The US military is currently engaged in several research efforts to develop non-lethal chemical and biological weapons. These weapons can be placed into two main categories: incapacitants and anti-material agents. Incapacitants are biological and chemical substances that have a "calmative" effect on humans, and can cause symptoms such as nausea, disorganized thinking, and hallucinations. Anti-material agents are microbes which can be genetically engineered to produce acids or enzymes that have the ability to degrade a variety of substances, including cement, polyurethane, paint, lubricants, and fuel.

Documents

• Documents on the US Non-Lethal Weapons Program (courtesy of the Sunshine Project)
• US Code BWC implementing legislation(makes the development of toxins as weapons a crime)
• US Code CWC implementing legislation
• USMC Joint Concept for Non-Lethal Weapons States that, "it is essential that all developments of non-lethal weapons be evaluated by appropriate authorities to ensure that they comply with the law of war, U.S. law, and U.S. treaty obligations."
• DoD Directive No. 3000.3: Policy for Non-Lethal Weapons
• An Assessment of Non-Lethal Weapons Science and Technology. National Research Council of the National Academies, February, 2003. (courtesy of the Sunshine Project)
                  Complete Report (note: this is a large file)
                  Front Matter\Table of Contents\Prologue
                  Executive Summary
                  Chapter 1
                  Chapter 2
                  Chapter 3
                  Chapter 4
                  Chapter 5
                  Appendix A
                  Appendix B
                  Appendix C
                  Appendix D
                  Appendix E
  
• More documents can be found in the section on the Original US Interpretation of the BWC

Articles\Papers

• ICRC Says It Was Muzzled On Incapacitating Weapons
  By David Ruppe. UN Wire. April 30, 2003.
• Nonlethal Chemical Weapons Pose Different Threat
  By Elisa Harris. Baltimore Sun. March 27, 2003.
• Chemical Incapacitating Weapons Are Not Non-Lethal
  Working Group Position Paper
  
• The Threat of Chemical Incapacitating Agents
  Working Group Position Paper
  
• Beware the Siren's Song: Why "Non-Lethal"Incapacitating Chemical Agents are Lethal
  By Lynn Klotz, Martin Furmanski, and Mark Wheelis. March 2003.
• Out of the straitjacket
  The Guardian. March 12, 2003.
• U.S. tear gas use in Iraq may violate weapons treaties
  AP News. March 02, 2003.
• US prepares to use toxic gases in Iraq
  The Independent. March 02, 2003.
• 'Nonlethal' Weapons Put Humanity at Risk
  By Barbara Rosenberg and Mark Wheelis. LA Times. December 1, 2002
• Biotechnology and chemical weapons control
  By Mark Wheelis. Pure Applied Chemistry, Vol.74, No.12, pp.2247–2251, 2002.
• "Law Enforcement" and the CWC
  Editorial. The CBW Conventions Bulletin. December, 2002.
• Non-Lethal Chemical and Biological Weapons
  FAS BW Working Group
• Biotechnology, Weapons and Humanity
  ICRC's appeal to the political and military authorities and to the scientific and medical communities, industry and civil society on the potentially dangerous developments in biotechnology.
• Scientific and technological change and the future of the CWC: the problem of non-lethal weapons.
  By Malcom Dando. Disarmament Forum No. 4. 2002.
• Biotechnology and Biochemical Weapons.
  By Mark Wheelis. The Nonproliferation Review Spring, 2002. (includes a section on the problem of non-lethal weapons under the CWC)
• Averting the Hostile Exploitation of Biotechnology
  By Matthew Meselson. The CBW Conventions Bulletin. pg. 16. June, 2000.
• Future War: Non-Lethal Weapons in Twenty-First-Century Warfare.
  By John Alexander. St. Martin's Press, 1999.
• A New Form of Warfare: The Rise of Non-Lethal Weapons.
  By Malcolm Dando. Brasseys, Inc., 1998.
• "The "Soft Kill" Fallacy."
  By Steven Aftergood. Bulletin of Atomic Scientists. Sept\Oct 1994.
• "Non-lethal" weapons may violate treaties.
  By Barbara Hatch Rosenberg. Bulletin of Atomic Scientists. Sept\Oct 1994.

Press Reports

• Conference Unlikely To Address Nonlethal Chemicals
  UN Wire. April 29, 2003.
• US prepares to use toxic gases in Iraq
  The Independent. March 2, 2003.
• US plan to use illegal weapons
  The Independent. February 16, 2003.
• United States: Rumsfeld Says Pentagon Wants Use of Nonlethal Gas
  Global Security Newswire. February 06, 2003.
• The Guilt-Free Soldier
  The Village Voice. January 22 - 28, 2003. (dicusses chemical manipulation of emotions)
• Defence Chiefs Seek to Promote Non-Lethal Biological Weapons. The Financial Times. November 04, 2002.
• US moves into emerging bioweapon era.
  The Christian Science Monitor. November 04, 2002.
• United States: U.S. Military Studying Nonlethal Chemicals.
  Global Security Newswire. November 04, 2002.
• CWC: Experts Differ on Whether Russian Hostage Rescue Violated Treaty
  Global Security Newswire. October 30, 2002.
• Mystery gas use raises issues in the U.S., too.
  Philadelphia Inquirer. October 29, 2002.
• US weapons secrets exposed.
  The Guardian. October 29, 2002.
• Pentagon discusses ways to use chemicals to calm rioters.
  San Diego Union-Tribune. September 25, 2002.
• U.S. Research on Sedatives in Combat Sets Off Alarms.
  Science Magazine. August, 2 2002. (account required for access)
• Non-lethal weapons kept secret.
  New Scientist. May 11, 2002.
• Beyond the Rubber Bullet.
  Magazine. July 21, 2002.

Web Links

• US Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Program
• The Sunshine Project
• NLW Research Project - Centre for Conflict Resolution, Bradford University, UK