US:The Pentagon has admitted that it considered a proposal to love-bomb enemy troops with an aphrodisiac that would turn them gay and encourage uncontrolled sexual activity. Chemical weapons researchers believed that, after being sprayed with the chemical, enemy soldiers would be so busy making love in mass gay orgies that they would stop fighting.
"The Department of Defence is committed to identifying, researching and developing non-lethal weapons that will support our men and women in uniform," said a Pentagon spokeswoman, who added that the "gay bomb" proposal was quickly dismissed.
A 1994 document identifies a number of proposals for "non-lethal" weapons from an Air Force laboratory in Ohio, including a chemical that would make bees angry and cause them to sting the enemy.
The lab asked for $7.5 million to develop the "gay bomb" as part of a plan for "harassing, annoying and 'bad guy' identifying chemicals".
Edward Hammond of The Sunshine Project, who uncovered the proposal, insists that the "gay bomb" idea was taken more seriously than the Pentagon admits.
"The truth of the matter is it would have never come to my attention if it was dismissed at the time it was proposed. In fact, the Pentagon has used it repeatedly and subsequently in an effort to promote non-lethal weapons, and in fact, they submitted it to the highest scientific review body in the country for them to consider," he said.
The idea that making soldiers gay would prevent them from doing their job is consistent with the US policy of forbidding openly gay soldiers from serving.
It is contradicted, however, by the evidence of military history - from Achilles and Patroclus in ancient Greece to thousands of fighting men and women in armies throughout the world today.