'Non-lethal' weapons lethal to civil liberties

When the Pittsburgh police decided to use the "sound cannon" against peaceful protestors at the G20 summit in August, they may have signaled the end of peaceful protest in the United States. If torture be described as "organ failure," the Long-Range Acoustic Device (LRAD) has to be classified among the instruments that employ torture. The human body's smallest bones, along with some truly awesome delicate organs, transmit and interpret sound waves and establish our relationship to gravity (balance). LRAD is designed to temporarily disrupt hearing and disorient people's relationship to the ground under their feet.

A second kind of acoustic weapon generates a high-intensity sound that saturates the inner ear where the sense of balance is located. Some people's eardrums break; others never regain hearing in the wavelengths propagated; some become nauseous, puking uncontrollably. But these can be foiled with ordinary earplugs or a board that reflects the sound back to the "friendly personnel."

A third acoustic weapon, the Very Low Frequency modulator, finds larger organs to disrupt. From low to high power, the target will experience progressively: physical discomfort, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pains and resonating bones, "which can be quite painful" (see http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/munitions/accoustic.htm).

Sound-wave generation is only one technique for crowd control that the U.S. military has developed to "minimize" wartime "collateral damage" and control civil disobedience and peaceful protest at home. "Maintaining and establishing law and order, reducing civil disturbances and responding to varied levels of threats have become mission assignments" (see http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/munitions/non-lethal.htm).

Ever wonder how it would feel to be microwaved from a distance? The Vehicle-Mounted Active Denial System is your answer. The ray travels at the speed of light, penetrates 1/64 inch into the skin and produces an intense burning sensation that makes people pull away in less than one second. The ray can be deflected by a garbage can lid, or in wet weather it can be absorbed by water droplets.

However, wet weather can be foiled by the High-Power Microwave (HPM)/E-Bomb which can be modified to produce a variety of Electro-Magnetic Pulses (EMP). Whatever it may do to the target, the EMP also disrupts any electronic device around.

PEP is a vile device that uses laser technology to produce a flash, a bang and a shock wave. It is a plasma pulse that explodes the air where it strikes and vaporizes the first thing it hits. The U.S. Government spent $3,173,000 to fund research for this non-lethal weapon. In 2006 the plan was ". . . to mount the laser on a truck, plane or helicopter, fire it from a safe distance, and stop rioters, snipers or soldiers without risking harm to military personnel. The good news is that it works." (see http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ground/pep.htm)

"Non-lethal" weapons may ease the conscience of oligarchs, but their open use of torture in the streets aims to end peaceful protest.

--January

Home l News & Letters Newspaper l Back issues l News and Letters Committees l Raya Dunayevskaya l Contact us l Search l RSS

Subscribe to News & Letters

Published by News and Letters Committees