The family jewels

Having just read through 700 some odd pages of secrets that have been out there for half a century but considered original research as Wikipedia would put it, I am most troubled not by the use of mob hitmen to go after Castro, or operation Phoenix, or the warrentless surveillence of overseas communications, or the holding without rendition of suspects without a trial, but by this found on page 416, buried in among the Watergate documents which documents the experimental testing on human volunteers (special forces troops) of drugs rejected because of unfavorable side effects.

The thing that bothers me most about this is that I saw film of this testing back in the sixties and had always assumed that the volunteers were informed of the risks. Instead it appears that these very gung ho soldiers were convinced to risk their lives and sanity out of patriotism.

I'm a little torn up about it because its probable that the dosages administered were extemely high, way beyond what those of us who have tripped self administered, and if they were doing that then, who knows what they have played around with since in the way of testing the effects of CBR warfare.

I'd be interested to know if anyone thinks this tease of a confession should result in the release of all government secrets, or in the light of Cheney's strange desires to destroy everything we hold dear in the way of values through advocacy of kidnapping, torture, murder and the rape of the planet, be seen as a premptive strike against his impeachment on the grounds that everyone else did it too.