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    "If used in numbers, atomic bombs not only can nullify any nation's military effort, but can demolish its social and economic structure and prevent their re-establishment for long periods of time. With such weapons, especially if employed in conjunction with other weapons of mass destruction such as pathogenic bacteria, it is quite possible to depopulate vast areas of the earth's surface, leaving only vestigial remnants of man's material works." Report of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Operations Crossroads, June 30, 1947 (17).  As we explore the issue of weapons of mass destruction in conjunction with the history of the Native Americans, the picture that will be drawn is that this statement to the Joint Chiefs of Staff is not a passing statement of recognition, but a declaration of what the true reality is for all secretive and deadly munitions.

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    As we examine past history comparing it with the present, it will show its demonic head desiring to exterminate not just the "vestigial remnant[s]" of man's works, but, man himself. This war is not limited to an enemy, an enemy's weapons or capabilities, but against all life forms. Often the true intent is hidden under the need to fight off a supposed enemy, as in the cold war era or the need to protect the country against a "possible" invasion of like kind such as the Iraqi pretense. The need to protect against an invasion from without is, in reality, a facade to draw the gaze from the enemy within.

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    While it may not be thought of as chemical biological warfare from a modern perspective, CBW has been around a long time when current definitions are applied. In past wars, men have poisoned wells, burned crops and catapulted rotting dead bodies infected with disease over the walls of their enemies. Modern warfare has become increasingly sophisticated in these applications. We may not catapult a dead body over a wall, but any chemical or biological agent introduced into the sovereign nation of another producing injury or death will qualify. If we examine past U.S. history and compare it to the current day applications of CBW, we can draw some striking similarities and parallels in the present use of WMD. This may also show us where prevalent U.S. practices will lead in the future and the purpose for its steady production despite popular protest.

World Internet News Distribution Service, 3/19/98, NATIVE AMERICANS & WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION, http://thewinds.arcsnet.net/arc_features/newworld/weapons_of_destruction1.html //VT2002acsln

    When Christopher Columbus landed on Hispaniola, the estimates for the number of Native Americans were astronomical in comparison to what the number is today. Estimates place 800 separate nations, with one-hundred fifty language families and 1,500 to 2,000 dialects. Population studies show between seventy-five to one-hundred forty-five million inhabitants in North and South America. By 1890, the number in North America had been reduced to 250,000. Total tribes have been annihilated.

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    Sizing up the weapons of the natives Columbus noted, "The people of this island and of all the other islands which I have found and seen . . . have no iron or steel weapons, nor are they capable of using them, although they are well-built people of handsome stature, because they are wondrous timid." Going on to describe the natives he says, "They are so artless and free with all they possess, that no one would believe it without having seen it. Of anything they have, if you ask them for it, they never say no; rather they invite the person to share it, and show as much love as if they were giving their hearts; and whether the thing be of value or small price, at once they are content with whatever little thing of whatever kind may be given them." (18). With no weapons to fight ironclad soldiers who came brandishing swords and guns led by trained man-eating dogs, the Spanish met little resistance from these docile naked people.

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    When the Spaniards came to North America, Europe had already been ravaged with smallpox, measles, bubonic plague, diphtheria, influenza, yellow fever, typhoid, syphilis, tuberculosis and a host of other plagues. But the Americas had been isolated from these great ravages. When the sailing ships appeared on the horizon, they came not only to plunder but to spread their diseases as well. While it is not documentable that the Spanish deliberately spread diseases, it is well documented that they were merciless with the natives. Whole nations were destroyed by the invaders and their European plagues. Estimates nearing a 98% death rate from diseases alone are not uncommon. One island group that demonstrates the horrendous extent of the slaying was the Dominican Republic and Haitian islands named Hispaniola by Columbus.

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    Hispaniola had an estimated original population nearing 8,000,000 by some sources. From 1492 to 1496 the population had fallen to four or five million. By 1508 it was down to less than 100,000 and by 1518 the populace stood around 23,000. By 1535 "for all practical purposes the native population was extinct." (Bartolome de las Casas-1). The terrible inroads of disease combined with the sword, slavery, starvation and suicide brought on by the former evils had reduced a once prolific people in forty-three years to extinction. These same statistics can be applied to the North American natives with blood-chilling accuracy.

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    In Florida the Timucuan people were 90% dead by 1607 and by 1617 they were cut in half again by the invaders' germs and weapons. This mind-boggling death rate reduced 720,000 natives to 36,000. (18). The weapons used by the Spanish were very effective. By 1607, with the first small colony of 104 that settled at Jamestown, the continent was already reeling under a massive invasion of diseases and violence that had reduced the population to near extinction in comparison to what it was. Some of the closest smaller tribes were already extinct. They were wiped out before anyone could record their existence.

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    Three important points to remember for effective biological munitions are: first, the introduction of chronic illnesses for which there is no known cure. The second, cloak the toxin under a guise so the "enemy" takes it unawares until it is too late. Finally, combine weapons so that what one weapon fails to accomplish, the subsequent weapons will finish. The British had seen the effectiveness of diseases among the natives and employed a disguise.

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    Speaking of the smallpox plague among the natives, Laurie Garret in her book, The Coming Plague, adds in a footnote that "smallpox may have been the most useful weapon of biological warfare in world history." When one views the amount of desolation from this one disease in North America alone, it is not hard to come to the same conclusion.

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    Diseases were not fast enough to accomplish the dreaded annihilation, so they combined this biological warfare with the sword, guns and hunting dogs as the Spanish did to exterminate the "vermin." That the mercilessness of the British was not forgotten by invading settlers can be seen on the "trail of tears." On the trail of tears, which was nearly 300 miles in length, the Cherokee Indians were deliberately marched past areas known to have outbreaks of cholera and other epidemic diseases. To add to their debilitated state from diseases, the freezing weather, and the forced death march, they were fed spoiled flour and rancid meat. Nearly 8,000 died on this march out of 17,000.

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    Another logical step in biological warfare is the deliberate withholding of treatments for diseases. One case among the Native Americans is the Apaches and their fight with tuberculosis. "Tuberculosis was allowed to affect the Apaches, e.g., the government could have returned the people to the southwest, which at the time was a popular remedy for TB. Instead, the government refused to allow the sick and dying Apaches to come home. So...not overtly, but certainly covertly, the government exercised revenge on the Apaches. And, if they could do that to one tribe, they could do it to all who resisted the encroachment." (21). In many cases there may have been no deliberate attempt at withholding a cure, but the end result was welcomed. We will see in future articles that this area of CBW is just as important as finding the right biological toxic agent that has no cure.

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    In the beginning there may have been some with good intentions in regard to educating the Native Americans, but the good intentions were lost in the prejudice and bureaucracy. After forcing education on the children, the government gained control over their lives. Any handout provided after the Native Americans were forced off their lands, forced onto reservations with little or no substance, forced into accepting food when the buffalo were slaughtered, forced into accepting clothing because there were no hides for skins, forced into accepting tools when all their weapons were taken away, forced into making treaties that were repeatedly broken by the white man, was taken as a gracious gift requiring greater surrender, greater homage to the gracious giver. Logan proved this when he attempted to strip Sitting Bull of his position as chief by his remarks.

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    The Battle at Wounded Knee has been called the final Native American battle. It was not the last because there were battles fought after it. There was the 1913 Navajo war in New Mexico and the 1915 Paiute war in Colorado. It was not the bloodiest in terms of number slain, neither was it greater in atrocities because of the manner in which it was done. What makes the battle the last was the finality it brought to all Native American dreams. It brings all the pieces of the Native American tragedy together. At Wounded Knee we see every avenue brought to bear with cruel, devastating force upon the red man. By understanding the Native American's story, in terms of weapons of mass destruction, a larger picture begins to develop.

World Internet News Distribution Service, 3/19/98, NATIVE AMERICANS & WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION, http://thewinds.arcsnet.net/arc_features/newworld/weapons_of_destruction1.html //VT2002acsln

    In 1864 Benito Juarez told Emperor Maximilian of Mexico, "It is given to men, Sir, to attack the rights of others, to take their property, to attempt the lives of those who defend their liberty, and to make of their virtues a crime and their own vices a virtue; but there is one thing which is beyond the reach of perversity, and that is the tremendous verdict of history. History will judge us." (14) If past history of the U.S. judges it correctly, we can read in it broken treaties to sovereign nations that to this day have not been kept. We see endless greed for power and wealth fueled by an unsatiable desire to control and dominate to the death, others less fortunate. We see weapons of mass destruction used to drive to extinction all who get in the way.

World Internet News Distribution Service, 3/19/98, NATIVE AMERICANS & WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION, http://thewinds.arcsnet.net/arc_features/newworld/weapons_of_destruction1.html //VT2002acsln

    The greater weapons of debt, forced taxation, forced religion, soul-destroying education and the current news media are not heralded and for good reason. The greater the weapon, the greater the need to hide it. What greater mask could one wear than one that has a smiling face of love that speaks, "Peace on Earth and Good Will to all Men." (2) The Native American's continuing travesty has set precedents that have continued from then until the present day. Sun Tzu, the ancient war guru of 500 BC, said - "The best way to win a war is to win it without fighting a battle."