January 17, 2005

But it works in movies... The US military has considered developing a variety of non lethal chemicals, including an aphrodesiac to trigger homosexual behavior among enemy combatants, an insect attracter, and a chemical to give severe enough halitosis so as to be able to pick out the enemy among civilians. This is modern warfare?
posted by es el Queso 19 years ago
  • oh crap. Tracicle, please remove my redundancy? I did a quick search, but not cleverly enough to catch that this was already... (flogs self)
  • Clever has nothing to do with it.
  • Are these Weapons of Mass Santorum?
  • not skrikly enough?
  • Evidently the new weapons are starting to take effect.
  • I still don't love any of you.
  • That might explain my recent frantic search for all things Rupaul.
  • Apparently the US military has already unleased this plague here in West Hollywood. They've stopped killing but still tend to argue about interior decorating and who's the best actress on Sex in the City.
  • Hey! I like Rupaul!
  • I bet the chemical that induces homosexuality smells fruity and makes water taste kind of queer.
  • actually, it's kind of salty...
  • I wonder if one can file a FOI request to find out what this aphrodesiac is made of. I have cartoon-like images in my mind of flying over a Billy Graham revival meeting with a crop duster...
  • I have cartoon-like images in my mind of flying over a Billy Graham revival meeting with a crop duster... *approves*
  • I wonder if Reuters got punked on this story. Is this for real?
  • From the Sunshine Project. They aquired the Pentagon document through the Freedon of Information Act.
    From here, the story gets murky; but important new detail is available. For five years, there was no public action by JNLWD on the (heretofore confidential) Army proposals. Despite JNLWD's denials that it is engaged in chemical weapons development, a contract released to the Sunshine Project under FOIA in 2002 states that, in 2001, the Directorate trained Marine Corps officers in the use of classified antipersonnel "non-lethal" chemical weapons. In light of the newly-released documents, it was in 2000 that the ARCAD program resurfaced publicly in the form of a Pentagon contract awarded to the Optimetrics, Inc. The Optimetrics studies parallel those proposed by the Army to JNLWD in 1994. Not coincidentally, the lead researcher was C. Parker Ferguson, an Aberdeen Proving Ground veteran who pushed JNLWD to revive ARCAD in 1994. By 2000, Ferguson had left for Aberdeen for Optimetric's nearby office in Bel Air, Maryland. Phase One of the Optimetrics contract was a "Front End Analysis" of Chemical Immobilizing Agents, including testing of "promising" chemical cocktails on animals. Phase Two moved into human testing. Not long after the Optimetrics contract issued, JNLWD launched a two year research program titled "Front End Analysis for Non-Lethal Chemicals" (FY 2001 and 2002). While this JNLWD program was operating (including during the Moscow Theater disaster), the Directorate vociferously, incorrectly denied that it was conducting research on incapacitating chemical weapons. Contradicting its own public relations officers, in early 2003 a short document describing the "Front End Analysis" program was briefly posted on the JNLWD website (and then rather quickly removed). The Optimetrics and JNLWD efforts appear to be linked; but the exact relationships remain unclear because both JNLWD and the Army deny that they are collaborating to develop new chemical weapons. With the recent release of papers, how JNLWD's research has come from the cancelled ARCAD program can finally be documented. The documents are the set of proposals made in 1994 by the Army and, interestingly, it is in these proposals that the term "Front End Analysis" first appears to describe phase one of ARCAD's revival. The totality of the circumstances, including specific terminology, personnel, preferred chemical formulations, and other materials obtained under FOIA (available on the Sunshine Project website), make clear that, after ARCAD was officially cancelled, at least part of the program was folded into the Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Directorate. (What additional work has been conducted under classification is unknown.) The significance of the documents is far more than historical. ARCAD was terminated because, in 1992, the Pentagon determined that it would violate the Chemical Weapons Convention. But it is now clear that the weapons research did not end. As of 2002 ARCAD's legacy was being pursued with a new institutional base - the Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Directorate. The research appears to have resulted in classified antipersonnel chemical capabilities, according the JNLWD contract to train Marine Corps officers. US chemical weapons development deemed legally unacceptable in 1992 has found new life with the "non-lethal" moniker.