What major nations pioneered the offensive use of biological weapons against civilians?
Jeanne Guillemin: In 1922 France, fearful of German air power, used its brilliant legacy in microbiology to develop the first biological weapons program. In 1940, the British, under attack by German bombers, instituted their own biological weapons program and created the first working anthrax bomb. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States established the prototype for mass production of biological bombs and, along with Canada, began to expand testing and attack simulations. During the Cold War, the US also intensified its development of germ warfare to its most ambitious, strategic level, which culminated in the building of large production facilities and the testing of biological weapons on land and sea. This effort lasted until 1969, when President Richard Nixon terminated the program. Q: What is the state of these programs today? JG: The major state biological warfare programs of the 21st century are now fundamentally over. In the 1960s, the UK and France acquired nuc
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