MILITARY advisers in the US want to rewrite the treaties banning chemical and
biological weapons so they can develop “non-lethal” versions. To safeguard the
lives of American troops in peacekeeping operations, they want to use weapons
that, for instance, will allow whole rebel armies to be put to sleep—or
perhaps disable their vehicles and weapons.
But arms control experts are already condemning the idea as “disastrous”.
They believe the crucial treaties could unravel if they are renegotiated to
allow new weapons to be developed.
In the past few years, the US marines have become very interested in
non-lethal weapons…
