Energy beam weapon may lower Iraq civilian deaths

[sabra]

<<SNIP>>
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2005-07-24-energy-beam_x.htm

Energy beam weapon may lower Iraq civilian deaths

WASHINGTON — Troops in Iraq will soon be shooting an experimental weapon that fires an invisible beam of energy instead of bullets to repel insurgents without killing civilians.

Radiation similar to some forms of radar fired by the Active Denial System (ADS) penetrates just below the skin's surface to cause an excruciating burning sensation until it is turned off. Extensive testing has shown no lasting damage, the military said.

The weapon will be demonstrated in public this summer and in Iraq within months. It is the first in what could become a catalog of energy beams that aim to ease one of the war's toughest problems.

Troops guarding checkpoints, bases and convoys regularly face oncoming people or vehicles of uncertain intent. Troops open fire rather than risk a bomb attack.

<</SNIP>>

Looks like they are moving forward, despite concerns:
"Scientists worried by riot control ray gun (to be deployed in Iraq)"
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=1641031

[RaleighNCDUer]

1. And coming soon to a protest near you... nt

[Conservativesux]

16. Yeap! BushAmerica at its best. If you cant taser them, fry them !

[niallmac]

2. ...extensive testing on who, what, whom or is Iraq the test?n/t

[tocqueville]

3. now your tinfoil hats are becoming useful

protective clothing will be developed and only civilians will suffer
as usual

[daleo]

4. The resistance will figure out a way around this.

But plenty of civilians will be badly burnt or killed. This seems like a testing ground for future use.

"a world made darker yet, by the lights of perverted science."

[lumpy]

30. Super cattle prods.

To be used to control human beings. We are becoming the planet of the apes,cages and all.

[Chicago Democrat]

5. This is a giant microwave, turned down a little...

they have already melted countless innocents

[arikara]

6. Now they can just save the real guns...

for wedding parties and journalists.

[Fovea]

7. Chaff

The new anti microwave weapon of choice.
A plastic barreled carbide cannon, or even helium balloons... lofting plastic garbage bags of aluminum chaff over the weapon will make it a very unpopular weapon to man.

Just a thought.

[The Quizzical Toad]

8. Hmm...

Sounds to me like Bush wants his sharks with friggin' lasers on their heads.

Oh bee-have! :D

[Igel]

9. Since the use of tear gas is banned,

that pretty much leaves Pb as the only alternative to leaving.

It doesn't look like we're leaving.

This may provide an alternative slightly less lethal than throwing slugs around.

And it's not going to melt people; I suspect that the energies soaked up by C-H and O-H bonds (with metal affected via the good old Compton effect, but I haven't had physics since '78).

[LynnTheDem]

23. "And it's not going to melt people"...oh?

Given that temperature variability, it's possible that someone in the path of a HPM burst might be cooked like a meal readied by a microwave oven.

Source: Scientific American, February 18, 2003

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=000CBC91-B6FD-1E51-A98A809EC5880105

[Igel]

37. Cook, yes.

It seems unlikely, but if you crank the power enough, I could imagine people being cooked, in whole or in part (assuming there are safeguards to be overriden--I can't imagine them not having limiters on it, if only by having limitations on the power supply). But it would have to be really high power, with the likelihood that the majority of the radiation would be absorbed by the top few mm of tissue until all the moisture was driven off or the frequency-absorbing bonds were broken.

[xxxx4]

10. This Make My Blood BOIL!

[Conservativesux]

15. Yes, along with other organs. Probably great for increasing cancer too.

Killing us with "kindness" :(

[Pachamama]

19. I guess if the Depleted Uranium doesn't get them, zap them with the rays!

This is disgusting....Iraq is a testing ground for Bush's weapons of mass destruction and the Iraqis are the test subjects...

:puke:

This is wrong, wrong, wrong...

Weaponry like this should be right up there with all banned weapons like biological, chemical etc.

[KurtNYC]

35. Good one!

and welcome to DU!

:toast:

[Cocoa]

11. "Active Denial System"

Bush's secret weapon.

[Conservativesux]

14. Denial of your freedom of speech. Welcome to BushAmerica !

[thecrow]

12. ...and when the Iraqis get ahold of one of these weapons...?

all hell will break loose.

[Conservativesux]

13. First we drop depleted uranium on them, now we microwave them.

..it's no wonder they like us so much !!! :puke:

[Supersedeas]

29. just another experiment or two

[Zero Division]

17. I'm sure that'll be used quite responsibly, with utmost care...

just like those "non-lethal" tasers.
:sarcasm:

[NYC Liberal]

18. How the hell could they know about "lasting damage" yet?

I am 100-percent positive that if the government says there are no side effects...there are side effects.

[JawJaw]

20. Will Bush use this technology

To deal with nasty questions from the evil WH press corp?


"I'm sorry, Helen, but I'm going
to have to exterminate you
for that question"

[Sven77]

21. another less-lethal solution

these less lethal weapons kill everyday. tazers and rubber bullets can kill. the sound weapon was stationed at the republican national convention (RNC). they use these new weapons in iraq then bring them home to the US to intimedate protestors.

[LynnTheDem]

22. Killing Me Softly...

According to the Marine Times, the VMADS -- called the "people zapper" -- may be capable of inflicting far more than brief discomfort when not used as directed; that is, for no more than three seconds.

"The amount of time the weapon must be trained on an individual to cause permanent damage or death is classified." (In other words, it only takes one 18-year-old recruit with a sick curiosity or a slow watch to turn the thing deadly.)

In 1995, in fact, a military spokesman qualified the concept of "non-lethal" weapons: "It's really less lethal ... because these weapons if improperly used could be lethal."

Marine Col George Fenton, likewise, is on record in the May 2000 National Defense Magazine saying the term "non-lethal ... does not mean that they can't kill or injure."

http://www.motherjones.com/commentary/columns/2001/03/newshole1.html

Although high-powered microwave weapons are designed to destroy the electronic equipment used by enemy command centers, their effect on humans in the vicinity is less clear.

The U.S. military says HPM weapons are non-lethal, but that doesn't mean free from harm. The U.S Marines Corp. is currently developing a microwave-based weapon that inflicts a brief, intense burning sensation on the target's skin similar to touching a hot light bulb. Mounted on Humvee, the weapon is designed for crowd dispersal. The temperature settings are variable, however, and can be set as high as 130 degrees F.

Given that temperature variability, it's possible that someone in the path of a HPM burst might be cooked like a meal readied by a microwave oven.

Source: Scientific American, February 18, 2003
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=000CBC91-B6FD-1E51-A98A809EC5880105

What happens to all the people driving vehicles on busy streets when they're "knocked off their feet" during rush-hour by being hit with maximum unbearable pain just because they are within that radius; is it murder when they all crash and die?

Will the US government offer tips on how to deal with and explain to children who are caught within the radius, for example playing on the swings in the playground, when they are suddenly hit with extreme maximum pain out of nowhere? Will they offer suggestions as to how we convince our traumatized and terrorized kids they can safely go outdoors again? Will the US govt pay for the years of counseling for kids traumatized, terrorized, and neurotic, living in fear 24/7 that the pain may suddenly hit them again?

Will pregnant mothers who are within the radius experience such maximum pain that they spontaneously abort be charged with murder as "late-term abortion"?

How about the ill, the elderly, the handi-capped and the infirm; when they are "knocked off their feet" by the maximum pain and fall and break open their heads; will the US govt pay for all funeral arrangements, or if they survive, for all medical and future care treatments?

What happens to those who happen to be walking next to busy streets and are "knocked off their feet" into traffic and run over?

How about high-rise window washers and construction workers? Or crane operators who may happen to be lifting tons-heavy objects when they're hit with this maximum pain & lose control of their cranes; will the US govt pay for all persons & property killed/damaged by being crushed?

What about infants and toddlers who aren't able to "flee" from the pain and are "cooked like a microwave meal"?

And this of course is assuming the WMT operator has a very accurate watch, knows EXACTLY the number of seconds before the "maximum pain" becomes death, isn't distracted for even 1 second, and isn't overly curious and/or a psychopath who wants to see what happens if the gun goes on for just another few seconds longer...

[truthisfreedom]

24. scientists involved with testing this thing discovered that it can melt

contact lenses right onto peoples' eyeballs.

[Disturbed]

25. The insanity continues.

I cannot post what I am really thinking because I don't wish to be visited by you know who.

[VegasWolf]

34. A picture is worth a thousand words. Good one! nt

[daleo]

32. I wonder about heart pacemakers as well

Really, all kinds of prosthetic implants could be affected in unpredictable ways. There are probably organs of the body that would be adversely affected before most of the body - inner ear perhaps, the vitreous matter in the eyes, etc. Who really knows.

The Pentagon will be experimenting on Iraq, the way they did with Hiroshima (i.e. an untested technology on a large civilian population). The effects of radiation poisoning came as a surprise in 1945.

[pinniped]

26. Ya, we know who they're planning on demonstrating it on.

--The weapon will be demonstrated in public this summer and in Iraq within months--

And...coming soon to a protest near you.

[dbt]

27. Yesterday's tinfoil is tomorrow's reality.

Reckon what else is in the pipeline?

[Algorem]

28. "guinea pig" people for the war pigs

[wookie294]

31. But "civilians" are insurgents

And "insurgents" are civilians.

[Lindacooks]

33. No lasting damage??????

Yeah, right, I certainly do believe the army's 'extensive testing' on that point. Probably fried a few dogs and cats and figured humans could survive it.

[Daphne08]

36. This is wrong on so many levels... especially when one

factors in overworked, stressed-out soldiers.

[Barrett808]

38. This will definitely get Iraqis to throw flowers when US troops pass n/t

[indigo32]

39. The first in what could become a catalog of energy beams..

:scared:

Do we really need more weapons?

[Robeson]

40. USA: A kinder, gentler nation.