Poisoning The Pacific

Rachel Carson Environment Book Award - Second Place ( Society of Environmental Journalists )

For more than 70 years, US military operations have been contaminating the Pacific region with toxic substances including radioactive fallout, nerve agent and dioxin-tainted Agent Orange. Hundreds of thousands of service members, their families and local residents have been exposed to these poisons - but the US government has persistently tried to hide the damage and refused to help victims. Based on 12,000+ pages of documents obtained via the Freedom of Information Act and interviews with military whistleblowers and survivors, this book reveals the enormous extent of contamination and the lengths the Pentagon will go to conceal it.

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
978-1-5381-3033-9 • Hardback • October 2020 • $24.95 • (£15.95)
978-1-5381-3034-6 • eBook • October 2020 • $23.50 • (£15.95)

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"The record of criminality, deceit, evasion of responsibility, and disdain for the fate of victims laid forth in this devastating account is difficult to believe. It is an eloquent call to bring this tragedy to an end without delay." Noam Chomsky

"Poisoning the Pacific is an enormously valuable book. Jon Mitchell’s expertise on US military operations across Japan and on the US military’s contamination of Okinawa, where he ably guided us both during a recent visit, is unparalleled. Much of what he exposes here is truly shocking, and we expect most readers will share our outrage over what he reveals. With a vibrant and compelling style, Mitchell has written an eye-opening critique of America’s role in the Pacific world, the place where the great battles of the twenty-first century are already being waged, won, and lost."   Oliver Stone and Peter Kuznick, coauthors of The Untold History of the United States

"As the international security situation is worsening and nuclear-armed states are once again threatening to use nuclear weapons, Poisoning the Pacific contains incredibly important research and stories of the humanitarian and environmental impact of weapons. This book sends a powerful message that far from protecting us, nuclear weapons and other weapons are causing enormous harm to people and the environment."    Beatrice Fihn, International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, 2017 Nobel Peace Prize winner

"Poisoning the Pacific is an unprecedented, comprehensive exposé of the human and environmental damage caused by nearly a century of US warmaking, weapons testing, training, and daily military activity in East Asia, the United States, and its colonies/territories. Jon Mitchell’s exhaustive research provides a tremendous resource for the thousands, perhaps millions, of victims harmed by a vast array of chemical, biological, and nuclear poisons, as well as for all who believe we must expose and repair the harm inflicted (and often covered up) in the name of supposed security." David Vine, American University; author of Base Nation: How U.S. Military Bases Abroad Harm America

"Poisoning the Pacific is a must-read for anyone concerned about US military veterans and the impact of US wars on civilians. From World War II through the present, we’ve bombed and poisoned ourselves and innocent civilians on the island of Okinawa, as well as other Pacific islands. Through diligent reporting and heroic research in never-before-revealed documents, journalist Jon Mitchell exposes numerous lies and coverups by the US military. His book is a siren call to help veterans―and to finally give Okinawa back to the Okinawans."     Dale Maharidge, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning And Their Children After Them

"Poisoning the Pacific is a meticulous inventory of the grievous harm that nuclear tests and the deployment, storage, and disposal of hazardous materials have wreaked on land and ocean areas. But the analysis goes beyond this. The tests and bases have displaced local residents and caused illness and even deaths among them. Mitchell places this in the context of crimes against humanity and crimes against human rights, and notes that decades of callous and careless military activity have also harmed American servicemen involved in carrying out toxic activities, as well as their wives and children living on bases where contamination has taken place." John W. Dower, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Embracing Defeat

Jon Mitchell is an investigative journalist with the Okinawa Times and winner of the 2015 Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan's lifetime achievement award for press freedom. His work has featured in reports for the US Congress and Japanese parliament; it has also helped US veterans exposed to contamination in Japan to win help from the Department of Veterans Affairs. US authorities—including the State Department and Department of Defense—have repeatedly attempted to block Mitchell’s work, prompting condemnation from international press freedom groups. He lives in Japan.

John W. Dower is the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II.