Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Human Effects Research
Tom Burghardt looks at biochemical non-warfare, euphemistically called Human Effects Research by the Department of Defense. Incapacitating agents are not new, but they are illegal under the Chemical Weapons Convention, which DoD plans to circumvent for use on civilian populations.
Tactical pharmacology is a promising field of research (and contracts) for such ethical giants as General Dynamics and other military contractors looking to cash in on chemical warfare for crowd control. Remote control aerial sprays by unmanned drones are just one of the many allegedly non-lethal applications, but as we saw in Fallujah, Iraq and the Moscow Opera House, sometimes things don't go as planned, or at least as asserted.
Drugs as weapons for social control looks like an exciting new foray for an ethically-challenged Pentagon, not to mention their corporate and academic collaborators. What could be more fun than attacking the central nervous systems of innocent civilians for a good cause?
Tactical pharmacology is a promising field of research (and contracts) for such ethical giants as General Dynamics and other military contractors looking to cash in on chemical warfare for crowd control. Remote control aerial sprays by unmanned drones are just one of the many allegedly non-lethal applications, but as we saw in Fallujah, Iraq and the Moscow Opera House, sometimes things don't go as planned, or at least as asserted.
Drugs as weapons for social control looks like an exciting new foray for an ethically-challenged Pentagon, not to mention their corporate and academic collaborators. What could be more fun than attacking the central nervous systems of innocent civilians for a good cause?
