U.S. used nerve gas during Vietnam War, CNN-Time report says

Robert S. Thau (rst@ai.mit.edu)
Mon, 8 Jun 1998 16:32:27 -0400 (EDT)


John Boyer writes:
> If this is true, what does that say about the US condemnation of the Soviet
> behavior in Afganistan and Sadam's treatment of the Kirds?

That the United States government is, at times, extremely
hypocritical. But nastier examples than this are easy to find ---
viz. the "covert" sponsorships of coups in, e.g., Iran and Guatemala.
Both replaced (more or less) freely elected regimes which were hostile
to American business interests with far more repressive regimes which
were willing to protect those interests. (In the short term, at
least; the Iranians wound up throwing out our goons for home-grown
goons, and the home-grown goons have been causing headaches for the
U.S. ever since).

> BTW, Isn't it Sarin that smells like almonds. And how do they know that
> anyway?

I thought that was supposed to be true of cyanide, but I can't claim
any real expertise (some things I'd rather not know). The answer, in
any case, is sub-lethal doses.

rst