DOCUMENT 8 A declassified report to the Congress by the Comptroller General of the United States “US Lethal Chemical Munitions Policy Issues Facing the Congress Department of Defense ” dated September 21 1977 in CBW Box 13 Chemical Biological Warfare FOIA National Security Archive Poem “Composition 5” on pages 155-158 of book YELLOW RAIN Page 1 cover page of report r p OSS S -lF c - o l 'lO IU'Ul 'H li' @ s s 7A0'2-c8s ' 9 5 951 6133210 IIIA 11 N REPO RT TO THE CONG RESS UN '' Ji · __ • •7rn aL 11 ·--a ' - ' BY THE COMPT ROLLER GENERA L OF THE UNITED STATES U S Lethal Chemic al Munitio ns Policy Issues Facing The Congress Departmen t of Defense Current U S defense policies require a chemi• cal munitions stockpile to deter and retaliate for enemy chemical attacks The Depanment of Defense considers the existing stockpile inadequate and wants to upgrade it with new munitions The report provides information on the fol lowing issues facing the Congress --What is the chemical warfare threat to U S forces --Why does the United States retain chemical munitions --What chemical munitions are needed --What new chemical munitions are being developed --What constraints would affect the timeliness o f a U S chemical retaliation Sanitized by the GAO Office of Security and Safety January 1992 pursuant to declassific ation review by the Department of Defense I I J 7 UNC ASS f ED 29 Sample page from report UNCLASSIFIED iEOft T CHAPTER 3 BY 00£S TBE UNITED STATES RETAIN CHEMICAL MUNITIONS al he United States mainta ins a stoc kpil e of chemic munial chemic ing us from ions nat r othe · deter r i tions _to enc1 t on s again st U S Ar med Forces or its allies If deterrting retalia of option the e provid to s i e il tockp the ai • of Dein ind agains t the c h e mical attack The Depart ment nona en se says thi s p oli c y p r ov ides the flexib ility of n uc_ear respon se o pt i on to a chemic al attack On J a nua ry 2 2 19 7 5 the United States ratifie d the agents Geneva Protoc ol whic h prohib its the use of chemic al major i - wa r 'l'he United Sta t es like a major ity of ' the als s ignato ri es reta ined the rig h t to retali ate with chemic it s ou o a n e n e my i ni tiate a chemic al attack agains t gs J Uring fisca l year 1977 defens e appro priatio n hearin h branch dl e Secre ar y of De ens e stated that the execu tiv e stated noL y e ag r eed on a new c h emical warfar e policy Be that L a s eve r a l studie s are underw ay in t h is regard and to achiev ing an effec e a d in istrat i on remain s dedica ted chemic al v e v er i i aol e i n ternat ional prohib ition agains t mi r i - ions eo We re v iewed the result s of a June 1976 study perform identi study The DOD bv Sv s em Pl anning Corpo ration for polie warfar al chemic ative altern five owing i ed-th e foll al c e s p o stures for deterr ing and respon qing to a chemic a- Lac k 30