I’m conflicted on this: On the one hand, this sounds like a step up from current riot control devices, such as rubber bullets, tear gas, clubs, etc., and, given that it can be deployed from within an armored vehicle, ought to be safer for our troops then other options. However, I’m afraid this isn’t going to help us out on the “Hearts and Minds” front. Unrealistic and magical beliefs about the capabilities of our technology seem to be widely held in Iraq. If we start using pain rays, those beliefs are going to grow, and rumors about their misuse are going to be even more rampant (“My skin burned earlier today when the troops went by–they must have been using the ray on me!”). Worst of all, faceless, hidden soldiers in an armored vehicle dispensing pain with invisible rays just doesn’t do much to foster warm fuzzies.
Are my fears realistic? Will “Sheriff” make peace, or will it just enrage the Iraqi’s even more, and cause additional violence? Should we be deploying this thing to the extent that we evidently plan to (the article mentions using it in routine patrols)?
Remember “Mirror, Mirror”? Star Trek TOS episode where there’s a transporter malfunction and Kirk and his officers wind up in an alternate universe where the Enterprise is a ship of the cruel, piratical Terran Empire. Officers carry an “agonizer” to discipline subordinates for even minor mistakes. More serious infractions are punished by a stay in the “agony booth.” (Giving Chekov yet another chance to moan and scream.)
How did this whole country wind up in an alternate universe?
The timing on this initiative seems odd:
“fielded to Army and Marine Corps units in Iraq by summer, 2005”
Won’t the US be starting to pull out after the elections this January? Won’t the new government of Iraq be exerting responsibility for its own security by then? The middle of a tricky transition like that hardly seems a good time to break out wierd, and possibly misunderstood, new weapons.
So, it won’t be effective against insurgents who are prepared for it, but it will be effective against civilians, who probably won’t be wearing thick head-to-toe clothing in the desert heat.
I’ve seen plenty of Iraqi faces on TV, and in a crowd situation, it seems like faces are what this thing is most likely to hit, given that people naturally want to have a line of sight to whatever their fighting, and most of the bodies are going to be hid behind other bodies. Also, I think a key word is “heavy.” I imagine people in the hot desert tend to go for lighter clothing, but I could be mistaken.
Of course we’ll be pulling out then, Squink. And any unforeseen security problems will be adequately handled by the purple monkeys that will be flying out of George Bush’s ass.
We’ve also got these little worm-like creatures that the Air Force discovered, um, someplace; if you insert them into the ear canal of a suspected terrorist or insurgent, they become…extremely susceptible to suggestion.
We gave them ORDER!
That assumes the locals (a) are informed about how to protect themselves from the effects, and (b) believe the protection works.
I think Metacom’s got it in one – folks who hear about this device are going to start blaming it for all sorts of ailments, imaginary or otherwise (“The Americans made me sterile with their evil machine!”). And anyone who tells them they have nothing to fear will be greeted by the local equivalent of, “Yeah, right.”
The army is developing lots of non-lethal weaponry like this. Makes a lot of sense, if you ask me, given the new types of “wars” we are ingaged in. I suppose we could go back to using lethal weapons instead, if there’s too much protest.
I’m excited about when they start incorporating them into PDAs and cell phones! “Oh yeah Mr. Arrogant Blockbuster Guy Who Says I’m An Hour Late? Talk to my agony ray about the late fees!!” zzzzaaaaappppp hehehe
This is torture- plain and simple. It’s deliberate and indiscriminate infliction of severe pain on men. women, children, old people and babies so we can get our jollies.
I see it as not only sick and sadistic but unbelievably stupid in that it will (justifiably) create even more anti-US hostility and resentment, not just in Iraq but throughout the Arab world. It will aggravate the insurgency (perhaps more accurately called a “resistance”) and it will create more terrorism.
These are supposed to be the people we were “liberating,” are they not? And if they can’t be “grateful” for that, I guess we have no choice but to torture their toddlers with our oh-so-clever technology.
