And then, one day, the blinkers slipped off, and I found
myselfinaveryseriousconfrontationwithDr.RoyDeHart,
Commander,U.S.AirForceSchoolofAerospaceMedicine.I
tried to pointout that, given a nuclear confrontation,it is
highlyunlikelythatoperationalcommanderswillgotocharts
andfiguresbasedupondatafromtherhesusmonkeytogain
estimates of probable force strength or second strike
capability. Dr. DeHart insisted that the data will be
invaluable,asserting,“Theydon’tknowthedataarebasedon
animal studies.”^4
Barnesresignedandhasbecomeastrongopponentofanimal
experimentation; but experiments using the Primate
Equilibrium Platform have continued.
ProjectXliftedtheveilononekindofexperimentconducted
bythemilitary.Wehavenowexaminedthatinalittledetail,
although
itwouldtakealongtimetodescribealltheformsofradiation
and chemical warfare agents tested, in varying doses, on
monkeysinthePrimateEquilibriumPlatform.Whatwenow
needtograspisthatthisisjustoneverysmallpartofthetotal
amount of military experimentation on animals. Concern
about this experimentation goes back several years.
InJuly 1973 RepresentativeLesAspinofWisconsinlearned
through anadvertisement inan obscurenewspaper thatthe
United States Air Force was planning to purchase two
hundred beagle puppies, with vocal cords tied to prevent
normal barking, for tests of poisonous gases. Shortly
afterwarditbecameknownthatthearmywasalsoproposing
to use beagles—four hundred this time—in similar tests.