SIGHTINGS



New Non-Lethal Weapons Systems
May Be Used Against
US Citizens
Part Two
By Dr. Nick
Begich
 
http://www.leadingedgenews.com/Nonlethalwarfare.htm
 
4-12-00
 
In a section of the report, "Future Weapons Using High Power Microwaves" are discussed at length. This section describes microwave frequencies developed for use in weapons against machines and people. One of the uses described is an Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) weapon which gives an operator the same ability to wipe out electronic circuits as a nuclear blast would provide. The main difference is that this new technology is controllable, and can be used without violating nuclear weapons treaties. This section of the report then described energy levels needed for the following to occur:
 
* "Overheats, damages animal tissue".
 
* "Possibly affects nervous system".
 
* "Threshold for microwave hearing".
 
* "Causes byte errors in unshielded computers".
 
* "Burns out unprotected receiver diodes in antennas".
 
The effects are based on radio frequency radiation. The report confirmed that non-thermal effects were being researched. These non-thermal effects included damage to human health when the effects occurred "within so-called modulation frequency windows (Hertz is one such window) or power density windows". The way these weapons work was clearly described when the report noted their effect on machines: "A HPM (High Power Microwave) weapon employs a high power, rapidly pulsating microwave beam that penetrates electronic components. The pulsing action internally excites the components, rapidly generating intense heat which causes them to fuse or melt, thus destroying the circuit...HPM (weapons) attack at the speed of light thus making avoidance of the beam impossible, consequently negating the advantage of weapon systems such as high velocity tactical missiles."
 
In other words, with this kind of weapon there is no machine which could get by this invisible wall of directed energy. Another report on non-lethal technologies, issued by the Council on Foreign Relations points out that, "The Nairobi Convention, to which the United States is a signatory, prohibits the broadcast of electronic signals into a sovereign state without its consent in peacetime." This report opens discussion of the use of these weapons against terrorists and drug traffickers. The CFR report recommends this be done secretly so the victims do not know where the attack is from, or if there even is an attack.
 
There is a problem with this approach. The use of these weapons, even against these kinds of individuals, may be in violation of United States law in that it presumes guilt rather than innocence. In other words the police, CIA, DEA or other enforcement organizations become the judge, jury and executioner. Going to another document by a Captain Paul Tyler, we can look at the debate between classical theories and recent research. There is a gulf of conflict between these two schools of thought. The debate centers on the classical idea that only ionizing radiation (that which generates heat in tissue) can cause reactions in the body, while new research indicates that subtle, small, amounts of energy can cause reactions as well. What Tyler wrote in 1984, as an officer in the Air Force, puts the debate simply. He said, "Even though the body is basically an electrochemical system, modern science has almost exclusively studied the chemical aspects of the body and to date has largely neglected the electrical aspects.
 
However, over the past decade researchers have devised many mathematical models to approximate the internal fields in animals and humans. Some of the later models have shown general agreement with experimental measurements made with the phantom models and animals. Presently most scientists in the field use the concept of specific absorption rate for determining the Dosimetry (dosages) of electromagnetic radiation. Specific absorption rate is the intensity of the internal electric field or quantity of energy absorbed...However, the use of these classical concepts of electrodynamics does not explain some experimental results and clinical findings.
 
For example, according to classical physics, the frequency of visible light would indicate that it is reflected or totally absorbed within the first few millimeters of tissue and thus no light should pass through significant amounts of tissue. But it does. Also, classical theory indicates that the body should be completely invisible to extremely low frequencies of light where a single wave length is thousands of miles long. However, visible light has been used in clinical medicine to transilluminate various body tissues." In other words, the classical theories are partially wrong in that they do not fully explain all of the reactions which are observed in the body. The Navy has abstracted over a thousand international professional papers by private and government scientists which explore these issues.
 
Tyler continues, "A second area where classical theory fails to provide an adequate explanation for observed effects is in the clinical use of extremely low frequency (ELF) electromagnetic fields. Researchers have found that pulsed external magnetic fields at frequencies below 100 Hertz (pulses/cycles per second) will stimulate the healing of nonunion fractures, congenital pseudarthroses, and failed arthroses. The effects of these pulsed magnetic fields have been extremely impressive, and their use in orthopaedic conditions has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration."
 
Even the FDA, one of the most vigorous regulatory authorities in the country, accepts these non-thermal effects. Tyler adds, "Recently, pulsed electromagnetic fields have been reported to induce cellular transcription (this has to do with the duplication or copying of information from DNA, a process important to life).
 
 
At the other end of the non-ionizing spectrum, research reports are also showing biological effects that are not predicted in classical theories. For example, Kremer and others have published several papers showing that low intensity millimeter waves produce biological effects. They have also shown that not only are the effects seen at very low power, but they are also frequency-specific." Tyler goes on to discuss the results of this new thinking and the possible effects of these low energy radiations in terms of information transfer and storage, and their effects on the nervous system. Research has shown that very specific frequencies cause very specific reactions, and, once a critical threshold is passed, negative reactions occur.
 
It has been fourteen years since Tyler,s paper was delivered and the controversy began to take form. Now there is even more energy being pressed into the anchoring of the newest means of killing and maiming one another. "Imagine a world where land mines don,t blow up but give off an eerie sound that makes intruders feel sick. Or a war where attackers don,t use missiles to stop tanks but microwaves to shut down engines." The Institute for Non-Lethal Defense Technologies at Penn State College has been established in cooperation with the United States Marines. The institute was created to evaluate weapons created by organizations outside the military. The new institute will look at legal, ethical, political, environmental and physical effects of these new technologies. There has been a good deal of speculation about the possibilities of creating artificial weather and of controlling the weather. This it not new and has been the subject of on-going military research for decades.
 
Moreover, in 1976 the United States signed international treaties calling for a ban on "geophysical warfare". The use of new weapons is not limited to governments and sophisticated science laboratories. In April, 1997, the United States Secretary of Defense, William Cohen made the following comment: "Others are engaging even in an eco-type of terrorism whereby they can alter climate, set off earthquakes and volcanoes remotely through the use of electromagnetic waves." This is not new either but has its roots in 1960-70's era research by American scientists and continues to appear in numerous articles and reports. The idea of creating artificial weather including cyclones is being explored. In a recent article in the Wall Street Journal it was reported that "a Malaysian company, BioCure Sdn. Bhd., will sign a memorandum of understanding soon with a government-owned Russian party to produce the Cyclone." The deal with the Russians was set up so that if the technology did not work the Malaysians did not have to pay for the attempt. There have been other reports of Russian research into this area.
 
 
What else might be on the way? In a 1989 patent a most interesting bit of science is revealed. The development of new energy weapons has occupied the imaginations and resources of our national and private laboratories. One such weapon idea is owned by the United States Department of Energy. It is a new kind of weapon which allows electromagnetic or acoustic energy to be focused into a tight package of energy which can be projected over great distances without dissipating. When scientists thought of this energy being projected through the air it was always assumed that the energy would dissipate, dispersing at such a rapid rate that no weapon,s effect could be realized.
 
 
What has been discovered is that there is a way to create such a system. In a U. S. patent the following summary appears: "The invention relates generally to transmission of pulses of energy, and more particularly to the propagation of localized pulses of electromagnetic or acoustic energy over long distances without divergence." "As the Klingon battle cruiser attacks the Starship Enterprise, Captain Kirk commands "Fire photon torpedoes". Two darts or blobs of light speed toward their target to destroy the enemy spaceship. Stardate 1989, Star Trek reruns, or 3189, somewhere in intergalactic space. Fantasy or reality. The ability to launch localized packets of light or other energy which do not diverge as they travel great distances through space may incredibly be at hand." The patent describes the energy effect as "electromagnetic missiles or bullets" which could destroy almost any object in their path. Remember Star Wars? That weapon concept would move the theater of war to space.
 
In 1995, the funding for Star Wars was widely reported as a dead issue when full funding was defeated by the United States Congress. Star Wars did not end. As many unpopular programs do - they just get new names. "This year the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (once called the Strategic Defense Initiative) got $3.7 billion. That,s up from $2.8 billion in 1995, and is very near the peak level spent during the Cold War." What is interesting is that - the billions spent on Star Wars systems, which these became known as, were only for "research" according to the military,s mission statement. The technology is being advanced in the hope that a system might be developed early in the next century. The external threats are now being characterized as rogue states and terrorist organizations which might gain delivery technologies. While the threats are not imagined and need to be addressed, it is not responsible to create word games which end public debate and allow systems thought to be discontinued the latitude to proceed.
 
In several recent news reports in Alaska the issue of a new defense initiative has begun to surface. United States Senator Ted Stevens, the Chairman of the most powerful committee in the Congress, is insisting that a new system be created which protects Alaska and Hawaii. The current defense system for intercontinental ballistic missiles does not protect these regions. Additionally, President Clinton has made statements that the problem of Alaska and Hawaii should be addressed. The suggestions now being filed include basing the new 11 billion dollar system in Alaska. What is also interesting is the discussion surrounding agreements with the former Soviet Union which preclude such an initiative. The rationale of some elected officials suggests that "if the Soviet Union no longer exists then these agreements are no longer in effect". Earthpulse takes the position that this approach is highly-destabilizing and provocative particularly given the state of domestic policy and ideological shifts taking place in Russia. In another "offshoot of the Reagan administration,s Strategic Defense Initiative" satellite-disabling lasers have been developed.
 
A test, at less than full power, was performed at the end of 1997 to demonstrate the ability of the system to hit its target. The demonstration was a success and now many are concerned that this may provoke an arms race in space. This is the same concern which was raised when this technology was first discussed in public forums. There was a good deal of objection and yet here we are two decades later delivering on the "impossible" technology.
 
New energy weapons have been described as being capable of creating symptoms of sea sickness, signals can be used to resonate the inner organs to cause pain and spasms, induce epileptic-like seizures or cause cardiac arrest. Other weapons include, according to the article, those which cause or prevent sleep, override voluntary muscle movements or otherwise affect the brain. The "Black Widow" overrides muscle movement with 100,000 units being added to the Russian government,s arsenal in recent years. "The term 'psycho-terrorism, was coined by Russian writer N. Anisimov of the Moscow Anti-Psychotronic Center. According to Anisimov psychotronic weapons are those that act to 'take away a part of the information which is stored in a man,s brain. It is sent to a computer, which reworks it to the level needed for those who need to control a man, and the modified information is then reinserted into the brain., These weapons are used against the mind to induce hallucinations, sickness, mutations in human cells, zombification,, or even death. Included in the arsenal are VHF generators, X-rays, ultrasound, and radio waves.
 
Russian army Major I. Chernishev, writing in the military journal Orienteer in February 1997, asserted that psy, weapons are under development all over the globe. Specific types of weapons noted by Chernishev (not all of which have prototypes) were:
 
* A psychotronic generator, which produces powerful electromagnetic emanation capable of being sent through telephone lines, TV, radio networks, supply pipes and incandescent lamps.
 
* An autonomous generator, a device that operates in the 10-150 Hertz band, which at the 10-20 Hertz band forms an infrasonic oscillation that is destructive to all living creatures.
 
* A nervous system generator, designed to paralyze the central nervous systems of insects, which could have the same applicability to humans.
 
* Ultrasonic emanations, which one institute claims to have developed. Devices using ultrasound emanations are supposedly capable of carrying out bloodless internal operations without leaving a mark on the skin. They can also, according to Chernishev, be used to kill.
 
* Noiseless cassettes. Chernishev claims that the Japanese have developed the ability to place infra-low frequency voice patterns over music, patterns that are detected by the subconscious. Russians claim to be using similar "bombardments" with computer programming to treat alcoholism and smoking.* The 25th-frame effect, alluded to above, a technique wherein each 25th frame of a movie reel or film footage contains a message that is picked up by the subconscious.
 
* Psychotropics, defined as medical preparations used to induce a trance, euphoria, or depression. Referred to as "slow-acting mines,".... Symptoms include headaches, noises, voices or commands in the brain, dizziness, pain in the abdominal cavities, cardiac arrhythmia, or even the destruction of the cardiovascular system.
 
In the course of research by Dr. Janet Morris, coauthor of The Warriors Edge, in 1991 was given a tour of the Russian Department of Psycho-Correction at the Moscow Medical Academy where she was shown a method whereby researchers could monitor the human mind of an individual and then using infra-sound, very low frequency transmissions, a message could be transmitted subliminally to the brain. Earthpulse has a device designed for behavior modification and other applications which can demonstrate this "infra-sound" effect. The Russian research suggested the vigorous exploration also of the military possibilities of ESP research including reading human thoughts, influencing objects at a distance, moving objects with the mind or directly interfering with the thoughts of other people. The U.S. has also followed this research and engaged in its own explorations. The main point here is that other countries are engaging in this kind of research with the expressed purpose of attacking the physical bodies of their adversaries. Research efforts by private and government labs continue to be advanced.
 
The issue of acoustic or sound transfer to the human brain of radio frequency radiation (RFR) in the public literature was summarized in June 1996 in a document Human Exposure to Radiofrequency Radiation: A Review Pertinent to Air Force Operations (Al/OE-TR-1996-0035). This document was prepared by the Air Force Materiel Command located at Brooks Air Force Base, Texas. The report summarized a number of the studies on the effect of RFR for military applications. This information builds on the earlier efforts of the military in RFR research, specifically the call for weapons research in this area.
 
An earlier work prepared to advance this research was put together by the same organization - Radiofrequency Radiation Dosimetry Handbook, United States Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine, Brooks Air Force Base, Texas, October 1986. This publication is an index to research and a summary of findings into the specific radio frequency effects on the various parts of the human body. In "Radical Destabilizing Effects of New Technologies" written by Thomas Adams for the U.S. Army War College,s publication, Parameters (Autumn 1998), three areas continue to grow in importance in both civilian and military environments. Information systems, biotechnology and nanotechnology are mutually reinforcing in their development and are changing the very nature of knowledge disbursement. The advances in these areas, according to the article, are transferring enormous power and potential to the general public.
 
 
Technology is advancing in a way which is creating a diffusion of power best exemplified by the Internet. The Internet places huge research resources at the fingertips of anyone willing to ask a question and pursue a line of thinking. The results can be incredible. While for many individuals it represents an opportunity to expand and advance knowledge, for military planners the idea that knowledge allowing access to powerful technologies can not be restricted creates a great deal of fear. The article expressed concern that the availability of the technology emerging from these three areas could shift power in a way which could create greater breakups of composite states such as the former Soviet Union and increase the possibility in China and other parts of the world.
 
One of the primary concerns in this article dealt with access to this new technology becoming a destabilizing force within regions. Specifically, the article suggested that organized crime, private armies, urban gangs, insurgents, regional separatists, conspiracy theory terrorists, radical cults, neo-Luddites, and violent environmentalists together with anti-government militias and "hobbyists" who disrupt information systems as a form of recreation, will gain access to this new technology. The future, to a great extent, is already here. What remains of this predicted future to occur has probably already been designed or will be in the next few years.
 
Already the privacy of individuals is compromised by every purchase we make where the information is digitized. From the list of goods purchased at the store with a scanner and charged to a debit or credit card to all telephone calls and other forms of communication - all are transparent to those who have access to the systems. In the future, given the pace of miniaturization and information processing, it will soon be possible to monitor all forms of communication, create miniature surveillance equipment at a cost where the monitoring of inner cities, then whole cites and regions will be possible. In March 1998 a paper, "Non-Lethal Technologies: Implications for Military Strategy", was authored by U.S. Air Force Colonel Joseph Siniscalchi and published by the Center for Strategy and Technology, Air War College, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama. The paper suggests that a "focus on Global Management" is the direction of militaries because the overriding unifying force of the great powers of the United States, Europe, Japan, China and Russia is now a shared and interdependent economic system driven by expansion and growth. The lack of competing ideologies with the exception of China removes the primary threats to global security and replaces them with new ones.
 
These new military threats are groups or "non-state actors" motivated by religious causes, nationalism, ethnic rivalries and narco-interests. Dealing with these groups in the territorial boundaries of other countries limits military intervention or, at least it was assumed so, until the United States attacked a suspected terrorist organization inside Afghanistan. The distance from adversaries is also increasing primarily because of the accuracy and range of conventional arms and because of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. War will resemble more of a video game for those countries using the most sophisticated technologies, removing the fighting person from the conflict entirely. What does this do?
 
In the past when wars were fought there was always the distaste for conflict based on the actual experience of war on the battlefield. Returning men and women had a high motivation for guarding against future conflict because of the emotional impact of warfare. Not so now. With these new systems a few operators can level a region without any contact with those they kill. The military insists that because of the changes in the nature of the conflicts that there is greater need to bring forward the newest weapons with the hope that these new systems will minimize noncombatant casualties, reduce property destruction and increase control in areas judged to be a threat. The proliferation of first and second generation non-lethal weapons will occur quickly because the technologies and equipment are not uniue and are widely available to those with the knowledge to use and assemble them.
 
These same advances make possible the use of these new technologies against governments, with the increases in electronic sophistication making developed countries, systems even more vulnerable to attack. An additional risk with the use of these new non-lethal systems is the risk of conflict escalation. If a country is unable to counterattack in kind it will likely resort to conventional war fighting methods, terrorism or weapons of mass destruction.
 
The idea that non-lethal weapons could be used in conflicts with the emerging threats of "non-state" actors presupposes that all of the conflict participants are operating at the same "logic or rational thought basis" or that they make decisions based on similar value-sets. This is a bad and inaccurate assumption given the history of conflicts involving these players. The fact is they do not react in predictable ways and to expect them to be coerced by new systems is probably unrealistic and may serve to only increase the combatants resolve. The newer technologies offer militaries and states the possibility of non-visible combat. The idea that a country,s communications, power generation and transfer systems, and all forms of electronic data processing can be shut down is mind boggling. The paper suggests that adding this factor to economic sanctions would increase the immediacy of the effect of such sanctions and eliminate all access to supply. As an example: "...disrupting television, radio, and commercial communications can isolate a state,s leadership, or denying electrical production can grind an economy to a halt." "...The following are examples of non-lethal technologies that are employed to augment sanctions.
 
To enforce sanctions, EMP munitions, delivered via cruise or air launched missiles, can disable suspect shipping within a designated restricted area. EMP sea mines may be employed in the restricted area to deter any maritime traffic. The port activities can be disrupted via air-launched EMP weapons to disable electronic components of infrastructure equipment and the electronic ignition of transportation vehicles at selected port areas." One of the things which has always bothered me as a researcher is how the little guy is always held to a high standard of accountability while big organizations get away with murder. I am not suggesting that individuals should be held to a lesser standard - quite to the contrary. Organizations responsible for the security of our nation should be held to the highest standards. We must ask ourselves what these agencies are charged with protecting and whether their actions follow the values expressed in law. Are there reasons that the government should be excused from meeting the requirements of the law? Is there good cause for hiding behind laws which allow for the exploitation of other laws? An article appeared recently which illustrates the point, as follows:
 
"A former CIA officer from the agency,s top secret black bag, unit that breaks into foreign embassies to steal code books was charged with espionage Friday for tipping off two countries about the CIA,s success in compromising their communications." Douglas Groat was fired in 1996 from the CIA,s Science and Technology Directorate and could now face the death penalty. These super secret teams are sent around the world to break into embassies and other locations to steal codes and other information so that the National Security Agency (NSA) can intercept a country,s classified communications and know their contents. The article concluded, "The CIA has never publicly acknowledged the existence of its 'black-bag, teams because their operations, are by their nature, illegal. And they not only target America,s adversaries but embassies of friendly powers."
 
Consider the contents of this article from the perspective of one of our allies. Remember a few years ago the outrage of our government when we discovered that the State of Israel was using its intelligence gathering resources in the U.S. It was an outrage - or was it just the game we all play? Why should we expect anything less of our allies then we expect of ourselves? One of the hidden aspects of these new systems as well as a major complication for all countries relying on complex computer systems to operate their war making and civilian systems is the Y2K computer bug. This is a situation where certain computer programs and hardware circuits have been designed to interpret which year it is, based on the last two digits of the year. We can all think of the forms we have completed or the times when for a date we just give the last two numbers such as '98' when indicating the date.
 
In the August 6, 1998 issue of Computer Weekly an article titled "G8 Triggers Date Bug Fear" appeared. In the article it was disclosed that: "Minutes from a closed door meeting of officials from the G8 group...show that the nuclear industries have been identified as being at risk from the date bug." The article went on to describe some of the potential problems with only a few hundred days remaining until the calendar turns over to the next millennium. The third world and even industrialized countries, particularly Eastern Europe, are a particular "worry" according to the report. The potential for problems in the nuclear industry, financial sectors, and military forces relying on communication, information and transportation systems which may be adversely effected are huge and, for the most part, full of risks which have not been assessed. The reliance on these systems is causing bleak forecasts for the future and may even, in the most extreme scenarios being put forward by experts from around the world, push the planet into a large scale recession or possibly depression. The potential risks are growing and government assurances of being able to resolve the problem are unrealistic according to the experts in the field. In the United States, audits conducted by the government on military systems reported to be compliant and ready for the calendar change have in many instances indicated their non-compliance.
 
For weapon systems, communications and transportation the impact could be devastating. The HAARP story provided an opportunity for Earthpulse as a beginning point of our investigations into new weapon system developments. Of particular interest, given my background, was the public policy considerations of the deployment of these new weapons in the context of democratic and free societies. The ethical and moral questions which are not being adequately debated and addressed has become the greater focus of our work. HAARP, although it occupies the majority of our time, represents a very small fraction of our work. In this presentation I hoped to disclose some of the technology which is here now and advancing rapidly. More than this, I am hopeful that the information would be useful in assessing the state of technology from what appears in some of the open literature.
 
What has happened in the United States, which has allowed segments of our government to set agendas which run counter to the values most of us hold? The transparency of government - the idea that we should be able to look into our government and see clearly the values of the population reflected there is an absolute expectation. Are there risks in transparent government? Yes, an open society necessitates that certain risks be taken. As technology advances, the ability to control populations and manipulate outcomes also advances. Because we know how to control the weather, create earthquakes, force behavioral changes and manipulate the physiology of people does not mean that we should do so. The age we are in requires even greater safeguards of personal freedoms, not further constraints upon them. If freedom is what is being defended then maintaining the values which form the basis of freedom is what must be inherent in the actions our governments take in creating aspects of our reality.
 
The Cold War is not over, but has changed. We know that there are concerns which, being a free people, we must address and bring to the attention of others. We believe that the greatest threat to freedom is an over-oppressive and increasingly secretive government. To many, the government has shifted from one "of the people, by the people and for the people" to a government "of special interests, for their own benefit, at the peoples, expense". What went wrong, and where it went wrong, to a large extent, is a product of the intelligence bureaucracies which thrive through one administration to the next with unrestrained growth. These secretive bureaucracies hide more and more of their agendas under a cloak of "national security", while drifting further from the principles which have allowed democratic states to exist. Secret government policy is not sanctioned by the free will of the population, and threatens the core beliefs of liberty, honest government and public responsibility.
 
The only truly free people are those who live in an open society, a society which cherishes above all the right of men and women to control and set the values that their government should reflect. These are the popularly set values which must be pressed into the philosophy of all projects, policies and programs our governments seek to institute. No program should be permitted to grow out of democratic governments which does not reflect the values and will of those governed. Our military and economic policies are increasingly empty of the values upon which our democratic forms of government rest. What then is our calling in terms of what we do with the information presented today? It is time to put human values ahead of other agendas. It is time to drag our military institutions out of their veil of secrecy to higher levels of accountability. It is time for all people to recognize, and demand, that increases in security are not made at the expense of freedom. The rights to privacy, free speech and most importantly free.
 
_____
 
 
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Report Presented to the World Foundation for Natural Sciences on October 17,1998, Interlaken Switzerland Dr. Begich is the author of "Angels Don't Play This HAARP", a report on the U.S. Star War's-type weapon in Alaska (High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program), and publisher of "Earthpulse Flashpoints" and "Earthpulse Press in Anchorage, Alaska.He can be contacted at www.earthpulse.com or Box 201393, Anchorage, Alaska 99520 USA, Telephone: 907-694-1277. Fax: 907-696-1277.

 
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