Date posted: September 1, 2007 - Saturday
Title: Where is Buck Rogers When You Need Him
Current mood: Stunned
I thought I had lost the ability to be stunned or surprised by the things our government does. That was until I read the lead story in the local paper Thursday. The story comes from information gathered by The Associated Press which gained access to internal Pentagon correspondence from commanders in Iraq.
When we initially completed the campaign against Saddam Hussein we were being called "unwelcome invaders" by some of the people in Iraq. This led to demonstrations which got out of control and left some 18 people dead and 78 wounded by US troops. Such demonstrations have continued and have led to more deaths and injuries for innocent civilians in Iraq. And they haven't helped our image or the ability of the troops to establish a stable population.
But there was an alternative.
Developed over the last several years, the US Army had in its' arsenal an energy weapon it could have used in crowd control instead of guns.
Yep, they could have deployed and used a non-lethal weapon on the crowds and prevented deaths and injuries which have compounded the problems we have encountered in trying establish a stable government in Iraq.
The weapon is something which might be out of an old Buck Rogers movie serial. It is a ray gun. It is mounted on the back of a Humvee or flat-bed truck and shoots an energy beam. The beam causes the target to feel a burning sensation in their skin. This tends to make the person struck with the beam run away and not continue demonstrating.
So, the people would disperse and the demonstrations wouldn't have gotten out of hand and caused the use of more lethal weapons which have killed and injured innocent civilians.
Why hasn't the weapon been deployed?
Even though commanders in the field have repeatedly called for the weapon, the Pentagon is afraid that its' use would bring accusations of torture against US troops.
