Monday, July 26, 2004
(Non) Lethal Weapon
The New York Times magazine has good coverage of some recent 'non-lethal' weapons. Examples include the active denial system (a blast of electromagnetic rays that create a burning sensation), mobility denial system (a slippery goo with a friction coefficent of wet ice that prevents any person or vehicle to cross the sprayed area), vehicle arresting nets and webshots. The article hints at one important reason for the higher interest in, and funding of, these weapons.
In an era when the American military increasingly finds itself in situations where civilians and combatants can be difficult to distinguish between, and when the line between soldiering and policy (sic) has blurred, nonlethal weapons could prove useful.
As an example...
Imagine the plight of a soldier guarding a crucial road or a checkpoint in a war zone who sees a truck barreling toward him. The driver fails to heed his calls to stop. Does the soldier let the truck keep coming and risk a possible suicide bombing? Or does he shoot and, as more than one American soldier in Iraq has belatedly realized, kill an innocent driver or even an entire family who bore no ill will but simply didn't understand his warnings?
In an era when the American military increasingly finds itself in situations where civilians and combatants can be difficult to distinguish between, and when the line between soldiering and policy (sic) has blurred, nonlethal weapons could prove useful.
As an example...
Imagine the plight of a soldier guarding a crucial road or a checkpoint in a war zone who sees a truck barreling toward him. The driver fails to heed his calls to stop. Does the soldier let the truck keep coming and risk a possible suicide bombing? Or does he shoot and, as more than one American soldier in Iraq has belatedly realized, kill an innocent driver or even an entire family who bore no ill will but simply didn't understand his warnings?
While some potentially lethal weapons are labeled non-lethal, such nonkiller weapons might be especially useful in communal riots. It could drastically reduce the 'snowball' effect. In a country such as India, where the riots can sprout from a local neighbourhood to engulf large regions, the potential losses avoided could be high. This might make investments in such weapons economically feasible as well. As far as the definition goes, I only hope there is more atention paid to the reversibility of the damage done. That would make non-lethal really non-lethal.
