Someone with severe asthma who is subjected to the deployment of an aerosol chemical weapon such as "tear gas" or OC pepper spray may reasonably consider the use of such a weapon to constitute lethal force. And so it is with people with heart conditions shot by a Taser or stun gun. Other weapons may have greater potential for lethality in spite of claims to the contrary.Another example of a so-called "nonlethal" weapon that could easily be made lethal is the Pentagon's developmental weapon system called VMADS.[2] The Vehicle Mounted Active Denial System consists of a radar dish mounted on the back of a vehicle that emits a high-powered electromagnetic energy beam. VMADS works through a special transmitter that fires two second bursts of focused microwave energy that causes a burning sensation on the skin of people up to 700 yards away. The beam penetrates the skin, causes water molecules in the skin cells to vibrate, and rapidly heats the skin's surface to cause intense pain. The waves' exact length, frequency and amplitude are classified.However, some scientists have serious misgivings about the weapon, suggesting that at close range the microwaves could cook a person's eyeballs. Cataracts and cancer are among the possible long-term negative health effects of this kind of device, according to researchers at the Loma Linda University medical centre. [2, ibid.]According to the Marine Times[3], VMADS -- dubbed 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 1995, 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 Colonel 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."[4]I would argue that such a weapon system could become a lethal if one were to simply "turn up the volume". It is in its' essence after all, just a microwave gun. If the ostensible purpose of these devices is to control civil disturbances, it would not be a stretch to use them to crush legitimate dissent such as at anti-WTO protests or to "cook alive" barricaded resisters. Any government with this technology would be free to conduct - with impunity - any number of Waco-style massacres without the public awareness or backlash of the sight of burning churches. In fact, the whole operation could be conducted with a vehicle disguised as a media communications van.In Le Monde in 1999, Steve Wright argued[5] that the spread of non-lethal weapons like VMADS will "spawn ever more advanced techniques of repression. And if democratic countries let their arms manufacturers develop these techniques, they will be exported to places less concerned about brutalizing their populations." My concern would not be that the US government would export this technology, but that it would use it for the wrongful purposes I described above. VMADS is just the tip of the non-lethal iceberg. In 1995, the Pentagon listed the possible "non-lethal" weapons under consideration: "super acids, goop guns, blinding lasers, non-nuclear electromagnetic pulses, high power microwaves, laser weapons, infrasound, computer viruses, and metal-eating microbes."With the statistical evidence provided by Prof. R.J. Rummel that the greatest threat to individual life and liberty in the past 100 years has been the actions of national governments[6], it becomes imperative that we take a hard look at so-called "non-lethal" weapons and whether their development[7] represents an insurmountable threat to American citizens concerned about the possibility of having to put off a totalitarian government in our nation's future. Most disturbing of all, one of the developers[8] of these potentially lethal "non-lethal" weapons systems is located right here in Indiana, not far from where I live. This disturbs me greatly because developers like these are more than willing to "loan out" these questionable people-control systems to local police departments for testing. The commander of the Anderson, Indiana SWAT team is excited about deploying this wireless version of the Taser. How long will it be before citizens of Indiana and other states become guinea pigs for these dangerous and experimental weapons?Taken collectively, the research, development and deployment of ultramodern mass-population ID, tracking and control systems -- coupled with the federal government's penchant for ignoring our Constitution and Bill of Rights -- is nothing less than an overt and systematic plan to forever deprive the people of America of their ability to resist tyranny. Americans, take note! The noose is already around the neck of Liberty, will you wait until it's too late?Sources:
Also see this index of related articles on Non-lethal weapons to control civilian masses:
