The Nerve Gas Story

By Walter Isaacson, Managing Editor

In a story broadcast June 7, CNN producer April Oliver and correspondent Peter Arnett reported the results of an eight-month investigation into allegations that sarin nerve gas was used by U.S. forces during a secret mission into Laos in 1970. Their report, which aired on NewsStand: CNN & TIME, was accompanied by a piece written by them for this magazine titled "Did the U.S. Drop Nerve Gas?"

The CNN story was based on interviews with soldiers and officers who participated in the mission, several of whom said they believed nerve gas had been used on enemy troops attempting a counterattack on the U.S. forces. Those reports were confirmed by several high-level military sources. Admiral Thomas Moorer, U.S.N. (ret.), who was then Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, talked on camera in general terms about the military use of sarin. Before the broadcast, the Pentagon said it could find no evidence to support the story. Defense Secretary William Cohen subsequently announced an investigation of the charges.

Several military experts, including CNN's own military consultant, Major General Perry Smith, U.S.A.F. (ret.), have now questioned the accuracy of the story, denying that nerve gas was used. Smith subsequently resigned from his advisory role at CNN to protest the broadcast. Moorer issued a clarification to CNN saying that he had no documentary evidence of the use of gas and that he had not personally authorized its use. His statement said he had learned of the operation later in oral statements that indicated the use of sarin in the mission.

Last week former Green Beret officer John L. Plaster, who was present in Vietnam when the soldiers returned from the mission in Laos, said in an op-ed piece in the New York Times that sarin gas had not been used. He also disputed the allegation made by CNN's sources that the mission's purpose was to kill American defectors. CNN had quoted one officer on the mission saying he had seen and killed two defectors. Questions have subsequently been raised about his credibility. This officer and a sergeant said they were told by their Montagnard mercenaries there were a dozen to 20 Caucasian bodies found. Former special-operations commander John Singlaub told CNN, "It may be more important to your survival to kill the defector than to kill the Vietnamese or Russian." He justified that policy by pointing out that the defector's knowledge of communications and tactics "can be damaging."

We believed that the initial CNN report and article were based on substantial evidence. But we feel that the doubts raised deserve full exploration. So we plan to keep reporting this story. We also await the results of the Pentagon investigation, due out shortly. When we get more of these facts and, we hope, a clearer picture of what may have happened, we will report them to you, correct any mistakes and try to clarify any disputes that remain.

One thing is certain: these were brave soldiers on a tough mission. They deserve, as do our readers, a full and fair examination of the charges and countercharges.

Walter Isaacson, Managing Editor