THE AUTOMATED AIR WAR
Script
1.
Title
For over two years, NARMIC has been compiling information
on military developments and weapons systems. The strongest
single trend found in this research is the automated air war,
the electronic battlefield.
2.
Credits
NARMIC prepared this slide show from numerous sources, including:
drawings by Laotian refugees provided by Fred Branfman, pictures
brought back by GIs, photos from AFSC's Vietnam clinic.
..
Sources
...
pictures and ads from military magazines, and illustrations
from the hearings held by the Senate Electronic Battlefield
Sub-committee. Our purpose is to explain the heart of this
system, and how it has transformed the Indochina war.
President Nixon ran for office on the pledge that he would end
the war in Vietnam. But since he took office, the war has
expanded into Laos and Cambodia.
Bomb chart
He has ordered more bombs dropped on Indochina than were dropped
in all of World War 11. Three million Indochinese people have
been killed, wounded or made refugees by the war since Nixon
became President
.
Jet
Nixon says the war is winding down, but it is only being made
less visible. Instead of a ground war with American troops and
casualties, it is an automated air war with American planes
and bombs.
Pentagon
Papers
The Pentagon Papers reveal that the U.S. secretly began plans
to automate the U.S. side of the battlefield in 1966.
Sylvania ad
3 billion dollars, and an untold number of lives, were spent
implementing this electronic warfare plan before Congress or
the public learned of it.
Westmoreland
The automated battlefield was first revealed in the press when
General William Westmoreland described it to a military-industry
gathering in October, 1969. Automation of the war, according to
the military, is necessary for three reasons:
2.
1
...
10.
Demonstration
First, in the words of Westmoreland, the American people are
11.
Opinion poll
collage
"questioning the role of the Army more than ever before."
(Pause)
12.
GIs
Secondly,
the trust and confidence that have
traditionally motivated the soldier are being questioned,"
according to Westmoreland.
13.
Armed Forces
Journal
collage
Armed Forces Journal put it more bluntly: quote "By every
conceivable indicator our army that now remains in Vietnam is
in a state approaching collapse, with individual units avoiding
or having refused combat, murdering their officers, drug-ridden,
and dispirited where not near mutinous." end quote
14.
Indochinese
with gun
Thirdly, the U.S. faces in Vietnam, as Westmoreland put it,
"an elusive and cunning" enemy that has made the U.S. Army
almost a "giant without eyes."
15.
Uncle Sam
Faced with an American public that wants peace, an army that
won't fight, and an enemy that won't lose, the U.S. government
has found a way to give the appearance of peace while continuing
its war. How? By trying, in the words of Westmoreland,
16.
GI with
bandaged head
to "replace wherever possible the man
1,
17.
Computer
!
18.
Pushbutton
face
A giant machine, run by a few people who are protected by push
buttons from seeing their victims as anything but blips on a
screen. This reduces the human element, the human horror, and
the human error for the U.S. side of the battlefield.
19.
Cartoon
But the horror is not over for the people of Indochina, who
continue to die from automated bombing.
i
i
I!
:j
...
". . .
I
i
i
I
/
I
I
II
20. Woman on road
21.
I
. . . with the machine."
Bombed land
". . .
In the automated battlefield, a person designated "enemy" is,
according to Westmoreland,
located, tracked and targeted
almost instantaneously
."
1
...
". . .
Westmoreland went on to describe the goal of automated
battlefields on which we can destroy anything we locate through
instant communications and the almost instantaneous application
of highly lethal firepower." He said this system makes.
.lrthe
need for large forces
less important."
...
.
22.
GI, peasants
Another Army spokesman, General Ellis Williamson, stated:
quote, "We are making unusual efforts to avoid having the
American young man stand toe-to-toe, eyeball-to-eyeball, or
even rifle-to-rifle against an enemy
...
. . ."
23.
Senators at
Hearings
"How less painful it is to use firepower to fight him at a
end quote. He told this to the Senate
distance
Electronic Battlefield subcommittee shown here.
24.
1, 2, 3
diagram
Three things make today's automated warfare distinctive. First
is that electronic sensors, not men, are finding the targets.
Second, the targets are struck by computer-directed aircraft
filled with electronic equipment.
Third, the bombs they drop
are designed primarily to main people and drive them out of
"'enemy" areas.
25.
ADSIDS
on table
This sensor is an Air-Delivered Seismic Intrusion Detector an ADSID. Planes drop hundreds of these over a wide area.
When an ADSID lands, it buries itself, leaving only the antenna
showing.
..
26.
Implanted
ADSID
..
.an antenna designed to pass for a tropical plant. If
anyone walks through the area, the sensor transmits the footstep
vibrations to the computer. These sensors cannot distinguish
down the trail" and
between "a group of woodcutters coming
a squad of troops, according to General John Deane, the head of
the special military command on the automated battlefield.
...
27.
Girl, dung
sensor
Another sensor is disguised as animal droppings. This one, made
by Honeywell Corporation, was brought back by a Vietnam veteran.
If you step on it, it signals the computer, which decides if you
should be bombed.
28.
ACOUBUOY
ACOUBUOY microphones fall from airplanes on little parachutes.
The parachutes disintegrate in the jungle trees, leaving only
fine wires which hold the camouflaged microphones. One Air
Force officer said, "We wired the Ho Chi Minh Trail like a
II
drugstore pin-ball machine and
". .
.
...
it in every night. . . Warfare has gone electronic."
29, Relay aircraft
we plug
End quote. Information from these electronic bugs is relayed
by aircraft to a computer ground station in Thailand.
30.
Other sensors are carried on board aircraft. The "people
sniffer" shown here detects ammonia in human body odors.
Developed at a cost of one and a half million dollars, "people
sniffers" have been effectively countered by the Vietnamese.
They hang buckets of urine in the trees to saturate the sensing
elements.
People sniffer
31.
Goodyear
graph
Other air-borne sensing devices, such as Goodyear radar,
scan the countryside below. Data from these different
sensors are transmitted to a computer ground station.
32.
Computer center This one in Thailand receives sensor data from Laos, where
(black & white) the automated air war has been most completely implemented.
33.
Computers
(black & white)
Inside, the IBM 360-65 correlates the sensor input with
information about terrain, photo reconnaissance data and
previous intelligence, to produce a print-out of potential
targets. The report of the Electronic Battlefield Subcommittee
describes how computers use sensor data to direct the bombing.
34.
AVIONICS
monitoring
screen
When, quote, "a particular sensor string activates, a sketch of
the roadnet which that string of sensors is monitoring is called
up on a cathode ray tube.
35.
Computer with
bulletin board
in background
"The computer automatically displays and updates the movement.
of the target along that road segment.
36.
Phantom ad
"One or more F-4 ~Fhantomjet27 are then instructed to enter
the coordinates
into the aircraft's computer.
37.
Right Down
the Alley
"This gives the aircraft the course to that point and
a
h
!
,
is, bombs7
- at the
automatically releases the ordnance t
proper time to hit the target. Using area-type ordnance.
38.
Destroyed
village
"excellent results have been obtained with this blind-bombing
h d quote.
method." -
39.
SMASH gunship
The computer has other aircraft besides jets to choose from.
Textron, which makes zippers and Schaeffer pens, boasts of its
llprowling hunterlkiller chopper that sees in the dark to
destroy the enemy
...
..
...
..
."
40. Infra-red screen The pilot uses this infra-red screen to see in the dark.
in helicopter
General Williamson described using a similar night-vision
helicopter gunship: "As soon as an unmanned sensor registered,
a Night Hawk helicopter was dispatched to the scene.
41.
He1 i copter
"We killed 103 North Vietnamese soldiers during a one-month
period, using this technique, at no personnel cost to us, not
even an injury.
we could often fight a major battle without
actually committing the physical bodies of our men into the
danger area
..
."
42.
Tracers
a t night
A Quaker h o s p i t a l worker i n South Vietnam d e s c r i b e s t h e
e f f e c t s of an o l d e r gunship. " S e v e r a l of u s went t o t h e roof
The Americans u n l e a s h e d t h e t e r r i f y i n g 'Puff t h e
a b o u t 3 a.m.
Magic Dragon,'
t h a t spews f o r t h 5,000 machine gun
b u l l e t s p e r minute.
I t b e l c h e s f o r t h s o l i d s t r e a m s of
. A s I watched i t c i r c l e overhead l a s t n i g h t ,
red tracers.
I could v i v i d l y v i s u a l i z e .
...
.
...
...
..
Woman w i t h
wounded c h i l d
l1the s c e n e below. Men, women, c h i l d r e n and a n i m a l s , c a u g h t
l i k e ' r a t s i n a f l o o d . No p l a c e t o h i d e , no way t o p l e a d t h e i r
c a s e of innocence t o t h e machine i n t h e sky.
44.
Bullets
tt
45.
Close-up of
same b u l l e t s
" s t a b b i n g v i c i o u s l y e a r t h w a r d a g a i n and a g a i n , p r o b i n g , s e a r c h i n g ,
k i l l i n g and maiming a l l i n i t s p a t h .
46.
C h i l d on
ho sp i t a l bed
"We have s u r v i v e d , .
b u t a l o t o f Quang Ngai p e o p l e d i d n ' t
make i t . And a l o t more who a r e now c l i n g i n g t o l i f e o v e r
Unquote.
a t t h e h o s p i t a l w i l l n o t make i t u n t i l morning."
(Hold s l i d e . )
47.
"A7 makes.
nightmare"
48.
RPV - man
a t screen
I n d u s t r y ' s s o l u t i o n i s t o t a k e t h e p i l o t o u t of t h e a i r c r a f t ,
t o s e t up t h e c o c k p i t i n a s e c u r e computer c e n t e r .
49.
Red drone
A telemetry l i n k t r a n s m i t s t h e sensor inputs t o t h e p i l o t so
43.
..
...
t h e c o l d , m e c h a n i c a l , c o m p a s s i o n l e s s way t h a t monster
c i r c l e d around and around and around, r u t h l e s s l y p u r s u i n g
a n unseen 'enemy,'
..
..
..
But a i r c r a f t m a n u f a c t u r e r s a r e n o t heavy h e a r t e d a b o u t c r e a t i n g
such n i g h t m a r e s .
For American b u s i n e s s , t h e automated b a t t l e f i e l d p r o v i d e s an e n d l e s s market. Every p a r t of i t from t h e
p l a n e s t o computers t o bombs can always be "improved."
For
example, many of t o d a y ' s a i r c r a f t have one m i l i t a r y drawback-they require p i l o t s .
h e can g u i d e t h e v e h i c l e by remote c o n t r o l .
50.
Electronic
warfare drone
Unmanned a i r c r a f t a r e a l r e a d y u s e d i n t h e e l e c f r o n i c war t o
r e l a y s i g n a l s from s e n s o r s t o t h e computer c e n t e r , and f o r
photo r e c o n n a i s s a n c e o v e r North Vietnam.
51.
Drone bombing
And t e s t s a r e b e i n g conducted t o have unmanned d r o n e s t a k e
o v e r t h e bombing m i s s i o n s .
52.
TV-guided bomb
and e n g i n e e r s
Another improvement i n t h e equipment f o r automated a i r war
i s t h e bomb d e l i v e r y systems. T h i s one u s e s a s e l f - c o n t a i n e d
TV camera t o f o l l o w f l e e i n g t a r g e t s .
53.
Bombs awaiting
laser guidance
units
The bombs shown here are waiting in Thailand to have their
laser guidance systems attached for pinpoint bombing of
targets in Laos. They are called "smart" bombs.
54.
Laser guidance
unit
Laser guided bombs can deliver their package of munitions
into a shelter or cave entrance with an accuracy of 6 feet
when dropped from an altitude of 4 miles.
55.
Antipersonnel
bomblets on
table
The last part of the automated air war is the bombs themselves.
Many of these are ANTIPERSONNEL--designed to kill or maim
people in ways most of us would never have imagined.
56.
Pineapple and
guava bomblets
Originally, most of the antipersonnel bombs dropped on
Indochina were pineapples, like the one on the left. Each
pineapple has 250 steel pellets which shoot out horizontally
when the bomb hits the ground. But people hid in trenches
and holes.
..
...
57.
BLU-26/B
so the pineapple was replaced by the guava, illustrated
in the Electronic Battlefield Hearings. The pellets of the
guava go diagonally into the holes, and a time delay fuze can
be used to catch people when they leave their hiding places.
58.
CBU-24 bomb
casing
Several cluster bombs are dropped from an aircraft.
59.
SUU-30B
dispensing
sequence
Each tumbles through the air, scattering hundreds of its
bomblets over an area the size of ten football fields. The
bomblets saturate the area with tiny steel pellets that cannot
penetrate cement or steel.
60.
Child with
guava
Pellet bombs are used in @'protective reaction strikes" on
North Vietnam. The pellets cannot destroy a bridge, a factory,
or a train. Two or three inches of sandbags will stop them.
61.
Children with
straw vests
Even these thick straw vests that school children wear in
North Vietnam will stop them. Their target is unprotected human
flesh.
62.
Refugee drawing
of child's hand
being maimed
A Laotian refugee who drew this picture describes some of the
other bombs, guote, "There were the bombs of napalm which
would burn houses and people as well.
.and there was a kind
of leaf, the paper which would blow in the wind. If anyone
should pick it up they would be like the person in this picture."
Unquote.
Unbelievable?
Gravel mine
from hearings
But here is the leaf mine, with its inner parts, illustrated
in the Electronic Battlefield Hearings.
63.
..
64.
Gravel mine
dispenser
When the computer calls for it, tremendous numbers are
released from this dispenser, made by Honeywell. The GI
who loads these on the plane supplied this photo.
65.
Gravel and
Dragontooth
Here, the North Vietnamese display a leaf mine with what
they call a butterfly bomb.
66.
Dragontooth
on palm
The military calls it, less touchingly, a Dragontooth. The
Gravel and the Dragontooth are mines. They don't explode
unless they are stepped on, or jostled. Discussing these
weapons in the hearings, Senator Goldwater asked, "How much
damage can it do?"
Major Anderson:
"How much damage, sir?"
Sen. Goldwater:
"Yes"
Major Anderson: m ~ is
t purely antipersonnel.
...
67.
Boy (face)
"If a person steps on it,
68.
Boy with
maimed foot
$lit could blow his foot off.
it won't blow the tire."
69.
Boy in white
shirt with
bandaged foot
Article 23 of the Hague Convention -- the international rules
to employ
of war -- states: "It is especially forbidden
arms, projectiles, or material calculated to cause unnecessary
suffering." The U.S. is a party to this convention, it is
constitutionally binding on the U.S. Then why are the corporations and the military designing weapons purposely made to
maim people? The answer is that the military believes such
maiming of the opposition serves two important functions.
70.
Hospital in
North Vietnam
First, it means that instead of a single person dead and
withdrawn from military activity, six to ten people must care
for the victim, as shown in this picture of a hospital in
North Vietnam.
Second, the military calculates that the suffering of the
living has a greater demoralizing effect than the memory of
the dead. As Aviation Week puts it, antipersonnel weapons
have a "separate and distinguishable psychological impact
apart from the actual destruction which they cause."
If a truck rolls over it,
...
...
71.
Woman with
pineapple
bomb
Here a refugee who was driven from the Plain of Jars in Laos
by the bombing holds up one of these llpsychologicalimpact"
weapons. It is a pineapple antipersonnel bomb which they
made into a wick lamp. Her homeland, the Plain of Jars, is
an example of what the automated air war can mean.
72.
Map of Laos
Bombing of t h e P l a i n of J a r s i n n o r t h e r n Laos, which began
i n 1964 and reached a peak d u r i n g Nixon's f i r s t y e a r i n
o f f i c e , was n o t o f f i c i a l l y acknowledged u n t i l March of 1970.
The American p u b l i c was t o l d t h a t t h e bombing of Laos was
aimed a t t r u c k i n t e r d i c t i o n on t h e Ho Chi Minh t r a i l , which
i s i n southern Laos, f a r from t h e P l a i n of J a r s .
73.
S t i l t houses
Before t h e bombing began, t h e P l a i n of J a r s was a t h r i v i n g
farmland of some 50,000 people. A 2 1 y e a r - o l d former n u r s e
now a r e f u g e e , wrote: " A l l t h a t I saw and knew were a dozen
o r so houses i n t h e middle of a f o r e s t .
74.
Farmer
land and f i e l d s my
"Around t h a t v i l l a g e of mine were.
n e i g h b o r s have sweated over and labored on s i n c e t h e time of
my a n c e s t o r s .
75.
Children
fishing
"Our happiness was f u l l and over-flowing because we were
c o n t e n t with our l i v e s , even though we l i v e d i n t h e wilderness.
76.
Hut and corn
"...I
was a t one w i t h t h e e a r t h , . , . . c o n t i n u i n g t h e farmer's
VI
l i f e which had been t h e p r o f e s s i o n of o u r a n c e s t o r s .
77.
Johnson
Then came November 1968, t h e month P r e s i d e n t Johnson f i n a l l y
announced a "bombing h a l t " of North Vietnam. A t t h e time t h i s
was considered a major v i c t o r y f o r t h o s e who favored peace.
78.
Man wiring
bombs
However, an A i r Force s e r g e a n t , Bob Clarke, shown h e r e wiring
bombs i n Thailand, t e s t i f i e d a t t h e Second Winter S o l d i e r
I n v e s t i g a t i o n h e l d by Vietnam Veterans Against t h e War t h a t he
expected a v a c a t i o n when t h e bombing h a l t was announced. But
i n s t e a d , t h e workload was doubled, because '@theywere c a r r y i n g
on missions over t h e Ho Chi Minh T r a i l and t h e P l a i n of Jars."
79.
Bombers
In 1969, Richard Nixon's f i r s t year i n o f f i c e , p l a n e s bombed
t h e P l a i n of J a r s n i g h t and day. A s one o l d man put i t , " t h e
p l a n e s came l i k e t h e b i r d s and t h e bombs f e l l l i k e t h e r a i n . "
80.
Destroyed
v i 1l a g e
Every v i l l a g e on t h e p l a i n was l e v e l l e d .
81.
Boy with
s c a r r e d head
113 of t h e people of Laos, according t o U.S. Senate f i g u r e s ,
have been k i l l e d , wounded o r made r e f u g e e s by t h e bombing
82.
Refugees:
woman and boys
--
..
--
o n e - t h i r d of t h e e n t i r e population.
83 .
Woman
w i t h photo
T h i s is one of t h o s e s t a t i s t i c s .
She i_s h o l d i n g
forward a wedding photo of Sao Doumma, fSa-oh DOU-mag.
84.
Photo of
coup 1e
h e r y o u n g e s t d a u g h t e r , who was k i l l e d i n a bombing r a i d w h i l e
n u r s i n g h e r 3 month o l d baby.
85.
Refugee
children
A few p e o p l e i n t h e L a o t i a n r e f u g e e camps were asked t o draw
86.
Drawing:
house b u r n i n g
(pause.
.) While a l l t h i s was g o i n g on, t h e American p u b l i c
d i d n o t even know t h e a i r war i n Laos e x i s t e d .
87.
Drawing:
palm t r e e s
(Pause.
.) R e p o r t e r s s t i l l a r e n ' t a l l o w e d t o go on m i s s i o n s
o v e r Laos o r q u e s t i o n p i l o t s .
Since they
allowed t o go on
s i m i l a r m i s s i o n s o v e r Vietnam, i t i s c l e a r t h a t t h e s e c r e c y i s
f o r t h e American p u b l i c , n o t t h e enemy.
88.
Xieng
Khouang ,
destroyed
A i r Force A t t a c h e Robert T y r r e l l t e s t i f i e d under o a t h about U.S.
..
p i c t u r e s d e s c r i b i n g what t h e y had s e e n .
.
.
are
bombing p o l i c y :
u o t e 111 r e c a l l t a l k i n g t o r e f u g e e s from
~ h o o - a h n g - v i119 and t h e y t o l d m e
Xieng Khouangvi 11:-e-eng
t h a t t h e y knew of n o c i v i l i a n c a s u a l t i e s d u r i n g t h a t o p e r a t i o n .
v i l l a g e s , even i n a f r e e d r o p zone, would b e r e s t r i c t e d from
bombing."
unquote. T h i s i s Xieng Khouangville.
89.
Drawing:
houses
bombed
Ambassador Godley s t a t e d i n J u l y , 1971, t h a t t h e A i r Force
had "done e v e r y t h i n g p o s s i b l e t o a v o i d any bombing of
i n h a b i t e d v i l l a g e s o r even i s o l a t e d d w e l l i n g s i n Laos."
90.
Khang Khay,
destroyed
Godley's s t a t e m e n t was made t h r e e months a f t e r Congressman
McCloskey r e t u r n e d from Laos w i t h an o f f i c i a l U.S. I n f o r m a t i o n
S e r v i c e s r e p o r t t h a t numerous v i l l a g e s had been bombed.
T h i s i s Khang Khay.
91.
Children
i n cave
The S e n a t e Subcommittee on Refugees s a i d t h a t t h e bombing i s
aimed a t d e s t r o y i n g " t h e p h y s i c a l and s o c i a l i n f r a s t r u c t u r e
o f P a t h e t Lao a r e a s . "
92.
Target
over people
How can t h e Pentagon i n s i s t t h a t i t i s h i t t i n g o n l y m i l i t a r y
t a r g e t s when p r e s s r e p o r t s , S e n a t e committees, a United
N a t i o n s a d v i s o r and even t h e U.S.I.S.
s u r v e y show t h a t t h e
whole p o p u l a t i o n was t a r g e t e d ?
The answer can p e r h a p s be found i n t h e m i l i t a r y ' s d e f i n i t i o n
of a m i l i t a r y t a r g e t . An A i r Force Manual d e f i n e s a m i l i t a r y
t a r g e t , and I q u o t e , a s
...
..
...
...
93.
Man and
woman
"'Any person
94.
Pagoda
"thing
95.
Map,
Vietnam
"idea
...
..
96. Children,
bombed building
"entity.
97.
Mountain
landscape
"'or location
98.
Bomb blast
stselectedfor destruction, inactivation, or rendering non-usable
with weapons which will reduce or destroy the will or ability
of the enemy to resist." Unquote.
The Air Force Manual says
that attacks on such threats are designed to "dispel the
people's belief in the invincibility of their forces, to create
unrest, to reduce the output of the labor force, to cause
fear, panic, hunger, and passive resistance to the government..."
...
...
99.
Woman, goats
on hill
To do this you bomb any person, thing, idea, entity or location.
This beautiful land, the Plain of Jars, was entirely destroyed
from the air - -
100. Bomb craters
a society of 50,000 people wiped off the face of the earth by
automated bombing. This is the real nature of today's automated
air war. Most of the victims have never seen an American face.
101. Pilot leaves
home
This pilot, who lives in an air-conditioned house on the
Khorat Air Force Base in Thailand, has just completed a
bombing mission in Laos
102. Computer center
(color)
directed from this ground control station.
sees his enemy.
103. Man at screen
Neither does this weapons controller who radios the target's
coordinates to the pilot's on-board computer.
104. GI on ground
Unlike the ground warrior of yesterday,
105. Pilots at
Party
they spend their evening relaxing at one of the three clubs
on base. Protected by pushbuttons and computers, they have
as little connection with the suffering their work causes
as...
...
. ..
He never
...
106. Honeywell
worker
this Honeywell worker who makes antipersonnel weapons in the
U.S. One follows the military orders of Commander-in-Chief
Nixon, the other fills business orders for Honeywell President
Binger. Neither has a say over how their work is applied - in fact they may not even know the effects of their work.
This Honeywell worker, for example, may not know that his plant
is producing the WAAPM,
107. WAAPM
or Wide Area Anti-Personnel Mine. The worker may not know that
the spring his machine inserts in this ball will one day pop
out on impact, carrying fine connecting wires several feet
from the mine. He may not know the terror of trying to live
in an area seeded with hundreds of these "spider mines,"
where to touch one of the wire tentacles triggers death.
(Pause) He wasn't one of the experts who calculated that such
a weapon could be produced for what the military terms "area
denial"' purposes.
108. Bombed
fields
Bombing of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia has forced millions of
people out of their homes and into refugee camps or cities.
A State Department advisor named this strategy "forced
urbanization", and praised it for separating the "'fish" from
the "sea"; that is, the guerilla fighters from the supporting
population.
109. Saigon
street
Forced urbanization has quadrupled Saigon's population, but
politically the plan has backfired.
110. Saigon demo.
Far from tolerating the Saigon government, people are uniting
against it: Vietnamese students, veterans, legislators,
women's groups, workers, and refugees are demanding an end to
the war, the military dictatorship, and the American domination.
Saigon newspapers reported that an average of two American cars
are burned every day, and Americans must wear peace signs to
avoid being attacked on the street.
111. People in
cave under
cliff
In Laos, the strategy of "area denial" has not succeeded in
forcing everyone to abandon the countryside. Because of the
constant air attacks, many Laotians now carry on their family
life, schools, and government under the ground, in caves.
112. School in cave
Armed Forces Journal explains that automated warfare in Laos, quote,
"...was
designed for fighting a war in hostile territory,
offering the enemy absolute control of their surface territory
while maintaining air superiority above it. The system does
not require U.S. ground troops to assure suc~ess.'~ end quote.
113. Man at screen,
plane
There's no more talk of winning hearts and minds.
here's
no more talk of the U.S. winning politically, only of
automated detection and bombing of the whole population
from high in the sky.
114. Nixon and
Johnson
The automated air war is an admission that despite the
efforts of more than two administrations the U.S. cannot
win the war. It is also an assertion that it does not intend
to lose it.
115. Draftboard,
tombstone
By lowering draft calls and reducing American casualties,
Nixon hopes to lull the American people into silent consent
to the ongoing slaughter of Asians.
116. Sir Robert
Thompson
President Nixon's personal consultant on Vietnam, Sir
Robert Thompson, has named this strategy "stable war".
With its automated air war the U.S. could carry on the
destruction for ten or twenty years. Why such persistence?
117. Che
Former Secretary of State Dean Rusk explained that it is to
prove to guerilla movements around the world that "the war
of liberation is
costly, dangerous, and doomed to failure."
...
118. Honeywell
Globe
And in case they don't learn the lesson, the military is
making plans to apply the automated battlefield around the
world. Honeywell has a contract to develop part of the
World-Wide Military Command and Control System --
119. Computer
control room
a computer to police the world - - and Westmoreland announced
that the Army's Project MASSTER is "taking the latest advances
in technology proved in Vietnam -- sensors, night vision
devices, surveillance radars, communications and automatic
data processing - - and adapting them for use as a unified
system elsewhere in the world.'"
120. Police
helicopter
This technology is also being adapted for use by police
departments in the U.S. - - not only night vision helicopters,
but sensors, computers, and devices to see through walls.
Joseph Meyer, a Pentagon official, proposed another adaptation
to the electronics industry.
121. Transponder
chart
People released from prison or out on bail would be required
to wear transponders, little radio transmitters first developed
to allow automated battlefield computers to keep track of the
location of their own troops.
122. Police
computers
Meyer suggested that police computers and transponders
could be used to monitor 25 million Americans. As sensor
strings monitor movement in Vietnam, so transponder
receivers could monitor a typical community such as Harlem,
according to this Pentagon official.
In addition to the domestic market, Meyer said there might
be a carefully controlled export market for transponders,
to be used by other "democratic" nations "to monitor aliens
or political or ethnic subpopulations."
123. ITT ad
American corporations are always on the lookout for new
government-supplied markets, to apply their technological
developments anywhere in the world. Here ITT advertises their
automated equipment to guide bombers.
124. Morton Food
ITT also owns Morton frozen foods, Hartford Fire Insurance
Company,
125. Wonder Bread
. . . Wonder Bread, Hostess cupcakes, and the Sheraton Hotel
chain.
126. Alcoa ad
"Change for the Better With Alcoa Aluminum .tl!
127. G.E. ad
"Progress Is Our Most Important Product."
128. West inghouse ad
"You Can Be Sure
129. child with
burned face
. . . If
...
It's Westinghouse"
130. Honeywell
Eagle
The automated battlefield is being used right now. It was
created by American corporations and the American government.
A movement is already under way to stop it.
131. Honeywell
demo.
Minneapolis residents are demanding an end to Honeywell's
production of antipersonnel bombs.
132. Atlas demo.
Californians are opposing napalm production.
133. Hanscom demo.
In Massachusetts, 230 people were arrested for challenging the
Electronic Systems Command at Hanscom Air Force Base.
1
I
134. Engineers'
demo.
Even engineers in the plants are beginning to organize.
The American people have succeeded in forcing the government
to bring most of the troops home. But until we end the
automated air war as well, there will be no peace in Indochina.
135. Plane
136. Woman with
binoculars
137. Anti-aircraft
Gun
138. Planes being
shot down
139. Woman's eyes
(Hold)
140. End slide
@ 1972, NARMIC (National ~ction/Researchon the Military Industrial complex), a
project of American Friends Service Committee, 160 North 15th Street, Philadelphia,
Pa.
19102. Phone (215) L03-9372
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