Ray of Pain

In March of 2005, the Bonehead Compendium brought to my attention the alarming fact that the Department of Defense was developing a "pain ray":

As a final item in our troop support round-up this week, the BHC thought we'd inform our readers of something positive in which the US military is engaged. Despite their seeming inability to treat their own soldiers properly, if there is one thing the military is good at, it is coming up with new and ever more ingenious was of killing and maiming people.

Yes, it seems that the US military is developing a "pain ray", otherwise describe as the Pulsed Energy Projectile (PEP) weapon. This marvelous device generates a burst of an highly charged plasma, which, on contact, generates a pulse of electromagnetic energy that should render any living thing incapacitated. As an added feature, it cause extreme pain as this EM pulse tortures every nerve in the body. Happily, the DoD can call this new weapon "non-lethal", though no one, of course, has any idea what the long term effects of such a weapon on the human nervous system could possibly be. Developers of the device likely describe this as "value-added."

Rather alarming, ideed.

Well, recent news informs us that the "pain ray" maybe very well be employed in Iraq right now, along with some other unpleasant weapons. Italian news service, Inchiesta has a fascinating report on the possible deployment of laser guns and microwave "pain ray" in Iraq.

If this was supposed to quell the the violence in that country, it doesn't seem to working. But it is having a marvelous effect on that "hearts and minds" plan.

* There is an Italian and English version of this report. Warning: you may not like what you see.