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Spaceand Missile Defense Battle Lab
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Publicly,
U.S. interest in non-lethal weapons (NLW) was a response to the failed U.S.
peacekeeping mission in Somalia in 1993 (Mackenzie, p.2). Americans, alarmed
at the death of their soldiers in the region, announced that it was opening
the Office of Strategic Influence, to be headed by Brigadier General Simon.
Under the umbrella of this new organization, information and NLW were to be
a trade-off between “lethality and effectiveness” without endangering
U.S. soldiers and others in future conflicts (Suhajda. p.1, 2). However,
research into non-lethal weapons reveals that they are sometimes more
dangerous than they are intended to be.
The
Office of Strategic Influence has funds of $17 billion. Nothing is known of
the budget and staffing but the objective is known - NLW such as
misinformation and other tools aimed at attacking non-compliant governments,
mostly in the Middle East (Cornwall p.1). Past experience, however, offers a
glimpse into the future of non lethal weapons. In Somalia, for instance, The
Marines carried a backpack of sticky foam, under the category of NLW. When
the foam is aimed at the legs it immobilizes the victim. An unfortunate side
effect, however, is that if it covers the body or is inhaled death occurs by
suffocation. Difficult to remove the foam sticks and if removed quickly
removes the skin without the speedy application of a solvent (Suhajda, p.4).
Most other NLW are similarly “non-lethal”.
In
fact in Pre-WWII when modern NLW experiments began, many non-lethal weapons
were actually highly lethal. The first attempts at NLW were rudimentary and
often produced effects that produced a slow and painful death over many
years. Although they were not immediately lethal, their long-term side
effects often were and many of these earlier methods are no longer in
popular use. In 1931 Dr. Cornelius Rhoads who established the U.S. Army
Biological Warfare facility in Utah and Panama began a series of radiation
exposure experiments on American soldiers and civilian hospital patients.
Between
1942 and 1945 the Chemical Warfare Services experimented with mustard gas on
4,000 servicemen. Colonel E. Kirkpatrick of the U.S. Atomic Energy
Commission issued secret document 07075001 in 1947 stating the commencement
of intravenous doses of radioactive substances on human subjects. To
determine American susceptibility to biological attack, the U.S. Navy
sprayed clouds of bacteria from ships over San Francisco in 1950. In 1956,
U.S. military released mosquitoes infected with yellow fever over Georgia
and Florida. Army agents then posed as health officials so that they could
test the victims for effects (Healthnewsnet, p.1, 2). Although many of the
earlier attempts at finding a non-lethal weapon were failures, research
continues in the division of Psychological Operations, PSYOP.
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Energy Beam Weapon |
Electroencephalography,
EEG, gives precise information on the brain's electro physiology and is used
in the development of NLW. Magneto encephalography, MEG, is the study of the
human brain’s magnetic fields and is also used in the field. David Cohen
pioneered the first MEG system at the Francis Bitter Magnetic Laboratory at
Massachusetts Information Technology in 1968. It was there that the first
system was designed using a shielded room (VSM, p.1). The system is based on
the fact that the skull has low conductivity to electrical currents but is
transparent to magnetic fields. Captain Paul Tyler of the U.S Air Force
wrote in 1984 “Even though the body is basically an electromagnetic
system, modern science has almost exclusively studied the chemical aspects
of the body and to date has largely neglected the electrical aspects.
However, over the past decade, researchers have devised many mathematical
models to approximate the internal fields in animals and humans.”
Radio
frequency is also used as a non-lethal weapon. RF weapons operate within
20-35kHZ. Low settings from two-meter antenna dish forms an acoustic bullet
that causes physical discomfort. If the output is increased, nausea,
vomiting and abdominal pains are experienced. The highest settings cause a
person’s bones to resonate causing extreme pain eventually exploding
internally. Aimed at the head, the skull resonates causing people to hear
voices. The Brook Air Force Base produced a report in 1969 entitled ‘Human
Exposure to Radio-frequency Radiation: A Review Pertinent to Air Force
Operations. It assessed a number of studies (Begich #2, p.6). The CIA’s
Operation PIQUE served as cover for RF weapons and was ready for application
in 1978. High- powered radio signals are bounced-off the ionosphere to
affect the mental functions of people in a selected area utilizing the East
European nuclear installations (Suhajda, p.5). The aim was to disable
Vietnamese soldiers. However, the result was that the sound frequency was so
intense that it almost shook the aircraft asunder. Many American soldiers
were injured when those nearest to the loudspeakers absorbed much of the
sound (Eastwood, p.1).
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CTF
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The
CIA and Department of Defense began research into microwaves in the 1950s.
Under “Project Pandora” the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research,
WRAIR, discovered externally induced auditory input, could form pulsed
microwave audiograms of words or oral sounds. The effect is hearing voices
that are not a part of the recipients own thought processes or the sensation
of burning skin from as far as 700 yards. Human Rights Watch described it as
a “high -powered microwave ‘anti-personnel weapon’ that should be
carefully studied before it is applied in the field”. However, Colonel
Fenton, when questioned, denied existence of the military microwave. He
stated that the system fires waves that are shorter and higher in frequency
than microwave and said, “It’s safe, absolutely safe. You can walk out
of the beam and the pain goes away. There are no lasting effects” (Dao,
p.1). Yet in the field microwave weapons known as “Demons” can stop
machinery from functioning. They disrupt enemy communication and superheat
internal organs. They are also known as non-nuclear electromagnetic pulses,
EMP, and are intended to fry electronics.
The
draft policy for NLW by Dr. Christopher, Lamb, in the Department of Defense,
gave high priority to dual use of NLW for ‘civilian law enforcement’ and
military purposes in 1994. Also in 1994 the document ‘Revolution in
Military Affairs’ by the U.S Army War College stated,
“…conflict
short of war (terrorism, insurgency or violence associated with
neuro-trafficking) requires new weapons and a change in public opinion”.
“Spiritual and commercial insurgencies represent a national security
risk” (Begich #2 p.2, 4). Former-President Clinton stated: “I will
direct the Office of the Secretary of Defense to accelerate efforts to field
non-chemical, non-lethal alternatives to riot control where combatants and
non-combatants are intermingled”. This set the pace for NLW (Hall p.17).
However,
the Foreign Affairs sub-Committee of the European Parliament in 1998, the
International Red Cross made a presentation showing the fallacy of NLW. It
was highlighted that the term ‘non-lethal’ means less than 25% fatality
rates, as landmines do not kill over 25% of their victims. NLW have been
used frequently in Bosnia and North Ireland because the soldiers believe
that they are harmless (Begich #1, p.1). However, the non-sequiter nature of
the term itself reveals its true nature - non-lethal weapon.
“Whoever
instigates oppression will in the future bite his hand in regret”
said ‘Ali ibn Talib (Haeri, p.98).
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