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.CIA officials told the committee thatthe colonel was shot by a firing squad which the Agency had nothing to dowith before the handkerchief arrived. 76 INTELLIGENCE OR "WITCHES POTIONS"gram.* He knows of no use since by the Soviet Union or anyother power.According to the Detrick official, anyone contemplating useof a biological product had to consider many other factors be-sides toxicity and incubation period.Can the germ be detected easily and countered with a vac-cine? He notes that anthrax, a fatal disease (when inhaled) thatSOD stored for CIA, has the advantage of symptoms that resem-ble pneumonia; similarly, Venezuelan equine encephalomyeli-tis can be mistaken for the grippe.While vaccines do exist formany of the stockpiled diseases, SOD was forever developingmore virulent strains."I don't know of any organism suscepti-ble to a drug that can't be made more resistant," states theDetrick man.Did the disease have a high degree of secondary spread? SODpreferred it not to, because these germ warfare men did notwant to start epidemics that was the job of others at Fort De-trick.Was the organism stable? How did humidity affect it? SODconsidered these and many other factors.To the CIA, perhaps the most important question waswhether it could covertly deliver the germ to infect the rightperson.One branch of SOD specialized in building deliverysystems, the most famous of which now is the dart gun fash-ioned out of a.45 pistol that ex-CIA Director William Colbydisplayed to the world at a 1975 Senate hearing.The Agencyhad long been after SOD to develop a "non-discernible micro-bioinoculator" which could give people deadly shots that, ac-cording to a CIA document, could not be "easily detected upona detailed autopsy." SOD also rigged up aerosol sprays thatcould be fired by remote control, including a fluorescent starterthat was activated by turning on the light, a cigarette lighterthat sprayed when lit, and an engine head bolt that shot off asthe engine heated."If you're going to infect people, the mostlikely way is respiratory," notes the high Detrick official."Ev-erybody breathes, but you might not get them to eat."*For some reason, the U.S.government has made it a point not to releaseinformation about Japanese use of biological warfare.The senior Detricksource says, "We knew they sprayed Manchuria.We had the results of how theyproduced and disseminated [the biological agents, including anthrax].I readthe autopsy reports myself.We had people who went over to Japan after thewar." CONCERNING THE CASE OF DR.FRANK OLSON 77Frank Olson specialized in the airborne delivery of disease.He had been working in the field ever since 1943, when he cameto Fort Detrick as one of the original military officers in the U.S.biological warfare program.Before the end of the war, he de-veloped a painful ulcer condition that led him to seek a medicaldischarge from the uniformed military, but he had stayed on asa civilian.He joined SOD when it started in 1950.Obviouslygood at what he did, Olson served for several months as actingchief of SOD in 1952-53 but asked to be relieved when theadded stress caused his ulcer to flare up.He happily returnedto his lesser post as a branch chief, where he had fewer ad-ministrative duties and could spend more time in the labora-tory.A lover of practical jokes, Olson was very popular amonghis many friends.He was an outgoing man, but, like most of hisgeneration, he kept his inner feelings to himself.His greatpassion was his family, and he spent most of his spare timeplaying with his three kids and helping around the house.Hehad met his wife while they both studied at the University ofWisconsin.Olson attended all the sessions and apparently did everythingexpected of him during the first two days at the lodge.Afterdinner on Thursday, November 19, 1953 the same day that aWashington Post editorial decried the use of dogs in chemicalexperiments Olson shared a drink of Cointreau with all buttwo of the men present.(One had a heart condition; the other,a reformed alcoholic, did not drink.) Unbeknownst to the SODmen, Sid Gottlieb had decided to spike the liqueur with LSD.*"To me, everyone was pretty normal," says SOD's BenjaminWilson."No one was aware anything had happened until Gott-lieb mentioned it.[20 minutes after the drink] Gottlieb asked ifwe had noticed anything wrong.Everyone was aware, once itwas brought to their attention." They tried to continue theirdiscussion, but once the drug took hold, the meeting deteri-orated into laughter and boisterous conversation
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