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Military Says Pain Ray Isn't Being Tested in Afghanistan, But Mum on Details

by Amar Toor on June 21, 2010 at 09:50 AM

the military's new pain ray
As the U.S. continues to slog its way through the war in Afghanistan, military strategists have been forced to come up with new and inventive ways to combat large groups of insurgents -- including, apparently, a weapon that convinces targets that they're on fire.

The 'pain ray' weapon, known as the Active Denial System, uses millimeter waves to heat the top layer of an individual's skin in order to simulate the sensation of being burned alive. The nauseating technique has been under consideration for some time, but last week, AOL News reported that the Active Denial System had finally arrived in Afghanistan for testing. When Wired contacted military officials, however, they (unconvincingly) denied the reports.

"We are currently not testing the Active Denial System in Afghanistan," Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Directorate spokesman Kelly Hughes told Wired's Danger Room. When asked if the system had been tested in the past, though, Hughes reportedly hesitated before blurting, "I'm not gonna get into operational." In a subsequent e-mail, Lt. Col. John Dorrian admitted that the system is in Afghanistan, but went on to clarify that "it has not been used operationally and no decision has been made at this time to deploy it."

Far be it from us civilian folk to opine on military tactics, but we sure hope the Active Denial System never sees the light of day in Afghanistan -- or, for that matter, anywhere else. The military may have very good reason to use extreme tactics to battle extremely hostile targets, but officials must also consider the broader ramifications that such tactics could have on America's campaign against terror. As the Defense Science Board concluded a couple of years ago, deployment of the 'pain ray' could very well backfire on American troops by providing extremists with arguments to sway public opinion against U.S. troops. There are probably plenty of different crowd control weapons that the U.S. could deploy in Afghanistan, but torture -- even if simulated -- probably isn't the wisest choice. [From: Wired, via: Gawker]

Tags: ActiveDenialSystem, afghanistan, Afghanistan war, crowd control, crowd-control, CrowdControl, military, pain ray, PainRay, top, war

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