Non-lethal arms 'key' to US army

By Jonathan Marcus
BBC Defence correspondent

Lasers to guide bombs can themselves be used as weapons, experts say

Mass looting and sabotage in post-war Iraq could have been reduced and lives saved if US troops had been equipped with non-lethal weapons.

This is the conclusion of a new report by a high-level panel set up by New York's Council On Foreign Relations.

The report urges a sevenfold increase in spending on non-lethal weaponry and its wider use.

It also calls for better equipment and training for the US troops to deal with post-conflict and peacekeeping duties.

Blunt conclusion

The chaos and disorder in Iraq in the immediate aftermath of the war was compounded by there being too few US troops on the ground.

After the war Iraq plunged in the chaos and disorder

But Thursday's report by the leading think-tank suggests that another problem was the lack of suitable training and equipment to deal with civil disorder - in particular the failure to deploy and use non-lethal weapons.

This is a label that covers a variety of devices ranging from the mundane, like rubber bullets, to the extraordinary - slippery sprays or adhesive foams that can immobilise opponents.

The blunt conclusion of this report is that non-lethal weapons have not received the priority they merit at the Pentagon.

And the Council on Foreign Relations argues that this should change.

Spending on non-lethal weaponry has gone up, but the report argues that there should be an increase to bring the annual budget up to $300m.

This would still be only $1 for every $1,000 spent on defence.

Such weapons should be much more widely deployed.

Different mind-set

And the report calls for research on longer-range non-lethal weapons to be stepped up.

This would include devices that heat the skin of an individual without permanent injury and lasers that could immobilise vehicles.

Such esoteric technologies do exist.

But many fears have been raised about just how "non-lethal" they really are.

It's certainly an area that could repay more investment. But experts point out that peace support operations are not just about technology.

They require different training and a different mind-set on the part of the troops involved.