"Senator John Kerry's vision of "winning the peace" in Iraq and elsewhere involves the use of futuristic microwave beam weapons designed to inflict agonizing pain on unruly civilians, a recent campaign document reveals.

"Described by Time Magazine as a "cross between a microwave oven and a Star Trek phaser," a directed energy weapon fires an invisible beam of energy that flash-heats human targets from a distance. The beams do not burn flesh, but they create an unbearably painful burning sensation by instantaneously heating moisture under the skin. A working directed energy weapon, Raytheon Corp.'s Active Denial System, will be delivered to the military for testing this fall. Raytheon volunteers who experienced the weapon's effect have described it as unbearably painful, saying they felt as though their bodies were on fire.

"In his June 3 speech, Kerry claimed directed energy weapons could "incapacitate the enemy, without risking the lives of innocent bystanders." But research cited by Bradford University's Non-Lethal Weapons Project indicates that the microwaves might cause cataracts and cancer; used at close range the weapon could "cook a person's eyeballs." Needless to say, the microwave beam is incapable of distinguishing between enemies and innocent bystanders.

"Although the weapon may have battlefield uses, it appears to be designed primarily for incapacitating civilian rioters or protesters. Air Force documents cited by the Sacramento Bee praise the beam weapon's "capability in military operations other than war," including peacekeeping, humanitarian operations and crowd control.

"Because directed energy weapons inflict intense pain without leaving marks or other physical evidence, human rights activists are also concerned about their potential use as a torture devices, particularly in the wake of the Abu Ghraib prison scandals. Kerry, like President Bush, has said he opposes torture.