THE Pentagon considered developing a host of non-lethal chemical weapons that would disrupt discipline and morale among enemy troops, newly declassified documents reveal.
Most bizarre among the plans was one for the development of an 鈥渁phrodisiac鈥� chemical weapon that would make enemy soldiers sexually irresistible to each other. Provoking widespread homosexual behaviour among troops would cause a 鈥渄istasteful but completely non-lethal鈥� blow to morale, the proposal says.
Other ideas included chemical weapons that attract swarms of enraged wasps or angry rats to troop positions, making them uninhabitable. Another was to develop a chemical that caused 鈥渟evere and lasting halitosis鈥�, making it easy to identify guerrillas trying to blend in with civilians. There was also the idea of making troops鈥� skin unbearably sensitive to sunlight.
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The proposals, from the US Air Force Wright Laboratory in Dayton, Ohio, date from 1994. The lab sought Pentagon funding for research into what it called 鈥渉arassing, annoying and 鈥榖ad guy鈥�-identifying chemicals鈥�. The plans have been posted online by the Sunshine Project, an organisation that exposes research into chemical and biological weapons.
Spokesman Edward Hammond says it was not known if the proposed $7.5 million, six-year research plan was ever pursued.
