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NEWS ... GLOBAL NEWS ... apparent failures of the canal system, with MILITARISATION OF MEDICINE: DANGEROUS PRESCRIPTIONS multiple barrages and dykes at some sites. lhe British Medical Association (BMA) recently issued a new report on tactical "There is massive redundancy in the pharmacology, "The Use of Drugs as Weapons", the third of its publications canal network," says Evans. warning about the militarisation of medicine and its potential for new forms of warfare. (Source: New Scientist, 18 August 2007) This has been an issue for at least 40 years, but the research has accelerated since 9/11, which increased the resources available to study technologies needed to fight CYBERWARFARE HITS UK, USA "asymmetrical" conflicts in which friend and foe might be intermingled or hinese hackers, some believed to be indistinguishable. from the People's Liberation Army, At the same time, the continuing revolution in neuroscience is opening new have been attacking the computer networks | perspectives. Molecules can now be re-engineered to target bioregulation processes, of UK government departments. including neurological functions and cardiovascular processes. In the past, this was a The attackers have hit the network at the | laborious experimental process; now it can be computerised so that the most promising Foreign Office as well as those in other key __| bioactive agents and their properties can be identified quickly. departments, according to Whitehall No one would deny these facilities to the pharmaceutical and medical industries, but officials. An incident last year that shut | this raises the threat of biomechanisms that can be used for repression, torture and terror. down part of the House of Commons We could also see troops going into action with chemically heightened aggression as computer system, initially believed to be | well as resistance to fear, pain and fatigue. It is not science fiction to suggest that we caused by an individual, was discovered to | might see military pharmacology that can remove feelings of guilt or post-traumatic be the work of an organised Chinese stress. The economic temptation is strong: five times more soldiers suffer mental than hacking group, officials said. physical wounds in war. Security and defence officials are coy The British Medical Association's report notes these prospects and warns that despite about what they know of specific attacks. the prohibitions on biological and chemical weapons, governments are "demonstrating However, they say several Whitehall considerable interest in the possibility of using drugs as weapons". Part of the push has departments have fallen victim to China's come from the desire for non-lethal weapons. cyberwarriors. One expert described it as a In 1999, a European Parliament committee called for a global ban on all research and "constant ongoing problem". development "which seeks to apply knowledge of the chemical, electrical, sound The disclosures came after reports that vibration or other functioning of the human brain to the development of weapons which the Chinese military had hacked into a might enable any form of manipulation of human beings". But since 9/11, there has Pentagon military computer network in been less political pressure for accountability from the state security agencies. June. The Financial Times said American For the medical association, the military use of drugs raises major ethical issues officials called it the most successful because "the agent whereby people could be incapacitated without risk of death in a cyberattack on the US defence department. tactical situation does not exist and is unlikely to in the foreseeable future". Defence department officials confirmed The association's report also warns that military research could lower medical that there had been a "detected penetration" standards for testing drugs on humans. of elements of the email system used by the What would happen if some country decided that pharmaceutical weapons do not network serving the office of Robert Gates, | require clinical trials? Or could a medical ethics committee agree to tests on the old, the US defence secretary. US officials were | sick or young? Or could this kind of research be outsourced to a country where money reported to have said that an investigation | and political capital are more important than ethics? had discovered that the People's Liberation If hazardous biochemical weapons for counterterrorist or counterinsurgency Army (PLA) was responsible. operations came to be routinely used, we could anticipate a rapid evolution of variants The US gave the codename Titan Rain to _| with immobilising and pain-inducing effects. the growing number of Chinese attacks, Weapons are also being designed to carry drugs to targets: flight-stabilised syringes, notably directed at the Pentagon but also mortar bombs for dispersing chemical agents, modified paint-ball guns, micro- hitting other US government departments, encapsulated pellets which release an agent when stepped on, and unmanned vehicles. over the past few years. The BMA rightly emphasises legal concerns because they undermine the Angela Merkel, Germany's chancellor, is international legal norms that protect humanity from poison and the deliberate spread of reported to have raised the issue of Chinese disease—norms which have been put in place by decades of negotiation. attacks on her government's computers Using existing drugs as weapons means moving towards a slippery slope, at the during a visit to Beijing. Officials here | bottom of which is militarised biology. This could include intentional manipulation of declined to say whether the British emotions, memories, immune response or even fertility. government had raised the issue with the The common view is that all chemical and biological weapons are banned by Chinese authorities. international conventions. Unfortunately the Chemical Weapons Convention allows an Alex Neill, China expert and head of the exemption for domestic law enforcement, including riot control. The convention does Asia Security Programme at the Royal not permit the use of riot agents for waging war. However, law enforcement has not United Services Institute (RUSI), said been defined, and the role of incapacitating agents as anti-terror weapons has opened a cyberattacks by the Chinese had been going significant loophole. Arms controllers meeting in the Hague next year to review the on for at least four years. He described the convention would do well to heed the BMA's warnings. reported attack on the Pentagon as the (Source: by Steve Wright, International Herald Tribune, 29 August 2007, "most flagrant and brazen to date”. http://www. iht.com/articles/2007/08/29/opinion/edwright.php. Steve Wright is (Source: The Guardian, 5 September 2007) professor at the School of Applied Global Ethics, Leeds Metropolitan University, UK.) apparent failures of the canal system, with multiple barrages and dykes at some sites. ve redundancy in the canal network," says Evans. (Source: New Scientist, 18 August 2007) CYBERWARFARE HITS UK, USA hinese hackers, some believed to be from the People's Liberation Army, have been attacking the computer networks of UK government departments. The attackers have hit the network at the Foreign Office as well as those in other key departments, according to Whitehall officials. An incident last year that shut down part of the House of Commons computer system, initially believed to be caused by an individual, was discovered to be the work of an organised Chinese hacking group, officials said. Security and defence officials are coy about what they know of specific attacks. However, they say several Whitehall departments have fallen victim to China's cyberwarriors. One expert described it as a "constant ongoing problem". The disclosures came after reports that the Chinese military had hacked into a Pentagon military computer network in June. The Financial Times said American officials called it the most successful cyberattack on the US defence department. Defence department officials confirmed that there had been a "detected penetration" of elements of the email system used by the network serving the office of Robert Gates, the US defence secretary. US officials were reported to have said that an investigation had discovered that the People's Liberation Army (PLA) was responsible. The US gave the codename Titan Rain to the growing number of Chinese attacks, notably directed at the Pentagon but also hitting other US government departments, over the past few years. Angela Merkel, Germany's chancellor, is reported to have raised the issue of Chinese attacks on her government's computers during a visit to Beijing. Officials here declined to say whether the British government had raised the issue with the Chinese authorities. Alex Neill, China expert and head of the Asia Security Programme at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSD, said cyberattacks by the Chinese had been going on for at least four years. He described the reported attack on the Pentagon as the "most flagrant and brazen to date”. (Source: The Guardian, 5 September 2007) NEXUS +9 OCTOBER — NOVEMBER 2007 www.nexusmagazine.com