Nonlethal Weapons
A Global Issue
by Cheryl Welsh,
copyright
Mind Justice Home
Page
This article, Nonlethal Weapons, A Global Issue, has been
cited and Cheryl Welsh, director of Cahra [now Mind Justice], has been listed as one of six
Non-Lethal Weapons Experts in the world in UNIDIR, United Nations
Institute for Disarmament Research 2002 Media Guide to Disarmament in
Geneva.
For full Media Guide see
http://www.unidir.org/bdd/fiche-ouvrage.php?ref_ouvrage=92-9045-002-2-en
Cahra [now Mind Justice] is listed on page 25, or see excerpt here. Media
Guide cites Welsh article "Non-lethal weapons-A global issue" at
http://www.raven1.net/welshnlw.htm
Possible Remedies From the International Community
Concerning the Illegal Use and Experimentation with Electromagnetic and
Mind Control Technology
What Can Be Done on an International Level?
Introduction: Nonlethal Weapons
Background Information. A Serious International
Issue According to the Experts.
Denial That the Weapons Exist and Little Public
Accountability
International Use of Nonlethal Weapons
The Dangers of Nonlethal Electromagnetic
Weapons
International Human Rights Organizations:
No Match for the International Military Arms
Trade
Major Conclusions: Comparisons to the Atomic
Bomb
References
What Major Newspaper, Magazine and Journals Are
Writing about Nonlethal Electromagnetic Weapons
C.A.H.R.A. Home Page
What Can Be Done on an International Level?
(This is a summary of the Nonlethal Weapons article and extensive
footnotes which follow.)
The U.S. seems to be the world leader in the global arena. Military
budgets are the driving force and speak louder than public input.
International organizations such as the UN, the European Union and the
International Committee of the Red Cross are politically controlled by
these factors. (See example 1 below.) Therefore, public protest will be an
area to work on. Working with professionals who care about this issue and
are willing to speak out is critical. Finding the decision-making
organizations such as the UN Committee on Disarmament and making public
statements is important. The odds are formidable but less so when examined
and analyzed.
For example, Nick Begich, co-author of
Angels Don't Play This HAARP which discussed the U.S. HAARP defense
project and mind control, spoke at the European Parliament about HAARP and
environmental and health concerns in February 1998.(Tigner, 1998,p.3).
This was reported in Defense News and contributed to public awareness.
It is important to work as a group. Projects are better than just one
letter to the UN C.A.H.R.A. is planning on compiling reports and to work
with other human rights groups. Your support and contact with C.A.H.R.A.
can make a difference. As C.A.H.R.A. is a nonprofit organization, there
can be no political activities but C.A.H.R.A can research and disseminate
information.
Example 1. "Progress toward a ban{on landminds] has been painfully
slow. After endless debate, 38 countries, including Britain, agreed to add
a protocol to the 1980 Convention on "certain conventional weapons", which
seeks to make a distinction between legitimate military weapons and those
that cause "superfluous injury..in excess of what is needed for military
purposes". But it was a feeble affair. It regulates rather than prohibits
landmines by stipulating that only weapons which self-destruct after 30
days may be manufactured and sold. The trouble is that these new
"improved" landmines cost $5, and since most customers are from poor
countries, they are likely to opt for the cheaper version. What is more
the protocol could take at least ten years to come into effect."
Linklater, Magnus.(1997,Jan.16).Diana's Smart Weapon. Times.
Lexis-Nexis
Contents
Electromagnetic technology is a new emerging weapon with significant
importance to international politics.
Electromagnetic technology has been developed internationally as a
weapon of war for at least forty years, but it has been highly
classified.(Pasternak,1997). The weapons are designed to target any
and every nerve of the body including the human brain. There are many
independent sources that verify this little-publicized fact. "Research
work in this field [directed energy weapons] has been carried out in
almost all industrialized countries, and especially by the great powers,
with a view to using these phenomena for anti-materiel or anti-personnel
purposes." (Doswald-Beck,1990,18).
..."[U.S.] scientists, aided by government research on the 'bioeffects'
of beamed energy, are searching the electromagnetic and sonic spectrums
for wavelengths that can affect human behavior." (Pasternak,1997,38).
A 1993 Defense News article entitled "U.S. Explores Russian Mind-Control
Technology" described "acoustic psycho-correction, the capability to
control minds and alter behavior of civilians and soldiers..." It uses "
transmission of specific commands via static or white noise bands into
the human subconscious..." The article further stated that U.S. and
Russian sources were planning "...discussions aimed at creating a
framework for bringing the issue under bilateral or multilateral
controls".(Opall,1993,4). These are just a few examples of the dozens of
articles available on this topic.
Contents
Electromagnetic weapons are as important as the atomic bomb, according
to many experts. Here are examples of just a few.
Gorbachev stated in 1986 "new non-nuclear weapons [such as] ...radio
wave, infrasonic... which, in terms of their destructive potential, could
be no less dangerous than already existing weapons of mass
destruction." (BBC,1986,A1.) Dr. Stefan Possony was a Hoover Institute
fellow and was called "the intellectual father of 'Star Wars' and "one of
the most influential civilian strategic planners in the
Pentagon"(Guardian,1995,17). Dr. Possony wrote about "
messaging directly into a target mind" with low frequency waves.
(Possony,1983,34). The article was entitled "Scientific Advances Hold
Dramatic Prospects for Psy-Strat". A "Harvard molecular geneticist and
biological/chemical warfare specialist, Matthew S. Meselson warned: 'We're
going to learn how to manipulate every life process, genetic ones,
mental ones, the emotional ones, ...If our inevitably increasing
knowledge of life process is also harnessed to hostile purposes, that will
completely change the nature of the expression of human hostility.'
(Mann,1996, 58). It is logical to conclude that some of the top
strategists and academic experts may know of the classified technology and
cannot openly discuss it.
There are several unclassified sources to document a forty year history
of the international arms race to develop electromagnetic weapons. From
1975 to 1998, the UN Committee on Disarmament has discussed the Russian
proposals to ban "new types of weapons of mass destruction." One of these
weapons was described by the Soviet government in 1979 as "Infrasonic
'acoustic radiation' weapons. They would utilize harmful effects of
infrasonic oscillations on biocurrents of the brain and nervous system;"
(United Nations Department for Disarmament Affairs,1985,115). But neither
side has admitted to having electromagnetic weapons. "Russia's Federal
Counterintelligence Service emphasized that there is no psychotronic
weapons on the territory of Russia, and never has been."(Tass,1994).
Psychotronic is the Russian name for electromagnetic mind control weapons.
And the Pentagon has stated that "Radiofrequency weapons are too sensitive
to discuss." ("CNN Reports", 1985).
Contents
While the superpowers have denied the existence of the weapons on one
level, there are many articles to the contrary. And it seems that the
United States has the lead in this international arms race. For example,
U.S. non-proliferation experts have categorized acoustic and directed
energy weapons as "highly dangerous technologies", in order to control the
arms sales. (Opall,1997,16.) And since the 1990s, there are numerous
articles have been written about the so called new nonlethal technologies,
which include electromagnetic weapons. It can be concluded that the
classified technology is now going online and consequently there has been
some declassification at an international level.
Public awareness has been slow. Here is just one example. France is
involved in NATO research on this topic. They have begun to implement
nonlethal strategy into their military doctrine. A classified study in
1995 listed 50 types of weapons including acoustic and electromagnetic,
psychological and persuasive weapons ("France's Non-Lethal",1996,286). The
president of France, Jacques Chirac described the weapons as "science
fiction". The public has had a difficult time figuring out the facts on
electromagnetic weapons when conflicting statements are made by government
officials who may not be aware of the classified technology.
China experts have discussed electromagnetic weapons. "...weapons
systems produced by the third military revolution mainly used sound,
electromagnetism, ...they possess enormous military
potential.(Pillsbury,1997).
Russia, China, Ukraine, the U.K., Australia, and France reportedly have
advanced RF programs and Germany , Sweden, South Korea, Taiwan and Israel
are said to have emerging programs..." ("Emerging Threat",1998).
Several articles support the fact that electromagnetic weapons are here to
stay.
Contents
The public is now beginning to hear the debates on the strategic
development of electromagnetic weapons. While much of the technology is
still classified, the nonlethal weapon debate is reflective of
international concerns about electromagnetic weapons. Many countries plan
to use nonlethal weapons for low intensity conflict, international
terrorism and peace-keeping missions. The many articles on this topic
describe the great interest in and funding of nonlethal weapons and the
possibilities for it's misuse. For example in Harvard International
Review, Ethan Mollick described a nonlethal weapon catastrophe in the Gulf
War, the use of carbon-fiber bombs which caused widespread civilian deaths
as a result of the electrical and water pump failures. Military proponents
have stated that one of the main goals is to limit deaths.
Proponents claim nonlethal weapons will provide more options in
conflict situations but opponents argue that more military interventions
may occur based on misperceptions about nonlethal weapons. Mollick
effectively argues for an international consensus and exploration of
nonlethal strategies.
Mollnick does repeatedly discuss the problem of unrealistic
expectations by the military and the public and stated that this is a very
important issue for the future successful use of nonlethal weapons. For
example, in OOTW or operations other than war, the apolitical nature of
the armed services may be compromised and in a similar way there are
concerns that nonlethal weapons will require new strategies and will
fulfill new roles in war and will substantially change the nature of
fighting. These are important issues that the strategic experts are
beginning to work out.
A 1996 report by the Institute for Foreign Policy Analysis was
extremely thorough and detailed about the role of nonlethal weapons on an
international level. This study pointed out the important factors in
developing the United States policy framework on nonlethal weapons.
Nonlethal weapons were considered an asset to military operations. This
report recommended further development of a clearly worded nonlethal
weapons policy so that the opponent would take the U.S. stance seriously
and know that the U.S. could stand behind it's stated capability.
Nonlethal weapons were discussed as part of the U.S. arsenal and there
were questions about issues of proliferation and problems of
countermeasures.
The consensus was that the U.S. should continue staying one step ahead
of other countries in nonlethal weapons technology and not worry about
using the classified technology. Public discussions on this issue were
encouraged and nonlethal weapons cooperation with NATO members was
encouraged. Multinational cooperation is an area of concern. Discussions
concerning deterrence policy and the role of nonlethal weapons are
currently being discussed. The U.S. seems to be leading the way for
international policy formulations, based on the quantity and quality of
the U.S. information on nonlethal weapons.
Contents
The Dangers of Nonlethal Electromagnetic
Weapons
In an article commissioned by the European Parliament, concerns about
"less-lethal' weapons were discussed. The European Union is concerned
about nonlethal weapons and protecting civil rights. The article concluded
that further research on such topics as proliferation and control are
needed. "Formal liaison arrangements between the EU and the USA" on
nonlethal weapons was investigated. This further demonstrates the
international importance of nonlethal weapons. Many countries are
seriously incorporating the use of nonlethal weapons into their arsenals.
Accordingly, concerns about maintaining a lead other countries and of the
abuse of the new technologies are being discussed by most countries
today.
The European Parliament complained of the dangers of HAARP, a U.S.
electromagnetic defense project and of being uninformed about the dangers
after NATO and U.S. officials had declined invitations to the discussions
on HAARP (Tigner,1998,3). This is a good example of the possible global
implications of electromagnetic weapons and the problems involved with
classified weapons programs such as miscommunication. Several articles
point out similar concerns.
The discussions on nonlethal weapons has increased dramatically since
the 1990s. Most articles present a pro and con picture and that the
nonlethal arsenals are increasing in many countries. Nonlethal weapons
will play a significant role in international strategies, according to the
cited articles above. And they have already been deployed in Somalia
during the United Nations peacekeeping missions in 1995.(Schmitt,1995)
This is indicative of nonlethal international strategies on the use of the
still very classified nonlethal weapons that is now in effect.
Another example of the importance of electromagnetic weapons was
clearly stated as follows. "In a much quoted speech made in 1974, Fleet
Admiral Groshkov of the USSR, considered the "father" of modern Soviet
navy, stated that "the country that best exploits the electromagnetic
spectrum will win the next war." (Herron,1984,64)
Proliferation and the development of countermeasures have led to an
escalating arms race. To a certain extent, the country with the money
can buy this technology, but
the superpowers have the leading edge technology. It is available
on the international market and is proliferating at a very fast pace.
(Dunigan,1996,15). This is another factor that will affect nonlethal
strategic policy development.
Contents
International Human Rights Organizations: No
Match for the International Military Arms Trade
International regulation of electromagnetic weapons has been discussed
by the
International Committee of the Red Cross and the Stockhom International
Peace Research Institute, as well as other human rights groups.
Concerns about the humane use of these weapons are being discussed. But
overall, the consensus on arms control is small in comparison to the
interest in gaining military power. Most would agree that the process of
international arms control has and does make a significant difference. For
example, some of the above cited articles discussed the international
treaties and laws under which nonlethal weapons must comply and concerns
about whether other countries will obey. This is just one factor which may
affect developing strategic plans.
Rupert Pengelley of the International Defense Review as well as others
have argued against the possible misuse of nonlethal weapons
(Pengelly,1994,1). Pengelly described the atomic bomb as "the ultimate
nonlethal weapon." The atomic bomb was a great deterrent after Hiroshima
and Pengelly wonders who will be first to use nonlethal weapons so that
they too will never be used.
Additionally, comparisons of nonlethal weapons to the atomic bomb and
the powerful deterrent effects of it's terrifying destructive power have
been made by Dunnigan in the book,
Digital Soldiers. The atomic bomb and it's effect on international
politics is still being sorted out. The atomic bomb will be a point of
comparison for mind control technology discussions as the electromagnetic
technology is declassified.
Most of this technology has been classified until recently and little
public protest or input on this topic can be found in the literature. Here
is one of the few international politics position today on electromagnetic
mind control. "World opinion is not ready for dealing appropriately with
the problems coming from the possibility of direct access to the human
mind." (Opall,1993,4.)
The alarming problem with electromagnetic mind control has been
articulated by Russian officials as follows. "As far as it has become
possible to probe and correct psychic contents of human beings despite
their will and consciousness by instrumental means... results having been
achieved can get out of [our] control and be used with inhumane purposes
of manipulating psyches, the [Russian] paper stated." (Opall,1993,4)
Contents
As with many international issues, the use of electromagnetic weapons
on an international level is complex. Many experts agree that it should be
a topic of concern in international politics.
Experts and officials have called electromagnetic mind control 'science
fiction', 'too sensitive to discuss' or nonexistent and electromagnetic
technology is confusing and not understood or known by the public.
Public discussions and declassification of the technology is being
recommended.
Electromagnetic technology has become a part of the arsenals of most
countries. As a result of the world-wide declassification and use of
electromagnetic nonlethal weapons in the 1990s, the problems and
strategies are being discussed openly by experts. There is no
international global strategy for nonlethal weapons but trends and
strategies are developing. New technologies and counter technologies are
proliferating.
International discussions on the legal, moral and ethical use of
electromagnetic weapons are beginning to take place.
The United States, the leader in nonlethal weapons at this time, is
formulating strategy and tactical uses for nonlethal weapons.
International politics is changing in very complicated ways and strategic
experts are beginning to discuss the possible future effects that
nonlethal weapons will have. Nonlethal weapons will not replace lethal
power but most international countries believe that it will be a
significant addition to their arsenals. Most strategic experts are using
words of warning.
The atomic bomb had a major impact on international politics and the
consensus is that this new emerging technology will have a similar
effect. Many complex factors are developing in discussions on
electromagnetic warfare. The history of the atomic bomb will be a useful
tool of analysis.
Contents
Aftergood, Steven. (1994, September/October). The Soft-Kill Fallacy.
Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 40-45.
Coupland, Robin M. (1997, Jul 12). Non-lethal weapons: precipitating a
new arms race. Medicine must guard against its knowledge being used for
weapon development.
British Medical Journal, 315, 72.
Doswald-Beck, Louse and Cauderay, Gerald C. (1990, 1 Nov.). The
Development of New Antipersonnel Weapons.
International Review of the Red Cross, 279.
Goldblat, Jozef. (1983).
Arms Control Agreements. Praeger Publishers, New York.
Herron, Maj. Robert. (1984, May. Electronic Warfare--New Priority for
next generation fighters.
Aerospace America.[ONLINE],pg. 64.Available:Lexis-Nexis/MILTRY.
Kelly, Jack A. & Conway Joseph. (1996, May). Nonlethal Weapons,
Emerging Requirements for Security Strategy,
Institute for Foreign Policy Analysis.
Lopez,Ramon.(1993, March 1).Special Operations Survive Pentagon Budget
Constraints.
International Defense Review,26(3).
[ONLINE],p.247.Available:Lexis-Nexis/MILTRY[December 12, 1994].
Matthews,Owen.(1995, July 11).Report: Soviets Used Top-Secret
'Psychotronic' Weapons.
Moscow Times. [ONLINE].Available: LexisNexis/AllNews.
Mann,Paul.(1996,June17).Mass Weapons Threat Deepens Worldwide.
Aviation Week and Space Technology.144(25). [ONLINE], p.58
Available:LexisNexis/MILTRY.
Mollick,Ethan.(1996,Fall).A Gentler War The Debate over Non-Lethal
Weapons.
Harvard International Review. 18(4).
{ONLINE],P.46.Available:EBSCOhost.
Morrison, David C. (1995, July 22). More-Than-Lethal Weapons.
National Journal, 1919.
Opall, Barbara. (1993, Jan 11-17). U.S., Russsia Hope to Safeguard
Mind-Control Techniques.
Defense News, 4.
Opall, Barbara. (1997, Nov. 24-30). U.S. Experts:Focus Arms Control
Goals.
Defense News, 6.
Thomas, Timothy L. (Spring 1998). The Mind Has No Firewall.
Parameters US Army War College Quarterly. 28(1), 84.
Pasternak, Douglas. (1997, July 7). Wonder Weapons The Pentagon's quest
for nonlethal arms is amazing. But is it smart?
U.S. News and World Report, 38-45.
Pengelley, Rupert. (1994, April 1). Wanted: A Watch On Non-lethal
Weapons.
International Defense Review. 27(4), 1.
Pillsbury, Michael. (1997, September 18). Prepared Testimony by Dr.
Michael Pillsbury Associate Fellow National Defense University Before the
Senate Intelligence Committee.
Federal News Service.[Online].
Available:Lexis-Nexis/MILTRY[Sept.20,1997]
Possony, Stefan. (1983, July). Scientific Advances Hold Dramatic
Prospects for Psy-Strat.
Defense and Foreign Affairs, 34. [ONLINE].
Available:Lexis-Nexis/MILTRY.
Pravda. 27, Jan. 1986).Pravda Editorial on Gorbachev's Programme of
Nuclear Disarmament.
BBC Summary of World Broadcasts [Online]
Pg.A1,Available:Lexis-Nexis/MILTRY.
Schmitt, Eric. (1995, Feb. 16). Zany New Weapons for U.S. team in
Somalia. International Herald Tribune.
Tigner, Brooks. (1997, Sept. 29). NATO Panel To Consider Nonlethal
Weapon Guidelines.
Defense News, 14.
Tigner, Brooks. (1998, Feb. 16-22). Europeans Protest U.S. Ionospheric
Research.
Defense News, 3.
United Nations Department for Disarmament Affairs. (1985).
The United Nations and Disarmament: 1945-1985. New York: United
Nations.
Unknown author. (1985, Nov. 15). CNN Reports on Radio-Frequency
Weapons.
PR Newswire [Online],Available:Lexis-Nexis/MILTRY.
Unknown author. (1998, March 2). Emerging Threat: Radio Frequency
Weapons.
Defense Week,19 [ONLINE]. Available:LexisNexis/MILTRY[Mar. 4,
1998].
Unknown author. (1998, Feb. 7,1998).EU/United States:Euro-Mps Concerned
About New Version of "Star Wars".
European Report [Online},no.
2289,Available:Lexis-Nexis?News/MILTRY[Feb.9, 1998].
Walker, Martin. (1995, May 5). Dark Dreamer of Star Wars:
Obituary:StefanPossony.
Guardian(London).[Online],Pg.17,Available:Lexis-Nexis/AllNEWS[1995,
May 31].
Wright, Steve. (1998, Jan 6). An Appraisal of Technologies for
Political Control.
European Parliament Scientific and Technological Options Assessment,
STOA. Luxembourg, European Parliament.
Contents
What Major Newspaper, Magazine and Journals Are
Writing about Nonlethal Electromagnetic Weapons
(Important information is hightlighted so that it can be
skimmed.)
"Certainly one of these things is to recognize that export control
documents, particularly the Military Critical Technologies List, need to
be reviewed to determine if
radio frequency technologies should be considered in the same careful
way we do nuclear technologies," he[Army Lt. Gen. Robert Schweitzer
speaking to Congress] said.
no author.(1993, Mar. 2). Emerging Threat: Radio Frequency Weapons.
Defense Week, vol. 19.
"The Pentagon's exotic weapons programme, led by the Air Force, is
cloaked in ultra-secrecy which
forbids any public comment by scientists. ...Electromagnetic
radiation-basically waves below radio frequencies -was found to prompt
human or animal brains to release chemicals that affect behaviour. "We
could put animals in a stupor," he explained, adding it would be probably
possible to
create flu-like symptoms and nausea in humans. Such work continues.
In 1995 Air Force generals reviewed more than 1,000 proposed exotic
weapons projects. One was called "Put the enemy to sleep/Keep the enemy
from sleeping." Another project approved for more research involved
brain-wave manipulation. ...According to
Louis Slesin, editor of Microwave News, the effort is practical. He
says such exotic weapons are merely the next logical step to the variety
of radio beams used to knock out the electronic systems of aircraft or
missiles. "Once you are into these anti-material weapons, it is just a
short jump to anti-personnel ones." In effect,
humans are also just electro-chemical systems that can be
disrupted."
Dettmer, Jamie.(1997, Aug 3). It's war, Jim, but not as we know it.
Scotsman Publications Ltd. Scotland on Sunday.p 5. Lexis-Nexis.
"As former science-fiction writers,[Janet and Chris Morris, leading
proponents of nonlethal weapons] the couple speak with zeal about a coming
age in which the enemy will be disorientated by very low frequency sound
waves, dazzled by isotropic radiators,
imprisoned by invisible magnetic fields,... ...After his
retirement, [Ray] Cline, the leading biographer of the CIA, had taken
charge of a privately funded Washington think-tank called the US Global
Strategy Council. A world authority, he soon became the Morrises' mentor
and their introduction to the murkier reaches of the Pentagon. ...
The Morrises even talk admiringly about a technology that would enable
two different acoustic beams to plant a voice in a dictator's head,
convincing his subordinates that he had suddenly gone mad."
Bone, James. (1996, Sept.21). Stick'em up. The Times.
"The microwave bomb, which works by emitting a massive pulse of radio
energy, would
render humans unconscious by scrambling neural paths in the brain but
would not cause lasting injury."
Campbell, Christy. (1992,Sept 27). Microwave bomb that does not kill.
Sunday Telegraph.p6.
"Terrifying noise weapons that can rupture organs, inflict burns, and
create bubbles and cavities in human tissue may be just around the corner,
an expert has warned.
Acoustic weapons are now so highly developed that they could make an
appearance at any moment, according to writer William M. Arkin[Human
Rights Watch]. ...About 20 US government laboratories and military
commands were involved in acoustic weapons development, contracting with
half-a-dozen private companies. ...one of two leading contractors,
Scientific Applications and Research Associates Inc. (Sara), Huntington
Beach, CA. A high-power weapons would radiate a directed energy beam
to "induce severe incapacitation (and if necessary, lethality), within a
specified/designated area." The intensity could vary from a 90 to 120
decibel low-frequency soundwave "to provide extreme levels of annoyance
and distraction", through 150 to 150 decibels for "strong physical bodily
trauma and damage to tissues', to "shockwave" levels at more than 170
decibels. At this intensity, an acoustic weapon could produce
"instantaneous blastwave-type trauma" and lethal effects. Very low
frequencies could produce internal hemorrhaging and spasms while higher
frequencies were capable of raising body temperature and burning tissue.
At the top end of the frequency scale, cavitation effects and bubbles
could result as the structure of human flesh broke down." Arkin[writing in
the quarterly journal Medicine Conflict and Survival]said: "Acoustic
weapons could be the next new major weapons to be deployed based
upon 'novel' and heretofore unapplied physical principles in
warfare." Arkin recommended "the humanitarian community to involve itself
in the assessment and debate..." [on high-power acoustic beam weapons.]
...He suggested that Protocol IV[of the Inhumane Weapons Convention] might
be the starting point for curbing acoustic weapons."
Medicine, Conflict and Survival is a journal of the group International
Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War."
von Radowitz.(1997, Dec.7). Acoustic Weapons 'Close to Becoming
Reality'.Press Association Newsfile.Lexis-Nexis.
"
The International Red Cross is looking at other weapons which may cause
"gratuitous" damage to human beings, including some that may not have
progressed beyond the drawing-board. Recently, it mounted a successful
campaign to ban laser weapons that cause blindness. Now it is looking at
cluster-bombs, which cause appalling injuries and which can have the same
effect as landmines if they lie unexploded on the ground. There are
electromagnetic and acoustic weapons which destroy human organs, and
fuel-air explosives worse than Napalm. No one can say for certain what the
next generation of "unacceptable" weapons will consist of -only that they
will be worse."
Linklater, Magnus.(1997, Jan.16). Diana's Smart Weapon. Times
Newspapers Limited.
"Chinese Views of Future Warfare: Prepared Testimony by Dr. Michael
Pillsbury, Associate Fellow National Defense University Before the Senate
Intelligence Committee. ...Radiation Combat--"In the wars of the past, the
power to inflict casualties mainly depended on the effects of kinetic
energy and thermal energy; but the weapon systems produced by the third
military revolution mainly use sound, electromagnetism, radiation, and
other destructive mechanisms.
The main radiation weapons are laser weapons, microwave weapons,
particle beam weapons and subsonic wave weapons;they possess enormous
military potential. ...Vice President of the Russian Academy of
Military Science Vladimir Slipchenko [stated that] ...By directing energy
emission at a target it is possible to turn an enemy division into a herd
of frightened idiots...electromagnetic weapons...ionizing (plasma )
weapons...our 'likely friends' in the West and the East are developing new
weapons and means of employing them."
Pillsbury, Michael.(1997, Sept.18)Senate Intelligence Committee.
Federal News Service. Lexis-Nexis.
"...a new U.S. government publication, "Chinese View of Future Warfare,
sponsored by Andy Marshall, the Pentagon's director of net assessment.
...editor Michael Pillsbury. ...Richard Macke, former commander-in-chief
of U.S. Pacific Command. ...He noted, however, that China does not intend
to put its gradually modernized force to use. "I don't think they want to
go to war with anybody. I think they want to amass the capabilities that
we have in order to earn respect...showing force without using it."
Opall, Barbara.(1997,May19). Chinese Covet High-Technology Arsenal; DoD
Report Reveals PLA Quest For Robotics, Cyber Warriors.Defense
News.pg.1.
"The latter stages of the Cold War saw a new twist to the development
of Non-lethal weapons, involving the use of directed-energy devices
exploiting different parts of the electromagnetic spectrum(such as laser
light, isotropic radiators, high-power microwaves, and electromagnetic
pulses) to disrupt,or impede the functioning of, military equipment.
...
The ICRC [international Committee of the Red Cross] is right to
call attention to the emergence of this new generation of weapon.
Some form of international regulation is indeed needed-an agreement
between the then Soviet Union and the United States not to utilize
lasers...has been in effect since January 1990, and could provide the
basis for a wider agreement. Similarly, at a national level
there need to be strict legal controls over the acquisition and use of
non-lethal weapons, not least by security agencies."
Pengelly, Rupert.(1994, Apr.1). Wanted:a Watch on Non-lethal
Weapons.International Defense Review Vol27 No.4 pg.1.
"Richardson said one far-future[2011 and beyond] communications system
being investigated is "
synthetic telepathy." One day, SOF commandos may be capable of
communicating through thought processes. A less revolutionary
communications system available today is the New Eagle Communications
Model DB headset. It incorporates a bone vibrating speaker placed directly
in front of the ear that transfers incoming radio signals through
bones."
Lopez, Ramon.(1993, Mar.1). Special Operations Survives Pentagon Budget
Constraints. International Defense Review. Vol.26; No. 3.pg. 247.
"This fall, a joint committee staffed by the Department of Justice and
the Pentagon will decide which "less than lethal" technologies to develop.
Here is a sample of systems the committee may consider: ...
High-power electromagnetic generators that interfere with brain waves
and alter behavior."
Walker, Sam.(1994,Sept.6).An Array of 'Less Than Lethal' Weapons.
Christian Science Monitor. pg.12.
A classified nonlethal weapons study by France included a "list of
around 50 types of such weapons placed into three categories: those that
neutralize personnel... ...Other sub-systems are acoustic weapons;
computer viruses and disruptive agents;
psychological and persuasive weapons."
No author.(1996,Apr.18).France's Non-Lethal Options.Intelligence
Newsletter. Indigo Publications.;N.286.
"Examples include weapons that...
infrasound waves that disorient civilians for crowd control and
psychological operations,... Co-chaired by conservative luminaries
like former UN ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick and an array of former
generals, admirals, and defense secretaries, the council formed a
nonlethality policy review group in 1990 that bent the ears of Vice
President Dan Quayle, Chief of Staff John Sununu, and National Security
Advisor Brent Scowcroft, persuading the Bush administration to establish a
Nonlethality Task Force under the secretary of defense. ...Research has
been actively pursued for the past several years at Lawrence Livermore and
Los Alamos National laboratories... Like the Strategic Defense Initiative
a decade ago, nonlethality exercises a seductive promise to render the
enemy 'impotent and obsolete'...
Sommer, Mark.(1994, Feb.17).Nonlethal Weapons Offer a Faustian
Bargain.Christian Science Monitor.p19.
"
The two doctors[Dr. Nick Lewer and Dr. Steven Schofield, Bradford
University Peace Studies Dept.]-whose survey of the strategic,
technological, ethical and environmental issues arising from the use of
non-lethal weapons was published yesterday-say
there is an urgent need for awareness and political debate to determine
the proper ground rules for their use. ...Research and development of
new weapons is proceeding apace, in what amount to an almost unseen arms
race."
Simister, David.(1997,Apr.15).UK:Lethal Warning on New Breed of
Weapons. Yorkshire Post.
"Security classification makes it difficult to be very specific about
the technologies. We know that all of the U.S. armed services..are working
on weapons projects that could be described under the heading non-lethal
technologies and that at least some of these projects have parallels in
other nations," said
Professor Harvey Sapolsky, of the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, in a recent report.[Dr. Sapolsky also with SIPRI,Stockholm
International Peace Research Institute]."
Winton, Neil.(1995,May22). Hi-tech Weapons offer War Without
Death.Reuters North American Wire. Lexis-Nexis.
"True, a CIA report published this summer asserted that former
Presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan both claimed to have seen UFOs.
But that just tells us what we already know: that Americans are credulous.
But who can blame them? The very government they accuse of withholding
information on the paranormal from them is directly responsible for
feeding their wildest fantasies. ...
The Federation[of Atomic Scientists, FAS] was set up in 1945 by
researchers into the atomic bomb, anxious to campaign against government
secrecy over scientific research. If anyone reliable might be capable of
exposing a cover-up, you feel it must be them. ...John Pike...director of
Space Policy[FAS]. ...Pike, ultimately, has no doubt there is
intelligent extraterrestrial life, and that it has visited our end of the
galaxy."
White, Jim & Fowler, Rebecca.(1997, Sept21). Adventures in Alien
Territory. Mail On Sunday(London).Pg13. Lexis-Nexis.
"For example,[U.S. Air Force Maj. Norman] Routanen has proposed using
"very powerful microwave devices to confuse, disable, or even kill the
enemy." The report by the Georgetown University panel on combating
terrorism similarly proposes
"techniques to impair brain functions." Navy physician Capt. Paul E.
Tyler sees an opposite use for electromagnetic radiation: he suggests that
exposing U.S. military personnel or their allies to electromagnetic
radiation might allow them to act 'with minimal rest and still maintain
peak performance."Efforts to create a super soldier are not as
far-fetched as they sound, nor are they new. Members of the navy's
SEALS--its elite special-forces unit--took dexedrine to stay awake for
several days on missions during the Vietnam War.
Since at least 1954, various Defense Department agencies have conducted
hundreds of experiments on ways of enabling troops to endure extremely
taxing conditions."
Miller, Marc S.(1987,Aug.). Ambiguous War The United States and
Low-Intensity Conflict.MIT Alumni Association Technology Review Vol.90
pg.60.
"The U.S. Government has been researching beam weapons --microwave,
light (laser), electron and other particle beams, and most recently
x-rays--
since the 1940s. ...Dr. Robert Cooper, director of the Defense
Advance Research Projects Agency(DARPA), the Pentagon's own R & D arm,
has been involved with beam weapons
since the 1960s. ...All four technologies have made huge strides in
25 years, Dr. Cooper says. Radars are 10 to 100 times as powerful, and
have been supplemented by optical surveillance systems that did not exist
in 1959. The power of the biggest computers, needed for battle management,
has tripled every three years since 1959. ...At Sandia National
Laboratory, managed by Bell Laboratories for the U.S. Government, they are
probably as knowledgeable as any centre in the world of the damage beams
can do."
Fishlock, David.(1983,Sept.19).Thunderbolt of the future;Reagan's 'Star
Wars' Mission.Financial Times(London)p.18.
The[NATO Nonlethal Weapon Technologies for Peace Support
Operations,1996 Study. The April 16th study was approved during a
semiannual meeting in Brussels of NATO national armaments directors] study
lists 10 categories of technology that offer potential for industrial
collaboration among NATO countries. These are:
containment devices and entanglers; dazzle lasers, including strobe
lights and holograms; markers; ...and
odors."
Tigner, Brooks.(1996,Apr.29).NATO Group Pushes, Pentagon Pulls
Nonlethal Efforts;Alliance Study Urges Nations To Collaborate on
Weapons.Defense News.pg12.
"
This raises the question of the extent to which hypersonic systems have
been explored in the "black" world of unacknowledged programs. The
SAB's[Scientific Advisory Board, USAF] recommendations
appear bold in the extreme in light of "white-world" experience. As
far as the unclassified world is concerned, the highest speed attained by
any US air-breather is just over Mach 5...
A body of black-world experience would make the goal a little more
reasonable."
Sweetman Bill.(1996,June,1).US Air Force Probes Technological
Frontiers.International Defense Review.Vol.1.No.6.Pg.1.
This new "non-lethal' arsenal includes devices that stop engines from
afar, capture hostage-takers, push cars off roads, knock down attackers,
control crowds and prisoners and incapacitate field troops and
small populations. ...In the US, the FBI has ordered Myotron "Widow
Makers" -a powerful new type of stun gun that knocks down men, tigers and
even elephants for several crucial minutes(time to get away or call for
help) without harm. ...
Humans on whom it has been tested, say it feels like millions of tiny
needles racing through their body. Brain signals are scrambled and all
voluntary muscles are incapacitated."...Mr. William Gunby, "They are
legal to the public by US federal law and we are re selling them around
the world."
But what if the US$200 (S$335) Myotron falls into the hands of robbers
or rapists? ...the Vortex Cannon was designed to fire a smoke
ring-like charge of air spinning faster than the speed of sound.Inside the
barrel of air is a shock wave which cannot be stopped by anything built by
man. ..
America had already begun a highly secret vortex programme called
Project Squid in 1940. The US Army and Navy have top-secret vortex
projects underway at Camp Pendleton, California but will not discuss
them. Now Swedish researchers have miniaturized and refined the Vortex
so it can blow cars off a road, engulf, knock down and sicken rioters or
deliver gas at the speed of sound.
Laytner, Ron.(1998,Jan.4). You can hide but you can't run: Radar will
top your car. Straits Times(Singapore) Sunday Plus.Pg6. Lexis-Nexis.
"The advent into the world's arsenals of
directed energy weapons may be as revolutionary as was the introduction
of the other great weapon developments of the 20th century--the
machine-gun and the atomic bomb,"according to the former head of the
Defense intelligence Agency(DIA, Leonard Perroots. ...According to U.S.
experts, the Soviet Union has the edge over the United States in
developing what is known as "directed energy weapons" and "Radiofrequency
weapons."
Debusmann, Bernard.(1990,Mar.28).Beam Weapons Predicted to
Revolutionize War, Spur Arms Trade.Reuter Library Report BC cycle.
Lexis-Nexis.
"The Marine Corps, which fought long and hard for the
honour of being chosen to expand "non-lethal warfare", believes
that the weapons will be of great value, particularly in peace-keeping
operations such as those in Bosnia and Somalia where minimum force has to
be used to try to avoid alienating the local population."
Bellamy, Chris.(1996,Mar.30).Weapons that don't Kill? Tell it to the
marines.Independent(London).p1.
"Today there is a
new class of radically new and important radio frequency weapons(RFW)
which merits your attention as it emerges. ...This is particularly
true of the newly emerging threat of radiofrequency weapons. And even more
importantly, we must develop countermeasures before such weapons are used
against us."
Prepared Testimony by Lieutenant General Robert L Schweitzer U.S. Army
(Retired) Before the Joint Economic Committee.(1997,June17). Federal News
Service.Lexis-Nexis.
"
Brain Bombs. According to Dr. John Nuckolls, head of physics at the
Livermore laboratory, human suffer confusion and disorientation when
subjected to long wavelength radiation of great strength. So too, he said,
it is entirely possible that physicists might one day find a way to
direct and concentrate the fower from nuclear weapons into this part of
the electromagnetic spectrum, producing a bomb that would leave an enemy
stunned and unable to wage war.
Broad, William.(1985, July16). 40 Years Ago, The Bomb: the Questions
Came Later. New York Times. Section c pg1.
"Susan Blackmore states: "Suddenly, prospect of
magnetic mind control seem an awful lot worse than the idea of
being abducted by imaginary aliens". ...[
Scientist, Michael] Persinger was employed by the US national security
establishment to develop behaviour-modifying electromagnetic weapons under
project "Sleeping Beauty". He came to the attention of the defense
industry after he published a paper entitled "Possible cardiac driving by
an external rotating magnetic filed" in 1973. Captain Paul Tyler, the
Director of the US Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute, wrote in
1986 of a technique employed by national security establishment to disrupt
"the electrical signal in cardiac muscle", to produce "complete asystole
with a resultant fatal outcome".
Krawczyk, Glenn.(1994,Dec.17).Mind Control. New Scientist. p.50.
"
There are indications that (electro-magnetic weapons) may have adverse
affects on the brain," she[Doswald-Beck] said. ...Louise Doswald-Beck,
deputy head of the legal division of the Geneva-based ICRC, said the
international community had scored a major breakthrough last year when it
banned blinding laser weapons before they came on the market. ...that new
directed-energy weapons threatened the status quo. ...
all new weapons should be scrutinized to see if they contravened the
humanitarian principles of causing unnecessary suffering or being
indiscriminate in nature, she said. ...humanitarian law exerted only
moral pressure on weapons-makers and governments by stigmatizing new and
inhumane tools of war."
Della-Giacoma, Jim.(1996,May30). Microwave and acoustic weapons pose
new threats. Reuters World Service.
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