6 ON GUARD Electronic weapons are known to have ings of extreme tiredness shortly before Air Force Accused of been used by security forces on a number major events such as the departure of a of occasions. The Americans are reported cruise missile convoy and on other occa­ to have used ultrasound to disorient and sions when their activities might have "Zapping" Protesters demoralise their enemies during the Viet­ proved particularly awkward for the forces nam war and a number of American police using the base. Women peace campers at Greenham forces are believed to have carried out We have conducted a number of tests Common, England, claim that they are trials with infra-sound generators mounted around the base in cooperation with jour­ being attacked by the US electronic on the back of trucks. The high intensity, nalists from other organisations. Readings weapons from within the US airbase there. low frequency pressure waves these pro­ taken with a wide range signal strength They believe that some form of elec­ duce are said to cause vomiting, nausea meter showed marked increases in the tromagnetic wave or other signal is being and a range of other disturbances and to background signal level near one of the directed at them and is responsible for a induce fits in those who are subject to womens’ camps at a time when they number of illnesses they have suffered them. American medical groups have pro­ claimed to be experiencing ill effects. over the past year. tested against the proposed use of these On another occasion, previously low Symptoms range from mild headaches weapons for urban riot control. signal levels near the camp rose sharply and drowsiness to bouts of temporary Microwave radiation is also believed to when the women created a disturbance just paralysis and, in one case, an apparent have been used as a weapon at various outside the perimeter fence of the base. circulatory failure which required emer­ times. The most celebrated instance was Whether this indicated an attempt to sub­ gency treatment. Women have also com­ the irradiation of the US Embassy in Mos­ due the women by electronic means or plained of sharp pains and problems with cow during the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s. It has merely the use of a radar surveillance sys­ speech coordination. A team of doctors never been made clear whether the Rus­ tem it is impossible to say. from the Medical Campaign Against Nuc­ sians used the signal as a weapon or for The signal levels measured were well lear Weapons are compiling a report on the surveillance, but a television documentary above normal background levels but still condition of the women affected. screened last year reported a high inci­ within official safety limits. However, The women first noticed a pattern of dence of cancer amongst ex-Embassy staff there is evidence from a number of sources illnesses emerging in 1984. They dis­ and suggested that disorders of the blood that low levels of electromagnetic radia­ counted food or water poisoning as a cause Microwave lower owned by the U.S. and nervous system could also have been tion can have harmful effects especially caused by the signal. and started to suspect interference from Army ( 'omnumications Command, where exposure takes place over a long inside the base. They found that women at McLean, Virginia, i-iioio hi kohin look! r The women at Greenham Common sus­ period of time. pect that more than one type or frequency British Defense officials have denied different points around the camp appeared to make life difficult for them and so drive of radiation is being used against them. that any form of electronic signal is being to have experienced similar symptoms at them away. Some of the worst affected the same time, even when they were not in They say that the symptoms vary from used against the protesters. □ women now find it impossible to stay time to time and seem to reflect what takes contact with one another. around Greenham for more than a short —courtesy, Electronics Today They believe there is a deliberate intent place on the base. Large numbers of period of time. women have complained of sudden feel­ A full-scale EMP generator is operated Lawsuits Challenge Pentagon Research into by the Army’s Harry Diamond Laboratory in Woodbridge, Virginia. Called “Army "Electromagnetic Pulse" and EMP Simulator Operations” (AESOP), this facility— located about 200 feet from Warn of "H.E.R.O. Effect" a low-income residential neighbor­ hood—has been operating since 1974 and is suspected of causing a cancer cluster in by Mark Rabinowitz the neighborhood. Since 1972, the Navy has operated the In March 1987, two environmental i n u w EMP Radiation Environment Simulator groups, the Potomac River Association ■ IV M I O for Ships (Empress) program at Point Pati­ and the Foundation for Economic Trends ««.u« u n t w ence, Maryland, near the mouth of the sued in federal court to stop military re­ . UATTC Patuxent River. Empress generates two search into electromagnetic pulse (EMP) million volts of electricity beamed at war­ until it complies with environmental laws. ARMING ships anchored nearby to EMP-proof their In August, the Pentagon admitted that it 'MDKHT*£0U£WCT M0IATI0H HAZARD' electronics. had failed to prepare Environmental Im­ rtMIMTTla MU Ml M MUTIO ■ofD Controversy erupted in 1984, when the pact Statements (EIS) on any of its EMP uiOLW K UMUIfillfl ■■•n— H ft > / Navy announced plans to build Empress 2, research projects, except for one being •r UMCiirrt M nw M tri* .. a barge-mounted generator scheduled to n V M rm iM C T m r«« conducted in Maryland’s Chesapeake operate both in the Chesapeake Bay and in Bay. ■(W «t CMTMM (IKNICIUI the Atlantic Ocean off North Carolina. The The hazards of EMP were vividly de­ im it ia t c * Empress 2 antenna would be 132 feet high monstrated on July 8, 1962 when the US lH.OllVf •oast* Locvict and 220 feet in diameter, with a seven military detonated a 1.4 megaton (100 A ll* L(TTtn ■ n tc i soon million volt generator. MATTC r w i t M - times larger than the bomb dropped on DC* MIO The plans for Empress 2 call for the Hiroshima) 248 miles above Johnston Is­ closure of a 12.6 square mile area, includ­ land in the Pacific Ocean. In Hawaii, 800 T O M IOCATCD ■ RADIO T«AatM ITTfa Ml SUITA*LC LOCATION ing 1,193 acres of public oyster bars, for miles away, street lights went out, burglar k m f u l l m ttrm iAtio* k m o u i i three months each year. This would have a alarms began ringing, and circuit breakers I ANTCM A STM OOl To a c MATTC ALUMINUM i v a o a n o M t ar AAMATioa hazabo crrrca* to ac a u n t *i in—nra severe economic effect on many commer­ shut down the power lines. The culprit was t aic— ouao or T>a» w rrw to at a o mo hm i ihy cial watermen and could disrupt the navi­ EMP, a previously unknown effect of nuc­ IM (I i LCTTtaa AM rtatMC to ac mattc aim m m t n o— ouwc or Tun w »rw to ac auto gation system of ships and airplanes. lear explosions in space. ■ a s o o M a c v The real danger of Empress 2 and other The potential disruption which could be i,m ' i waraucrion ro» m nuA T m facilities however, is that they provide a created by EMP is phenomenal. A single false reassurance to the Pentagon. The il­ nuclear weapon exploded 250 miles above lusion that nuclear war’s effects can be Nebraska could blanket much of the US "HLB.R.O. Warning Sign” limited may result in far more destruction with EMP, disrupting electronic com­ than Empress 2 could ever cause. munications, destroying electrical equip­ * * * ment, and lobotomizing computer On September 1, another coalition of memories. The military implications of while communication systems still func­ cated, but if the recent court suit is success­ environmental groups filed a federal law­ EMP were disturbing: a couple of detona­ tion. ful, the Pentagon will have to release a list suit in Washington, D.C. which charged tions above the US would cut off The Pentagon began a program in the of all EMP simulators worldwide. that the Pentagon has failed to adequately Washington from the missile fields, thus late 1960s to shield equipment from EMP. The Defense Nuclear Agency has oper­ protect the public and the environment severing the military nervous system from Non-nuclear EMP simulators were built to ated a laboratory-scale EMP simulator for from the Hazard of Electromagnetic Radi­ its nuclear muscle. Faced with this develop shielding techniques, and each many years to test EMP’s effects on the ation to Ordnance (the “ HERO Effect” ). predicament— to use nuclear weapons first branch of the military has several health of animals. It is located on the HERO can cause conventional and nuclear or not at all— both superpowers are more simulators. We do not yet know where all grounds of the Bethesda Naval Hospital in ordnance to detonate, launch, misfire or likely to launch preemptive nuclear strikes of the military’s EMP simulators are lo­ Maryland. Continued on page 12 ON GUARD 7 high ranking officers. You will be going Ask the Lawyer before them as a civilian, however, and should not feel intimidated.