Pentagon nixes ray gun weapon in Iraq

[Barrett808]

Source: Associated Press

Pentagon nixes ray gun weapon in Iraq
By RICHARD LARDNER, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - Saddam Hussein had been gone just a few weeks, and U.S. forces in Fallujah, west of Baghdad, were already being called unwelcome invaders. One of the first big anti-American protests of the war escalated into shootouts that left 18 Iraqis dead and 78 wounded.

It would be a familiar scene in Iraq's next few years: Crowds gather, insurgents mingle with civilians. Troops open fire, and innocents die.

All the while, according to internal military correspondence obtained by The Associated Press, U.S. commanders were telling Washington that many civilian casualties could be avoided by using a new non-lethal weapon developed over the past decade.

Military leaders repeatedly and urgently requested — and were denied — the device, which uses energy beams instead of bullets and lets soldiers break up unruly crowds without firing a shot.

It's a ray gun that neither kills nor maims, but the Pentagon has refused to deploy it out of concern that the weapon itself might be seen as a torture device.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070829/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/invisible_weapon

[TheWraith]

1. Well, duh.

Yes, it obviously is a device capable of what would be considered torture. Not to mention, since it's capable of raising skin to the temperature of 130 degrees, I'd like to know what it does to someone's eyes or other delicate bits.

Another problem, though, is that if it's a radio weapon--and it is--then it's only a matter of time before somebody figures out how to reflect it back at the guys firing it.

[EnricoFermi]

5. Exactly, not hard at all

I'm guessing just a parabolic dish with the correct focal length (as opposed to the beam coming at you) constructed of almost any metallic surface, probably including tin foil and cardboard.

You could figure it out with about any physics book or wikipedia.

Or you could just throw a mesh over the antenna and render it useless.

[TheMadMonk]

7. No it's pain.

Yes it could be used for torture. So what? One can also use rubber hoses, phone books and wet towels to torture.

Torture is not the device. Torture is the act to which the device (if any) is applied.


Ever been struck with a water cannon? I've taken a lesser powered blast from a fire hose and got knocked flat on my arse. It hurts, and it is guaranteed people will suffer broken bones and in some cases permanent blindness as a result.

Rubber bullets and beanbags? I call numerous posts on DU to bear witness to their "side effects" (again including death).

Tasers? Best of a bad bunch when it comes to lethality, but totally unsuited to crowd control, and they do remain marginally lethal.


Inflicting a little bit of temporary and not at all lasting pain, to control crowds strikes me as a very minor "excess" to worry about, since it's pretty much guaranteed that far more lethal methods will be used in its absence.

And the pain I believe is not such that it will put you on the ground writhing in agony. It's a very high level of discomfort. Akin to holding one's hand (ok entire body) under the hot tap. It's something one can do, but you'd certainly prefer not to sustain for an extended period.


My biggest problem with this device, especially for civilian use is that the temptation to use it whenever an embarrassing crowd put in an appearance. Used in a military context for it's intended purposes it strike me as a fucking brilliant idea.

Whether or not the US should be in a position where they might be required to use it is of course another question. One which has been done to death here. Oh and in case you missed it, the answer was "NO!"

[pushycat]

8. How about working against the CAUSES of civil unrest? That

is surely far less expensive, more fun and enduring than all these creative harming devices. The root causes must have some validity as we are so willing to go so far to harm others rather than address issues peacefully and with mutual respect. Where are our US diplomats?

[TheMadMonk]

11. Fine. Vote in some people who might do that. nt

[whistle]

2. This is the micro wave (heat ray) weapon a U.S. army general wanted to use

....on the U.S. civilian population I recall

[MindPilot]

3. Some weapons systems are just too good to share.

They probably learned from Kent State that shooting anti-war protesters returns some rather bad press. But microwave crowd control, that's as American as apple pie and Chevrolet.

[BrotherBuzz]

9. It was rumored to have been deployed to NYC for the republican convention...

but not used.

[Barrett808]

10. I saw some sort of directed energy weapon atop a police vehicle at MSG

Pointed at the crowd. Looked like a microwave dish, so I assumed it was the heat beam, but it might have been the sound beam. Or even a big, sensitive microphone, I suppose.

[Parche]

4. Ray Gun

Died in 2004............:hi:

[dbt]

6. Sure it does...

There's never been a weapon developed that we have refused to use.

SUUUUURRRE.

:rofl: