The 'pain ray' "fires out millimeter waves in the 95 GHz range. The invisible beams penetrate 1/64th of an inch beneath the skin, which heats up the water inside a person."



By Amina Anderson

From the 'pain ray' to the 'death ray': Did U.S. occupation forces deploy direct energy weapons in Iraq? Using such deadly weapons is certainly a new dilemma for the Iraqis, according to a report by Brett Wagner, the president of the California Center for Strategic Studies
(CCSS).

The story dates back to 2004, when the U.S. decided to develop a new weapon under the name “pain rain”. According to DefenseTech.org, an online military information service, this weapon "fires out millimeter waves -- a sort of cousin of microwaves, in the 95 GHz range. The invisible beams penetrate just 1/64th of an inch beneath the skin, which is deep enough to heat up the water inside a person. The previous causes excruciating pain and seconds later, people have to run away. And that causes mobs to break up in a hurry."

Wagner’s report states that the head of the Army unit charged with rapidly securing new gear for use by U.S. troops, Col. Robert Lovett, "has requested that [the device] be rushed to the field to support military operations in Iraq.

The U.S. military claims that the weapon, which is now mostly known as Active Denial System (ADS), was developed to facilitate the U.S. mission in Iraq. The “Holy Grail of crowd control” weapon was set for release in 2005. But more tests to assure its efficiency were conducted. ADS passed all the required tests and was promised again to be released.

Apparently, the U.S. forgot or neglected the fact that the new weapon is considered a violation of the international law, which prohibits all weapons whose primary intentions is to inflict pain. Wagner has been working against the release of ADS right from the start. Along with his organization, he was able to delay the deployment of the weapon until more testing and analysis are conducted.

But in January 2007, Theodore Barna, an assistant deputy undersecretary of defense for advanced systems and concepts told Reuters that "We expect the services to add it to their tool kit. And that could happen as early as 2010”.

Apparently the military is still unsure about ADS after all the tests. Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne didn't help clarify the issue when he suggested that the military should use the “pain ray” at crowds in the United States before deploying it in Iraq. It would be hard to imagine that Americans would be feeling okay about trying such weapons on themselves even if they believe they are not lethal.

Wagner suggested a new nickname for the weapon; the “death ray”, since it’s well-known that exposing mammals to microwaves make them explode. He sent an email all around the U.S. in which he used a live example to prove his theory.

The email discussed a video that was released on the 16th of May 2006 by a major Italian news service which showed evidence that the U.S. military has used in Iraq a new generation of weaponry likely based on firing microwaves as early as the 2003 battle for Baghdad Airport.

Wagner then explained that from the reported effects of the weaponry, it likely includes "speed of light" technology defying the generic term "laser", therefore it also includes the use of microwaves, judging from the descriptions of bodies that seem to have inexplicably exploded.

He used sarcasm to explain that he was unable to determine the reason behind either the cadavers that reportedly shrunk to the size of approximately one-meter in length after being exposed to some sort of ray (the cause of death) and then inadvertently struck by bullets. He also mentioned an eyewitness’ description that a bus was transformed "like a cloth, like a wet cloth" and shrunk to the size of a Volkswagen.

Ever since this email was circulated, CCSS has been working on evidence and researches to prove how harmful such weapon can be, and hopefully ban them from being used in Iraq. Phone calls are communicated to Capitol Hill officials and several key congressional staff members.

Life would be better in war-torn Iraq if President Bush considered adjusting his plan to help the Iraqis instead of pursuing new ways to destroy the country even more.

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http://www.aljazeera.com/news/newsfull.php?newid=24714