Project Bacchus

Project Bacchus was a covert investigation by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency US Defense Department to determine whether it is possible to construct a bioweapons production facility with off-the-shelf equipment.

History

The operation

Project Bacchus ran during 1999 and 2000 and investigated whether would-be terrorists could build an anthrax production facility and remain undetected.^[1] In the two-year simulation, the facility was constructed, and production of an anthrax-like bacterium was successfully achieved.^[2] The participating scientists were able to produce about one kilogram of highly refined bacterial particles.^[2]

Reportage

The secret Project Bacchus was revealed to the public in a September 2001 article in The New York Times.^[1] Reporters Judith Miller, Stephen Engelberg and William J. Broad collaborated to write the article.^[1] It is presumed that the reporters had knowledge of the program for at least several months; shortly after the article appeared they published a book that detailed the story further.^[1] The book, Germs: Biological Weapons and America's Secret War, and the article are the only publicly available sources concerning Project Bacchus and its sister projects, Clear Vision and Jefferson.^[1]

References

Further reading

• Tucker, Jonathan B. "Biological Threat Assessment: Is the Cure Worse Than the Disease?", Arms Control Today, October 2004, accessed January 6, 2009.
• Miller, Judith, Engelberg, Stephen and Broad, William J. Germs: Biological Weapons and America's Secret War, (Google Books), Simon and Schuster, 2002, (ISBN 0684871599).
• -- " U.S. Germ Warfare Research Pushes Treaty Limits", The New York Times, September 4, 2001, accessed January 6, 2009.