Secret Report: US Military Approved Offensive Use of Biological Warfare on Enemy Agriculture in World War 2

In the closing days of World War 2, the Joint Chiefs of Staff approved the offensive use of germ warfare aimed at destroying enemy crops, placing final approval at the discretion its top commanders in the field, according to Office of Strategic Services (OSS) documents formerly classified “Secret” and “Top Secret” held in the National Archives.

Actual approval by U.S. authorities for the offensive use of any type of biological warfare has never been published before. As we shall see, it was the practice of the U.S. government to only pass on such orders orally. Most likely this was because the orders involved actions widely deemed to be illegal.

The purpose of plant biological warfare (BW), according to a Chemical Warfare Service document written soon after the war, was “to destroy or reduce the value of crop plants.” Practically, the practice amounted to a war crime. The intent was to deny food to enemy troops, increase hunger, if not produce famine among the population of…