IRI, EMP OR RIP

September 9, 2012

The wars of the future could be even more horrific than those of the past with the intensification and sophistication of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, as well as the refinement of the more traditional killing machines. But why should we need these barbaric and primitive methods of warfare when we already have the technology to consign them to the history books?

All killing should be banned under the mother of all Geneva Conventions... Hold on, perhaps that should read the daughter of all Geneva Conventions... Anyway, a convention that criminalises all killing in war, irrespective of whether the victim is a civilian or not. Murder is murder. I expect that it is only because so many religions have been happy to cohabit with war, that Mars has been so reluctant to leave Venus's bed. But Vulcan is Venus's rightful husband and Vulcan is honoured for his ingenuity.

Bloodless wars have already began. Sanctions have replaced sieges. Cyber attacks are taking over from sabotage. In the past the enemy would target your zeppelin, now it is your computers that crash. Assassinations have been replaced by character-assassination: so this tactic needs to be refined, as we are still in the realms of the barbaric here.

Eliminating slaughter altogether, however, is also possible. Technologies like IRI and EMP can replace RIP (Rest In Peace). Attacks of any sort are never desirable; even an insult cheapens humanity. But a step away from killing must be a step in the right direction and worth taking.

EMP is an electromagnetic pulse that emits a burst of non-lethal radiation, that can, none the less, cause havoc with electricity grids and radar systems. This may be triggered by high altitude nuclear explosions, as well as more benign means. Various media sources, including today's The Sunday Times have reported that Israel may be considering such a strike on Iran. This is not ideal by any means, but it would be better than more violent alternatives, particularly if the strike is aimed at radar systems and not the nations infrastructure. Just because something is less harmful, it does not mean that it should be used willy-nilly.

Then there is IRI: Ionospheric Research Instrument which is being developed by HAARP. This is rather classified, so conspiracy theories abound as to what this technology can do, from controlling the weather to causing earthquakes. One would hope that it can be used more judiciously. This is how HAARP describes itself on its website:

"HAARP is a scientific endeavor aimed at studying the properties and behavior of the ionosphere, with particular emphasis on being able to understand and use it to enhance communications and surveillance systems for both civilian and defense purposes.

"The HAARP program is committed to developing a world class ionospheric research facility consisting of:

• The Ionospheric Research Instrument (IRI), a high power transmitter facility operating in the High Frequency (HF) range. The IRI will be used to temporarily excite a limited area of the ionosphere for scientific study.
• A sophisticated suite of scientific (or diagnostic) instruments that will be used to observe the physical processes that occur in the excited region."

A few centuries after these dangerous and silly games, we may be ready to start living in peace.