Could Human Enhancement Turn Soldiers Into Weapons That Violate International Law? Yes

[xchrom]

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/01/could-human-enhancement-turn-soldiers-into-weapons-that-violate-international-law-yes/266732/



Science fiction, or actual U.S. military project? Half a world away from the battlefield, a soldier controls his avatar-robot that does the actual fighting on the ground. Another one wears a sticky fabric that enables her to climb a wall like a gecko or spider would. Returning from a traumatic mission, a pilot takes a memory-erasing drug to help ward off post-traumatic stress disorder. Mimicking the physiology of dolphins and sled-dogs, a sailor is able to work his post all week without sleep and only a few meals.

All of these scenarios are real military projects currently in various stages of research. This is the frontlines of the Human Enhancement Revolution -- we now know enough about biology, neuroscience, computing, robotics, and materials to hack the human body, reshaping it in our own image. And defense-related applications are a major driver of science and technology research.

But, as I reported earlier, we also face serious ethical, legal, social, and operational issues in enhancing warfighters. Here, I want to drill down on what the laws of war say about military human enhancements, as we find that other technologies such as robotics and cyberweapons run into serious problems in this area as well.

Should enhancement technologies -- which typically do not directly interact with anyone other than the human subject -- be nevertheless subject to a weapons legal-review? That is, is there a sense in which enhancements could be considered as "weapons" and therefore under the authority of certain laws?

[samsingh]

1. yes

[Gman]

2. And somewhere there's a defense contractor looking to make mega-millions

ethics be damned.

[Earth_First]

3. The future is *NOW* with drone warfare...

Hundreds of daily drone missions are flown weekly from Syracuse, New York by soldiers trained to fly these missions by day; and home by 6 p.m. for pot roast and mashed potatoes with the family by night.

The psychological effects that this plays on a solider is already playing out in military families across the nation; and suspected to become an additional contributor to PTSD related to front-line action.

While all this technology is developed to create safer situations for the soldiers, is it really? The psychology points to otherwise.

[dogknob]

4. Haven't you people figured out that "International Law" applies to everyone EXCEPT the US?

We do what we want, when we want.