US military intended to test deadly nerve gas on Aussie soldiers in the 60's

Newly declassified defence and Prime Ministers office files have revealed that during the cold war, the United States military had advanced planning to test deadly nerve gas on Australian soldiers on Australian soil in north Queensland.

According to the report which aired today on channel nine's Sunday program, the US were refused permission to go ahead with the top secret tests by the current Prime Minister, Harold Holt which at the time, strained relations between the allies.

A chemical or biological attack involves dispersing agents into the air and according to the report, some 200 Australian troops were to be aerially bombed and sprayed with the deadly agent. VX and GB, otherwise known as Sarin nerve gas were to be used. One fifth of a drop is enough to kill a person within an hour.

Peter Bailey, a former senior official with Mr. Holt, who appeared on the program said the request from the US military caused consternation in Canberra. According to Bailey the planning was very advanced in the US but as far as he knows, the tests never went ahead.

It will be interesting to see if anything comes of this report, an investigation perhaps or if it's simply just swept under the rug. Vietnam, Cambodia and Lao are still waiting for compensation from the United States after the US military sprayed villages with the chemical known as Agent Orange during the Vietnam War.

The continued use of depleted uranium (DU) in weaponry clearly indicates the United States, her allies and many other countries throughout the world have little consideration for both the short and long term effects of littering our planet with deadly chemicals. DU is said to be the cause of Gulf War Syndrome and the deadly radioactive metal has a half life of 4.5 billon years. It has been used in Kosovo, Bosnia, Afganistan, Iraq and Yugoslavia.

Australia is the leading producer of uranium.