The plot to use incendiary bats[1] was covered on major news channels in the 80s, as it became declassified.

> Eventually the Marine Corps took over the program and conducted tests beginning in December 1943. After 30 demonstrations and $2 million spent, the project was canceled. Most people believe it's because the U.S. realized that all resources should be concentrated on the development of a far more powerful weapon: the atomic bomb.

According to airmen who were involved, they were loading up into bombers the hour it was cancelled. The first nuke was dropped a few days later. Unfortunately, it's probably impossible to retrieve that broadcast with the attestations.

[1] https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/04/old-w...

https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna49610839

Chemistry professor Louis Fieser of Harvard oversaw the bat bomb as well as some more practical incendiary weapon developments (such as napalm) during World War II. He published a book in 1964 about his wartime research including the bat bomb. You can see the full thing here:

The Scientific Method: A Personal Account of Unusual Projects in War and in Peace

https://library.sciencemadness.org/library/books/the_scienti...

See in particular chapter 13, "Bat Bombs."

The Wikipedia article is also worth reading: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bat_bomb

Let's also have a moment of silence for the questionably successful WWII plot to fight the Germans with explosive dogs.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-tank_dog

It's a good thing that horses have been superseded. Animals should not be pulled into our wars.

As someone who's completely oblivious with the inner workings of the military sector, is there such thing as an ethics commission to ascertain what is deemed "ethically acceptable" and what is not?

Does it work? Does it fill a niche that can’t otherwise be filled and is considered important?

If so, it’s usually considered ethically acceptable.

See: land mines, white phosphorus, etc.

Chemical and biological weapons are in the few exceptions, and that is generally because they are very difficult to control and use without hurting your own troops as much or more.

Speaking of which, Russia is currently deploying dolphins, supposedly

Sadly, dolphins are another common target for conscription. They are smart mammals. The ones in Sevastopol could be considered turncoats, having transitioned through Soviet->Ukrainian->Russian hands. They're basically swimming guard dogs.

There is a joke about intelligent apes like orangutans and chimpanzees: they could probably learn to speak, but they refuse to do so out of fear that people would try to employ them.

Well I remember a US movie of the 1970's with George, C. Scott:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Day_of_the_Dolphin

though admittedly in the fiction the dolphins were trained to place the explosives and leave.

About the supposed use of dolphins in Sevastopol:

https://www.livescience.com/russians-using-military-dolphins...

they seem like a marine version of the good ol' Roman geese:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brennus_(leader_of_the_Senones...

a sort of intrusion alarm.

citation?

Look also at the World's Greatest Con [1]

[1] https://worldsgreatestcon.fireside.fm/

Groupthink. "He couldn’t understand why nobody else questioned its logic, feasibility or rationality."

I like they released the radioactive foxes against Americans just to test it out.

That’s the point where you must look inward.

> Operation Fantasia was the brainchild of OSS psychological warfare strategist Ed Salinger...

The plan is so ludicrous and insane that without any attribution I would've guessed an unhinged lunatic or a child came up with it.

> Lovell had established his reputation in the OSS by pursuing eccentric ideas himself, such as trying to make Adolf Hitler’s mustache fall out by slipping female sex hormones into his vegetables—Lovell’s nickname was “Professor Moriarty”—but Operation Fantasia went beyond his tolerance for absurdity.

The guy who wanted to make hitler's mustache fall out with vegetables laced with female sex hormones was the sanest one of the bunch. The voice of reason.

Isn't OSS the predecessor to the CIA?

Yeah, headed by "wild Bill" Donovan. They were like a knock-off version of the British SOE (Special Operations Executive) and the XX Committee. The British Intelligence apparatus in WWII was a thing of beauty.

The Germans dropped a bunch of agents into the UK and established a large and vibrant spy network, several agents earning the Iron Cross. Every single one of them was faked by the UK, either turned or killed and emulated. The Germans never knew until they lost.

The stories of the secret war during WWII are amazing.

It does make you wonder.

Dexedrine is a hell of a drug, as the contemporaneous Germans also learned.