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US Deploys 'Heat-Ray' In Afghanistan
Koreantoast writes "The United States military has deployed Raytheon's newly developed Active Denial System (ADS), a millimeter-wave, 'non-lethal' heat-ray, to Afghanistan. The weapon generates a 'burning sensation' that is supposedly harmless, with the military claiming that the chance of injury is at less than 0.1%; numerous volunteers including reporters over the last several years have experienced its effects during various trials and demonstrations. While US military spokesperson Lt. Col. John Dorrian states that the weapon has not yet been operationally used, the tense situation in theater will ensure its usage soon enough. Proponents of ADS believe the system may help limit civilian deaths in counterinsurgency operations and provide new, safer ways to disperse crowds and control riots, but opponents fear that the system's long-term effects are not fully known and that the device may even be used for torture. Regardless, if ADS is successful in the field, we'll probably see this mobile microwave at your next local protest or riot."
Can't test it in America, on it's own people, the people wouldn't stand for it, but test it on the "terrorist" and the USA won't care, then, when they perfect it, they can bring it over to the USA, and when Obamacare kicks in, and the rest of the constitutionally guaranteed rights are taken away and the people rise up, they can use it on it's own people.
High pressure water has been used to disperse crowds and break up riots for longer than I've been alive. It's very effective and relatively safe, but here in America we've been reluctant to use it because of it's ties to the race riots of the 1960s. So we shun a cheap, effective, and easy to deploy system of crowd control because nobody wants to be seen as a ruthless dictator as they clamp down on the masses, and yet we pursue other less-well-tested methods of doing the exact same thing.
Does no one else see the irony?
Yes, it's much better to keep them alive so you can torture them over an extended period. Those kids are trying to defend their homeland from invading armies. Don't take it personally. They would do the same to the Russians. But choosing to ignore their POV just makes your jobs easier. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but you are the bad guy.