[Mb-civic] Why the U.S. should never deploy its latest weapon

[ean at sbcglobal.net]

Why the U.S. should never deploy its latest weapon
- Brett Wagner
Wednesday, January 18, 2006

The U.S. military-industrial complex has just developed a dangerous 
weapon that should never, under any circumstances, be deployed. No, 
I'm not talking about the "bunker-buster" nukes that were, thankfully, 
denied funding once again in next year's federal budget.

The new weapon -- first reported in the press in 2004 -- is known in 
military circles as the Active Denial System. It has been nicknamed the 
"pain ray" -- and with good reason. According to DefenseTech.org, an 
online military information service, the new weapon "fires out millimeter 
waves -- a sort of cousin of microwaves, in the 95 GHz range. The 
invisible beams penetrate just 1/64th of an inch beneath the skin. But 
that's deep enough to heat up the water inside a person. Which is 
enough to cause excruciating pain. Seconds later, people have to run 
away. And that causes mobs to break up in a hurry." Charles Heal, a 
widely recognized authority on nonlethal weapons who has dubbed the 
ray the "Holy Grail of crowd control," likened it to having a hot iron 
pressed against the skin.

Raytheon has reportedly developed such a device that can be 
mounted on a Humvee for the Pentagon. According to a recent report 
on Military.com, the head of the Army unit charged with rapidly 
securing new gear for use by troops, Col. Robert Lovett, "has 
requested that [the device] be rushed to the field to support military 
operations in Iraq." Lovett's memorandum cites a request by Col. 
James Brown, commander of the 18th Military Police Brigade, for the 
immediate deployment of the Active Denial System to help "suppress" 
insurgent attacks and quell prison uprisings.

As a national security expert and a former professor for the U.S. Naval 
War College, I understand the urgency felt by commanders on the 
front lines to provide U.S. troops with the best weaponry available. But 
because of that built-in bias, we are fortunate to have a civilian-led 
military in order to keep our long-term interests in the proper 
perspective. Not only do I strongly disagree with the two colonels; I feel 
compelled to publicly oppose their request.

Today's innovation is tomorrow's copy. For example, the baseball team 
lucky enough to include on its roster the pitcher who first developed the 
curveball had a temporary advantage, to be sure -- at least until all the 
other pitchers learned the same technique. Likewise, military 
innovation, once deployed, enjoys only a temporary advantage until 
adversaries and allies alike are able to catch up.

That's why developing a pain ray and deploying one are inherently 
different actions. Studying the capability of millimeter waves to cause 
pain might help us develop defenses against that technology; however, 
deploying the weapon merely invites other nations to follow suit. The 
stigma of deploying such weapons, once the line is crossed, is difficult 
to "uncross" -- much like trying to put the "nuclear genie" back in the 
bottle.

Rather than deploying a pain ray, President Bush should instead begin 
developing a plan -- drawing inspiration from the post-World War I 
leaders who banned the use of chemical weapons -- to forever ban the 
use of millimeter waves (or similar technologies) in combat or any 
other form of "crowd control." Otherwise, it will only be a matter of time 
before such weapons are used against American troops or by 
repressive regimes against their own citizens -- or perhaps even by the 
U.S. government against dissidents or unruly crowds in our own 
country.

Harlan Ellison observed in August 1975, on the 30th anniversary of the 
atomic bombing of Hiroshima: "For the first time we have a weapon 
that nobody has used for 30 years. This gives me great hope for the 
human race."

Let's hope that 30 years from now, the same can be said about the 
pain ray.
A new breed of weapon

Directed-energy weapons could play a role in fighting conflicts in 
coming years and bring numerous advantages to U.S. troops who 
have to deal with a hostile but unarmed crowd.

Active Denial System

Sends a nonlethal beam of energy to repel people without injury

Beam traveling at the speed of light, penetrates the skin to 1/64 of an 
inch, causing a burning sensation

Antenna focuses the invisible beam

Transmitter produces energy at a frequency of 95 GHz

Range

Beam: 700 yards

Small-arms fire: about 1,100

A 2-second burst can heat the skin to 130° F

Normal: 98.6° F

Source: Boeing; Defense Department; GlobalSecurity.org Associated 
Press

Brett Wagner is president of the California Center for Strategic Studies 
(www.thecaliforniacenter.org) and executive director of the Swords into 
Plowshares Project.

Page B - 9
URL: http://sfgate.com/cgi-
bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2006/01/18/EDGN8GOBER1.DTL 

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"A war of aggression is the supreme international crime." -- Robert Jackson,
 former U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice and Nuremberg prosecutor

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