By James Donahue

While we defend genetic research for development of improved and healthier bodies, and even “designer” children, the Frankenstein ideas being kicked around among Pentagon leaders these days is just plain evil.

These guys are talking about the creation of better fighting soldiers through neuro-pharmaceutical performance enhancement and brain-computer interfaces.

According to an on-line story in Wired, the Pentagon’s science advisory panel known as JASON are concerned about experiments in other nations to “exploit advances in human performance modification” which they view as a threat to national security.

The story says that JASON recommends that the U.S. military pushes ahead with its own performance-enhancement research, and monitor foreign work, to make sure potential enemy soldiers don’t become smarter, faster and better able to endure the harsh realities of war than American troops.

Special attention is being given to new drugs that promote “brain plasticity,” thus rewiring the mind and “permanently establishing new neural pathways, and thus new cognitive capabilities.”

While the concept of popping pills to enhance brain function sounds interesting, the thought to using chemicals to turn fighting men into better killers in the battlefield smack of the stories of cheating athletes who use them to win in  open competition, and remind us of the way the German and Japanese armies were cranked up on amphetamines and other drugs while engaging allied forces during World War II.

In other words, the use of drugs to help fight wars and compete with other athletes is not new, the concept of “permanently” establishing new neural pathways in training and creating professional soldiers to fight our wars is scary.

While it has not been a major news story, there have been too many reports of Iraq War veterans returning from the battlefield only to commit violent acts against their families, their neighbors, or themselves. It is as if these men are mentally disabled through military training and experience that they cannot return to normal living without first going through psychological therapy designed to put that brain chemistry back to its original state. As if this is even possible once a man has been turned into a trained killer.

What the Pentagon is suggesting here is the creation of a permanent professional soldier . . . people who have no other function in life than to confront other trained killers in battle. Once they have been mentally altered for this purpose, it may be impossible for these people to ever be expected to join society and function normally.

Because of the intense advancement in new weaponry for warfare, and the extreme threat of destroying ourselves either with nuclear or biological annihilation, we suggest that we stop designing these new engines for war and start trying to find a global solution to this archaic system of resolving differences.

For at least the last century, war has generated into a big business enterprise. It has become so profitable for certain industries to have wars raging somewhere on the globe, that we believe wars are being sparked for false reasons. The most recent and blatant example of this is our attack on Iraq in 2002. A lot of people have made a lot of money during the total destruction of that ancient Persian country.