For Release Monday Afternoon September 19, 1966 Twenty two leading American scientists, including seven Nobel Prize winners, today initiated a petition to President Johnson requesting a White House review of U.S. policy regarding chemical and biological weapons. The petition calls for reaffirmation of the traditional U.S. policy of not starting the use of chemical or biological weapons and requests a high level study aimed at finding ways to maintain and reinforce world-wide restraints against chemical and biological warfare. Believing that the Nation has far more to lose than to gain from the use of such weapons, the scientists oppose the large scale use of anti-personnel and anti- crop chemical weapons in Viet Nam. The petition to the President has the support of the Council of the Federation of American Scientists. STATEMENT TO ACCOMPANY NEWS RELEASE Chemical and biological weapons could be far more dangerous as instruments of mass extermination than anything except nuclear weapons. The United States, along with other nations recognizes that the use of even the smallest nuclear artillery shell in war would raise issues of extreme gravity. It would break down barriers to the use of more powerful nuclear weapons, and no one could tell where the escalation might end. The use of chemical or biological weapons, even relatively mild ones, involves similar dangers. Under the intense pressures of actual war, and without any carefully worked out and internationally recognized guidelines, it is difficult to keep even so mild a substance as tear gas from being used in ways that can set the stage for the introduction of lethal chemicals. For example, when, in viet Nam, we spread tear choy SEP 16 1968 For Release Monday Afternoon ~~ September 19, 1966 Non wh pyran Dear Colleague: ue Cost on ‘ he weld te 25H The enclosed letter to President Johnson expresses our concern an eyullmt with policies and practices which we consider to jeopardize Ane. GW existing restraints on the employment of chemical and biological 4. weapons. We urge you to join with us as co-signers and to help eqparns. gather signatures of professional scientists among your colleagues. Bas. Signatures should be forwarded by October 31, 1966 to: Wel Presidential Letter 58 Washington Avenue Cambridge, Massachusetts 02140 Sincerely yours, John Edsall Matthew Meselson The following persons are initial signers of the letter to the President: Felix Bloch, Department of Physics, Stanford University Konrad E. Bloch, Department of Chemistry, Harvard University James F. Crow, Department of Medical Genetics, University of Wisconsin William Doering, Sterling Chemistry Laboratory, Yale University Paul Doty, Department of Chemistry, Harvard University Freeman J. Dyson, The Institute for Advanced Study John T. Edsall, The Biological Laboratories, Harvard University Bernard Feld, Department of Physics, Massachusetts Inst. of Technology Irwin C. Gunsalus, Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois Robert Hofstadter, Department of Physics, Stanford University Arthur Kornberg, Department of Biochemistry, Stanford U. Medical School Fritz Lipmann, Rockefeller Institute Robert B. Livingston, Department of Neurosciences, U. Cal., San Diego Matthew Meselson, Biological Laboratories, Harvard University Severo Ochoa, New York University School of Medicine Ray D. Owen, Division of Biology, California Institute of Technology Keith R. Porter, Biological Laboratories, Harvard University Charles Price, Department of Chemistry, University of Pennsylvania Eugene Rabinowitch, Department of Botany, University of Illinois E. L. Tatum, Rockefeller Institute George Wald, Biological Laboratories, Harvard University Paul Dudley White, Boston President Lyndon B. Johnson The White House Washington, D.C. Dear Mr. President: We, the American scientists whose names appear below, wish to warn against any weakening of the world-wide prohibitions and restraints on the use of chemical and biological (CB) weapons. CB weapons have the potential of inflicting, especially on civilians, enormous devastation and death which may be unpredictable in scope and intensity; they could become far cheaper and easier to produce than nuclear weapons, thereby placing great mass destructive power within reach of nations not now possessing it; they lend themselves to use by leadership that may be desperate, irresponsible, or unscrupulous. The barriers to the use of these weapons must not be allowed to break down. During the Second World War, the United States maintained a firm and clearly stated policy of not initiating the use of CB weapons. However, in the last few years the U.S. position has become less clear. Since the late 1950’s, Defense Department expenditures on CB weapons have risen several fold — and there has been no categorical reaffirmation of the World War II policy. Most recently, U.S. forces have begun the large-scale use of anti-crop and “non-lethal” anti- personnel chemical weapons in Vietnam. We believe that this sets a dangerous precedent, with long term hazards far outweighing any probable short term military advantage. The employment of any one CB weapon weakens the barriers to the use of others. No lasting distinction seems feasible between incapacitating and lethal weapons or between chemical and biological warfare. The great variety of possible agents forms a continuous spectrum from the temporarily incapaci- tating to the highly lethal. If the restraints on the use of one kind of CB weapon are broken down, the use of others will be encouraged. ° Therefore, Mr. President, we urge that you —lInstitute a White House study of overall government policy regarding CB weapons and the possibility of arms control measures, with a view to maintaining and reinforcing the world-wide restraints against CB warfare. —Order an end to the employment of anti-personnel and anti-crop chemical weapons in Vietnam. —Reestablish and categorically declare the intention of the United States to refrain from initiating the use of chemical and biological weapons.