Well, I don’t think anyone can accuse the people working hard in the Pentagon of lacking creativity. Via Drudge, a recent New Scientist article gives details about some unique weapons the U.S. military considered developing. One chemical weapon would attract swarms of angry wasps or rats to enemy positions to make them unlivable and another would give enemy troops a severe case of bad breath, making them easier to identify in civilian populations.
The weirdest though, is an aphrodisiac weapon, which brings to mind the classic “love potion” used in children’s cartoons. Instead of the cartoon guy making himself irresistible to his cartoon love, however, this one would cause widespread homosexual behavior among enemy troops.
Call me crazy, but I forsee a lot of people being outraged (or at least faking outrage) at the information in this article, even though none of the weapons discussed have actually been produced or used. To some people, the fact that an idea may be considered distasteful far outweighs any potential life-saving benefits. This brings to mind the Pentagon’s plans in 2002-2003 to create a terrorist futures market, which would have given the intelligence community another useful tool to help predict terrorist attacks on the United States. Democrats called the proposal “grotesque”, saying that people could conceivably profit if we were attacked. Because of the controversy, the government killed the plan in July 2003, even though the tool would have provided us with valuable information that could give us advanced warning of an attack (more info at The Big Picture). Hopefully, someone in the private sector such as TradeSports can step in to provide this valuable service, regardless of the bad taste it may leave in people’s mouths.