamed the United States for the outbreak. This charge was taken up by China which also claimed to have been subjected to BW attacks, and by several Warsaw Pact countries. In March 1952 Dean Acheson told the International Red Cross (IRC). 

I repeat the United States has not engaged in any form of biological warfare. [I] would like to suggest that the International Red Cross makes an investigation. . 

The United States also suggested that the World Health Organisation investigate the allegations. The Communist countries stated after some delay that they did not consider the IRC sufficiently free from political influence . IRC plans for an investigation were dropped. A supposedly independent commission the International Scientific Commission (ISC) - was set up and invited to Korea and China. The ISC s report gave accounts of alleged incidents and of statements made by American prisoners of war who, it was claimed, appeared not to have been subject to any form of duress. 

---