DARPA Bioengineering Program Seeks to Turn Soldiers Into Cyborgs

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Frankensteins in the PentagonDARPA's Creepy Bioengineering Programhttp://www.newsinsider.org/seal/frankensteins_in_the_pentagon.htmlBy Cheryl Seal25 August 2003DARPA Bioengineering Program Seeks to Turn Soldiers Into CyborgsNot long ago, the public was stunned by the practical and moral idiocy ofthe Pentagon researcher (and unprosecuted war criminal) John Poindexter, whoproposed a 'football pool' scheme for predicting terrorist attacks. We alllaughed at such insanity and were relieved to see the scheme speedilydeep-sixed. However, this bit of lunacy was just the lightest ice in the tipof the very large, very dark iceberg that the Pentagon's research program,better known as DARPA, has become.Just a few weeks before the bizarro world 'terrorism gambling' project wasexposed, a DARPA (which stands for Defense Advanced Research ProjectsAgency)-sponsored conference was held in Washington, DC, that showcased thelatest love child of the Bush Pentagon: military bioengineering. Theeuphemisms being used by the Pentagon to disguise the true nature of thisresearch are being spread as thick as bondo and cheap paint at a used carlot. For example, the title of the conference was: 'Harvesting Biology forDefense Technology,' while the subheading of the section on human'bioengineering' was entitled, rather ominously, in light of the military'shistory, 'Enhancing Human Performance.'So how does the Bush DARPA seek to 'enhance' human performance? In a kinder,gentler administration, the solution would be better training, better food,better pay, more leave time, and greater use of stress-reducing dutyrotations. But this is not a kinder, gentler -or even rational-administration. Bush and Company plan to enhance soldier performance bysqueezing the most that can be humanly -and not so humanly- squeezed fromtroops without having to resort to anything as primitive as decent pay.Their motto: Get the most human output for the least human input: After all,it's the corporate way!Here are some examples of DARPA 'Human-enhancing' schemes:The 'Brain Interface Program' is the most lavishly funded of nearly all theDARPA bioengineering efforts (the project has been given $24 million for thenext two years). It is aimed at developing ways to 'integrate' soldiers intomachines -literally- by wiring them (remotely or directly) to their planes,tanks, or computers. An implantable brain chip is now under development inthis sick program, which has already proudly demonstrated how rats can beturned into living robots through the manipulation of stimulus-responsesignals in the brain via electrodes. The Pentagon hopes to use thesepathetic, 'modified' creatures (you should see the photos -makes you want tojoin People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals!) in mine clearance."The use of animals in warfare is ugly enough without the further insult totheir dignity involved in turning them into involuntary cyborgs," writesJames Meek in the Guardian. "And a military command committed to the use ofcreatures which are part-animal, part-machine, is going to be that bit lessreluctant to interfere in its soldiers in similar ways."But, as the conference heading would have you believe, DARPA isn'tinterfering -it is merely 'enhancing.' After all, as an official at DARPArecently observed, "The human is becoming the weakest link in defensesystems."Enhancement efforts at the Brain Interface Program are now progressingnicely. The chief Frankenstein of the project, one Alan S. Rudolph, nowwants to be able to transmit images or sound directly into the brains ofrats -and of course, later, soldiers...or prisoners of war (just imagine thetorture potential here!).The 'Metabolic Dominance and Engineered Tissue' program is aimed at beingable to artificially pump up soldier endurance and muscle strength.The 'Persistence in Combat' program is a bizarre self-treatment scheme whichwould include pain-reducing and blood-stopping devices and techniquessoldiers would apply to their own wounds -even moderately severe ones-thereby bypassing the need for a medic and enabling a soldier to keepfighting, despite serious wounds! Yep, just keep on runnin' through thejungle on that broken leg or with that bullet in the gut! Once thatpain-obliterating electrode in your brain is activated, you won't feel athing!The 'Continuous Assisted Perfomance' program hopes to find biotechnologicalways (implants, metabolic manipulation, etc) to make it possible to pushexhausted soldiers on without loss of performance for up to seven dayswithout sleep.The above technologies are referred to by DARPA under the subheading of'neuroengineering.' Neuroengineering was played around with back in theearly 1990s (no doubt given the initial green light by Bush I), but became arather minor and exotic 'side line' of research in the Clinton years. SinceBush II came on the scene, however, neuroengineering programs have beenshoved into a position of major importance.The wording of the descriptions of all the 'human enhancement' programs isextremely deceptive -even deliberately misleading. For example, having readthe Brain Interface Program background in Nature magazine, I know for a factthat 'noninvasive' technologies (contrary to what is claimed in thedescription) are not currently the project priority and are considered atbest a remote goal. What is in the works right now is a microprocessing chipthat can be implanted beneath the skull and remotely manipulated. In a June19 Nature article, Rudolph estimated that a usable chip that could befield-tested in rats is about two years away, while noninvasive technologies(whatever that means -how can it not be when you are manipulating someone'sneurons?) is only an aspired-to ideal.The researchers also try to hide behind grandiose-sounding claims of workingto the greater good as a way to fool the public, and possibly themselves,into believing that these projects really do have some benign reasons forbeing, if only to promote the cause of 'science.' That is why nearly everyprogram in the conference guide comes with a 'suggested benign use' (my ownflippant phrase). After all, whines Rudolph, today's soldier's brain chipmay be tomorrow's brain damage therapy. We should be impressed? After all,the same argument was used by Hitler's researchers to justify theirheartless 'medical' experiments on Jews, gypsies, retarded children, enemysoldiers, prisoners, et al.). What is truly chilling is that thesetechnologies, in essence, are seeking to turn our soldiers into humanfighting machines, sacrificing their autonomy and, very likely, long-termquality of life for short term military savings -savings that will go rightinto the pockets of the government's beloved defense contractors. There isno way these technologies can be benign -the whole concept is totallyagainst what America stands for and against any other reasonable code ofethics, for that matter. In addition, with the way they are being rushedthrough the research gamut, there is no way they can be proven safe,especially long-term. I can just imagine the residual tissue damage,cancers, post-traumatic stress disorders, etc, that DARPA-style 'humanenhancement' will inflict on our guys and gals in uniform. Remember AgentOrange? Remember aboveground nuke testing? Remember submarine sailors beinggassed as a DARPA 'experiment,' or those soldiers, most of them black orHispanic, fed LSD? As it is, more than half of all Gulf War vets have nowfiled for disability because of the devastating effects of Gulf WarSyndrome.The only variable that has been conclusively linked to the syndrome is theingestion by US Gulf War soldiers (and some British troops) of a 'cocktail'of anti-bacterial inoculations (including the anthrax vaccine) and ananti-nerve gas agent. A clear pattern was shown: Soldiers who did notreceive the 'cocktail' (including all French soldiers) did not later reportGulf War syndrome symptoms, even if exposed to depleted uranium (anothersuspected cause). This finding came out in European journals way back in themid-1990s. French commanders and many British commanders seriouslyquestioned the wisdom of the cocktail at the time. But not the Pentagon!After all, the cocktail was 'human enhancing.' So now, willbeneath-the-skull implants for soldiers become as mandatory as anthraxvaccines? (for my theory of Gulf War syndrome, read the paragraph after thisarticle).With the insane Bush DARPA plunging forward with its Darth Vader research,the possibilities for horrific misuse and long-term consequences arestaggering. For example, one of the DARPA Frankensteins, one Ted Berger ofthe University of Southern California, envisions pilots who would be able topilot their planes by thought alone, thanks to brain implants. This concept,like so much military research, fails to consider realistic variables. Toname just a few of these: what about the impact of fear, exhaustion, pain,or dizziness on effective neural function? Whoops -didn't mean to crash intothat busy highway! Or how about ruthless generals turning their pilots into'instant Kamikazes' as a shortcut to winning a battle? Or, for that matter,who's to stop the enemy or a lone terrorist who has gained access to thetechnology from finding a way to repeat 9/11 scenarios using our own pilotsor soldiers? At the very least, there can be no benign consequence topushing men and women beyond their 'unassisted' endurance. The risk of braindamage, brain tumors, cancers, catastrophic immune responses similar tohost-graft disease, heart attacks (from electronic signals triggeringarrhythmias), and other assaults on the body seem the most imminent dangers.But who knows what unforeseen consequences may emerge? For example, thechildren conceived during and right after the first above-ground nucleartests are just now approaching 60 - who knows what sort of long smolderingcancers may yet erupt into 'epidemics.'One chief neuroethicist at the Center for Cognitive Neurosciences at theUniversity of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia has questioned not just theethics of some of DARPA's research, but the ethics of those researchers whoaccept DARPA money. If they do so knowing the research is questionable, sheasserts, then they have compromised their ethics.And, I might add, our soldier's lives.Resources on DARPA's Neuroengineering ProjectClick here for information on the DARPA-sponsored convention.http://www.darpa.mil/dso/thrust/biosci/brainmi.htmClick here for James Meek's Roborat Ethics article.http://www.wireheading.com/roborats/ethics.htmlClick here for tips on how to investigate military research at youruniversity.http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Housing/8930/guide2.htmlTo help get you started, here's a list of names of DARPA 'human enhancement'program research fund recipients and their universities. Miguel Nicolelis,Duke University at Durham, North Carolina; Tomaso Poggio, James DiCarlo andChristof Koch, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Sam Deadwyler, WakeForest University; Jon Kaas, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee;Ted Berger, University of Southern California.Afterword: My Gulf War Syndrome TheoryBased on hundreds of readings I have done on the human immune system in thecourse of my abstracting job, I have formulated the following theory:All vaccines cause a temporary weakening of the immune system as they 'kickin,' including the common flu vaccine. This effect lasts from about 7-14days. If you combine a mishmash of powerful and, let's face it, largelyunproven vaccines, along with an anti-nerve gas agent, you will be dealing aformidable temporary blow to your natural immune system. Because the immunesystem is responsible not just for warding off viruses and bacteria, but forconfronting all other sorts of foreign 'invaders' including irritants suchas toxic particles in the air, chemical sprays (bug spray, sun screen,etc.), a slammed immune system (ask any AIDS patient) can leave you wideopen to all sorts of nasty stuff, from skin lesions to tumors. So, I believethe cocktail was a secondary agent of damage -primary elements of thesoldiers' immune systems were knocked out, then assaulted by carcinogens,irritants, and other elements that ordinarily could have been resisted, asthey were by most troops who did not receive the vaccines. This would alsoexplain why the symptoms of the Syndrome are so diverse. It all depended onwhat you happened to get exposed to out in the field following the cocktailand how, specifically, your immune system responded to the assault on it bythe vaccine cocktail.********If this email is cut short, changingplanet/messagesYou can help us make a difference. Click here for details:http://changingplanet.supremalex.org/help.htm