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The Military-Industrial-KAOS Project*
This news broke on Friday but it deserves a thread. A FOIA request has revealed that, about 13 years ago, the military actually considered developing a hormone bomb that would turn people gay.
As part of a military effort to develop non-lethal weapons, the proposal suggested, "One distasteful but completely non-lethal example would be strong aphrodisiacs, especially if the chemical also caused homosexual behavior."
The documents show the Air Force lab asked for $7.5 million to develop such a chemical weapon.
"The Ohio Air Force lab proposed that a bomb be developed that contained a chemical that would cause enemy soliders to become gay, and to have their units break down because all their soldiers became irresistably attractive to one another," Hammond said after reviewing the documents.
"The notion was that a chemical that would probably be pleasant in the human body in low quantities could be identified, and by virtue of either breathing or having their skin exposed to this chemical, the notion was that soliders would become gay," explained Hammond.
The Pentagon told CBS 5 that the proposal was made by the Air Force in 1994.
Alas, the Medved Project (my name, not theirs) was never to be.
|6.11.07 @ 8:51AM|#
"And its absurd because there's so much medical data that shows
that sexual orientation is immutable and cannot be changed."
Sigh, this is why more people need a stronger science background.
Assuming for the sake of argument that homosexuality is 100%
determined by biological factors. Those biological factors boil
down to chemicals, which means it should be possible to cause
homosexuality with drugs. I think homosexuality should be legal
just like any other consensual act, but I wish advocates wouldn't
point to biology they don't understand.
|6.11.07 @ 8:57AM|#
There is a joke in there somewhere about where they tested the first prototype, but I'm too slow this Monday morning to think of it.
Fluffy|6.11.07 @ 8:58AM|#
Jtuf -
You're forgetting the other reason this is a stupid idea - namely
because the planners believed there was a level of sexual arousal
that would make you not care that people were, you know, firing
weapons at you.
"I know I'm getting heavy machine gun fire from that hell - but
damn it, Weigel, I just have to have you right now!"
Come on.
And I also think that Butters is being libelled in the title of
this post. None of his ideas were nearly this stupid.
Anita Dickens-Hyde|6.11.07 @ 8:59AM|#
I have no idea why, but this somehow reinds me of graffiti I saw
on the wall during the early 1980s:
"My mother made me a homosexual"
The next line read:
"If I supply the yarn, will she make me one, too?"
|6.11.07 @ 9:01AM|#
Given that people who face combat together tend to form very
tight bonds, I somehow don't think it would have the impact on
military effectiveness they thought it would.
Certainly, it would take a very powerful aphrodisiac to overcome
the nasty smell of unshaved, unwashed bodies.
|6.11.07 @ 9:04AM|#
@JTF:
"Those biological factors boil down to chemicals, which means it
should be possible to cause homosexuality with drugs."
I'm sorry - What?
"I think homosexuality should be legal just like any other
consensual act . . ."
Oh, hey, Thanks very much. I will file that along with every other
statement that so obviously confuses the government's role of
granting rights with protecting them. Dumbass.
|6.11.07 @ 9:06AM|#
Fluffy,
Good point. Gun shots tend to grab attention and put aside any
urges not connected to survival.
Psychiatrist say haloperidol prevents violent behavior. Assuming
that is true, would it be acceptable for the US army to slip
halidol into an enimy army's food supply?
|6.11.07 @ 9:09AM|#
jtuf said:
Those biological factors boil down to chemicals, which means it
should be possible to cause homosexuality with drugs.
I'm not sure that's the case--sexuality is also linked to brain
structure. The brains of straight men and lesbians respond to
hormone scents similarly; the case is the same with straight women
and gay men. Yes, it boils down to chemicals, but there must be a
structure for interpereting those chemical signals and responding
to them. Same with trains and train-tracks: you can't just put a
train on a track with the wrong gauge.
|6.11.07 @ 9:12AM|#
Wasn't the "Sacred Band of Thebes", an elite Egyptian fighting
force, composed of men who were homosexual lovers? And weren't they
renowned for their fighting prowess, so that they fought to the
last against Alexander's armies?
I'm just saying this technology would be much better put to use as
a source of fraternity pranks in then next "Revenge of the Nerds"
sequel.
|6.11.07 @ 9:16AM|#
I'm still in shock that the right-wingers who came up with this
scheme in the first place hated their enemies so much that they not
only wanted to kill them, but wanted them to go to hell too*
*Not my opinion, theirs.
|6.11.07 @ 9:21AM|#
I'm still in shock that the right-wingers who came up with
this scheme in the first place hated their enemies so much that
they not only wanted to kill them, but wanted them to go to hell
too*
*Not my opinion, theirs.
Don't these people already think that their enemies are going to
hell?
Heh, maybe the project as they conceived it was to make the enemy
soldiers choose to be gay.
|6.11.07 @ 9:28AM|#
You're forgetting the other reason this is a stupid idea -
namely because the planners believed there was a level of sexual
arousal that would make you not care that people were, you know,
firing weapons at you.
The bomb, if such were possible, could be deployed hours/days/weeks
before any actual engagement.
Given that people who face combat together tend to form very
tight bonds
Those tight bonds and the general shortage of women could actually
act as a secondary motivator for this.
Wasn't the "Sacred Band of Thebes", an elite Egyptian fighting
force, composed of men who were homosexual lovers? And weren't they
renowned for their fighting prowess, so that they fought to the
last against Alexander's armies?
I highly doubt that the point of this whole idea was to have the
enemy combatants make sweet man on man love in the fox holes. Given
that the US government perceives Islamic (and other conservative
countries like N.Korea) as the primary threat, such activity even
if it happened away from the frontline could be used as effective
propoganda to turn members of the general populace etc...
There is zero scientifc evidence sighted about this, but we seem to
have deemed this idea scientificaly incorrect because it is
politically incorrect
|6.11.07 @ 9:36AM|#
hmm, So is this Kaos as in professor kaos - Butters - on
Southpark, or is it KAOS from Get Smart?
*Lowers the Cone of silence*
stephen the goldberger|6.11.07 @ 9:36AM|#
i think if it were possible it could prove effective. If you can find a way to distract and confuse the enemy in any form of warfare, chances are you're going to do well. However, it would be far more useful as a gay man's cologne than as a weapon.
|6.11.07 @ 9:39AM|#
Nasikabatrachus,
Good point. The pattern of neural connections does matter. However,
those patterns are based on based on conditioning from past
experiences. People who reject the role of environment in
homosexuality reject the role of conditioning.
My point was that advocates make a much stronger case when they say
that consensual homosexuality should be legal just like any other
consensual act. Biological theories are irrelevant, because they
can be used by either side to argue their point. Say homosexuality
is 100% genetic. Advocates can say that it isn't fair to
descriminate based on genetics. Opponents can say that those genes
code for proteins that can be blocked with the "right medication".
Say homosexuality is 100% learned. Advocates can say it's a
lifestyle and opponents can say that cognative behavioral therapy
can "cure" it. If homosexuality results from nature and nurture,
each side can make a combination of the above arguments. Better to
skip the root cause debate and say, "homosexuality doesn't hurt
anyone so keep it legal."
|6.11.07 @ 9:40AM|#
stray Monday morning thoughts.
It sounds stupid on the face of it. I don't think you could ever
"turn men gay" with a bomb.
If you could drop a bomb that made enemy troops attracted to each
other, I think it would be very effective. The point isn't to
distract them during actual combat. But the next morning, if a
couple of straight guys in a fox hole find themselves looking
deeply into each others eyes, that is definitely going to fuck with
their head. Big time.
Query? Would this bomb turn gay men straight? Or just really really
gay.
And this REQUIRES a link
Boom
|6.11.07 @ 9:41AM|#
I think it was meant to be a psyops weapon more than anything. Destroy enemy troop morale, especially in more conservative cultures. It could play havoc with unit cohesion.
|6.11.07 @ 10:07AM|#
How would it damage unit cohesion? After all, I am even less
likely to abandon my wife on a battlefield than I would my
brother?
I think someone was watching too much Monty Python:
Close Order Drill:
Swanning About!
|6.11.07 @ 10:28AM|#
How would it damage unit cohesion? After all, I am even less
likely to abandon my wife on a battlefield than I would my
brother
It could damage cohesion for the same reason as when you wake up
after a nice long bender in strange apparment and slowly and
quitely creep out the door cause you'd rather cut off that bleeding
stump of a toe you just smashed on a corner of the night stand than
actually wake and face whatever is underneath the pile of blankets
next to you...........Not that I've ever done that
|6.11.07 @ 10:36AM|#
At least it turns "friendly fire" into a double entendre. Is that a part of your joke Cab?
|6.11.07 @ 10:43AM|#
And its absurd because there's so much medical data that
shows that sexual orientation is immutable and cannot be
changed
Bullshit. Sexual orientation is an imprint, and imprints can be
changed with the right combination of drugs/environmental
factors.
Geez. Does no one read Timothy Leary any more?
Rhywun|6.11.07 @ 10:55AM|#
have their units break down because all their soldiers
became irresistibly attractive to one another
I can *almost* believe the "turning them gay" part, if they happen
to stumble onto the right chemicals or hormones or something, but
making them "irresistibly attractive to one another"? Come ON.
Maybe they're working on the Fountain of Youth, too. And pixie
dust.
grylliade|6.11.07 @ 11:33AM|#
Wasn't the "Sacred Band of Thebes", an elite Egyptian fighting force, composed of men who were homosexual lovers?
They were Greek.
|6.11.07 @ 12:17PM|#
Sounds like a brilliant plan. Pysch out the enemy with blowup dolls. "Look, over there, it's Liza Minelli!"
|6.11.07 @ 12:56PM|#
"The Ohio Air Force lab proposed that a bomb be developed that
contained a chemical that would cause enemy soliders to become gay,
and to have their units break down because all their soldiers
became irresistably attractive to one another," Hammond said after
reviewing the documents.
They're gonna be some mighty disappointed gay soldiers if their
units break down.
Dave W.|6.11.07 @ 2:15PM|#
1. The group that did the jourlism and uncovered this iss called
Project Sunshine. Here is a little bit about them:
Research and facts about biological weapons and
biotechnology.
Many biological weapons are rapidly destroyed by bright sunlight.
The Sunshine Project works to bring facts about biological weapons
to light! We are an international non-profit organization with
offices in Hamburg, Germany and Austin, Texas, USA. We work against
the hostile use of biotechnology in the post-Cold War era. We
research and publish to strengthen the global consensus against
biological warfare and to ensure that international treaties
effectively prevent development and use of biological
weapons.
2. In case you want to donate to the good work, they do, here is
the website:
http://www.sunshine-project.org/
3. I wonder if the Pentagon is lying when it says they never got
their funding.
|6.11.07 @ 2:53PM|#
3. I wonder if the Pentagon is lying when it says they never
got their funding.
Aw, Dave, quit trying to find a scape goat for your own lifestyle
choices.
I kid I kid
|6.11.07 @ 6:16PM|#
Hre'a a much better article, from 2005, on the same thing:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4174519.stm?alt
|6.12.07 @ 12:10PM|#
This was also the plot of a Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers comic back in the day. For some reason, I can't remember where it is.
alstallio|6.12.07 @ 9:02PM|#
Cant they invent a bomb that makes women even more horny, or better still makes everyone just wanna have sex day and night. that would be something. it would certainly make satdee nights out fun.
brn_in_alain|6.12.07 @ 11:36PM|#
This is definitely not new and I'm not sure why it is being reported as if it is.
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