Pentagon Nixes Ray Gun Weapon in Iraq

Here is another example in where the bureaucrats in Washington refuse to do the right thing. The Bush Leaguers would rather water-board people than save the lives of innocent civilians. Here we have a new technology that would counter the insurgent's sinister tactic of hiding behind civilians, a major problem for our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. A soldier wouldn't have to worry about the awful decision of whether should shoot or not into a crowd; it gives them options. Remember, these are the same people who refused to supply the life-saving MRAPs for years:

[...]according to internal military correspondence obtained by The Associated Press, U.S. commanders were telling Washington that many civilian casualties could be avoided by using a new non-lethal weapon developed over the past decade.

Military leaders repeatedly and urgently requested — and were denied — the device, which uses energy beams instead of bullets and lets soldiers break up unruly crowds without firing a shot.

It's a ray gun that neither kills nor maims, but the Pentagon has refused to deploy it out of concern that the weapon itself might be seen as a torture device.

Perched on a Humvee or a flatbed truck, the Active Denial System gives people hit by the invisible beam the sense that their skin is on fire. They move out of the way quickly and without injury.

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