Michael
Dickinson.
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Coming soon, from the folks
who brought you the microwave - Raytheon!
After more than 10 years in the making and at a cost of over US$40 million, 'Silent Guardian', or Active Denial System, (ADS, in its formal
mood), is almost ready for public release!
Yes, Raytheon - manufacturer
of the 100 bunker buster bombs kindly flown by America to Israel at the height
of their bombardment of Lebanon, and supplier of electronic equipment for the
apartheid wall built on Palestinian land, Raytheon - with its 73,000 employees worldwide and annual revenues of US$20 billion
- has gone and done it again!
For, Raytheon - the world's
largest producer of guided missiles, and fifth largest defense contractor in
the world, provider of aircraft radar systems, weapons sights and targeting
systems, communication and battle-management systems, and satellite components
- has come up with a system which could scatter a crowd in a thrice without a
drop of blood being spilled.
Yes, folks, originally
designed to protect military personnel against small-arms fire without the use
of lethal force, Silent Guardian, ADS, the Pain Ray, call it what you will (Raytheon would prefer you not to use the latter however), will finally soon be
here!
Transmitted at the speed of
light over a 700-yard distance, the Pain Ray is a
millimeter-wave beam that penetrates 1/64th of an inch beneath the skin,
causing the water molecules there to bubble, producing an intense burning
sensation, said to feel like being burnt by molten lava or a hot iron. Its delivery system attached to a
Humvee and aimed right, the Pain Ray makes people run away - fast.
Tests conducted at Kirtland
Air Force Base south of Albuquerque, New Mexico, employ realistic combat
scenarios to determine its potential effectiveness in a deployed environment,
the first to expose an entire test subject to the ray.
The Defense Department want
to use it for protecting Defense resources, peacekeeping, humanitarian missions
and other situations in which the use of lethal force is undesirable, but
already there have been inquiries from other institutes and wealthy individuals
about using it to protect private property.
Testing, conducted on human
volunteers and animals by the Air Force Research Laboratory's Human
Effectiveness Directorate, continues and although it has not been proved that
exposure to the ray can cause cancer, it has been ascertained that the corneas
of Rhesus monkeys can be damaged.
'What happens if the
people faced with such a weapon can't just run away? What happens if they're
trapped in a crowd, and the crowd can't move? How much pain must that crowd
endure? How long can any member of the crowd be exposed to that weapon before
his or her skin - or their eyes - simply cook off?'
- Author Richard Hunter |
Deployment of the system is
slated to begin in Iraq in 2010, but there are rumors that it has already been
tested there.
Raytheon congratulates itself
on having developed a non-lethal weapon which has been
described as "Holy Grail of crowd control," but their Silent Guardian
also has its critics. One, author
Richard Hunter, asks:
"But what happens if the
people faced with such a weapon can't just run away? What happens if they're
trapped in a crowd, and the crowd can't move? How much pain must that crowd
endure? How long can any member of the crowd be exposed to that weapon before
his or her skin - or their eyes - simply cook off?
"What happens if the devices
are used deliberately in a manner designed to cause maximum harm - say, by
training the device on prisoners trapped in prison cells until they literally
go mad with pain?
"What happens if the system
operator turns up the power? A little bit works well, why not try a lot?
W"hat happens if the
scientists didn't test the devices thoroughly, and they turn out to render
anyone touched by them blind, or impotent, or sterile?"
And the National Lawyers
Guild of the US has accused Raytheon of being "implicated in the
commission of war crime."
One critical group, the Derry
Anti-War Coalition, occupied the Raytheon weapons factory in Ireland in 2006 to
protest at the production of guided missile components there.
Said a spokesman:
"We are calling for arms
components manufacturers to be shut down all over Ireland - North and South. It
is disgraceful that so many companies in Ireland are profiteering from the
maiming and murder of peaceful and innocent civilians in the Middle East. We
are calling for and supporting non-violent occupation of all weapons
manufacturers that supply arms to the Israeli Military."
The protestors were arrested
and charged with damaging Raytheon property. They await conviction. The cheeky blighters have got up a petition to sign to support them! http://www.petitiononline.com/dawc/petition.html
As if you would!
They wouldn't have been able
to get into the building if a Silent Guardian had been in action. A tiny squirt of the Pain Ray would
have quickly sent them yelping away.
Roll on the ADS! Coming
soon! To a street near you!
Click here: For feedback and comments.
Note:
Michael Dickinson is an English teacher working in Istanbul, Turkey.
Dickinson did the cover art for two of CounterPunch's books, Dime's
Worth of Difference and Serpents
in the Garden, as well as Jeffrey St. Clair's Grand
Theft Pentagon. He can be contacted via his website http://yabanji.tripod.com/
or at michaelyabanji@gmail.com.
Also visit Saatchi
Gallery.
Jailing The Joint
Politicians As Dogs
Georgie In Jesusland
Say Goodbye To Purgatory
The Pope vs Terry Higgins
Little Brother Is Watching You
The Catholicization Of Tony
Incident At Westminster Abbey
The King's New Clothes
Arrested In Istanbul
Criminal Collage
Censoring The Carnival Of Chaos
Listening To Lennon In Istanbul
The Madness Of Money
