When the U.S. military planned to deploy Raytheon's Active Denial System (ADS) in Iraq, it set off a political firestorm. How couldn't it?
Known for its "goodbye effect," the so-called "pain ray" is a "non-lethal" directed energy weapon that repels "rioters" and other disreputable citizens by heating the outer surface of the skin to 130 degrees F. in short, directed bursts. With a range of some 550 yards, the microwave beam can penetrate clothing and its effects have been described by test subjects as nothing less than "excruciating."
The prospect that American "liberators" would soon be zapping "unruly mobs," that is, Iraqi citizens objecting to the destruction of their country and the looting of their resource-rich nation by Western (corporate) invaders proved to be a public relations nightmare for the Pentagon.
The Defense Science Board concluded that an ADS deployment was "not politically tenable," because of a "possible association with torture" if the system were used at detention centers to ensure "compliance" from recalcitrant prisoners.
read more @ antifascist calling
yours truly has written about this specifically here, here and here
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