[News] Raytheon's Pain Ray
Anti-Imperialist News
news at freedomarchives.org
Wed May 28 16:12:08 EDT 2008
May 28, 2008
http://www.counterpunch.org/dickinson05282008.html
Raytheon's Pain Ray
Fry 'Em!
By MICHAEL DICKINSON
Coming soon, from the folks who brought you the
microwave - Raytheon! After more than ten years
in the making and at a cost of over 40 million
dollars, 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 its73,000 employees worldwide and
annual revenues of 20 billion dollars 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
trice 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.
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?
What 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>http://www.petitiononline.com/dawc/petition.html
As if you would!
They wouldnt 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!
Michael Dickinson, whose artwork graces the
covers of
<http://www.easycartsecure.com/CounterPunch/CounterPunch_Books.html>Dime's
Worth of Difference,
<http://www.easycartsecure.com/CounterPunch/CounterPunch_Books.html>Serpents
in the Garden and
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1567513360/counterpunchmaga>Grand
Theft Pentagon, lives in Istanbul. He can be
contacted via his website
<http://yabanji.tripod.com/>http://yabanji.tripod.com/
or at: <mailto:michaelyabanji at gmail.com>michaelyabanji at gmail.com
Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
415 863-9977
www.Freedomarchives.org
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20080528/854e8545/attachment.htm>
More information about the News
mailing list