| Summary: | Part of a special section on unconventional warfare. The writer discusses the ethical and tactical benefits of using nonlethal weapons in a war situation. Nonlethal weapons such as rubber or plastic bullets and incapacitant spray have been around for years, but advances in technology are increasing the types and numbers of such weapons available. Nonlethal weapons give the military and police more options to resolve situations without resorting to lethal methods. However, nonlethal weapons do have the potential to contravene international conventions governing warfare, and they may also contravene the standards of international arms control treaties. Critics of nonlethal weapons say that they give police forces a dangerous means of social control. Whatever view of nonlethal weapons is taken, it will remain the case that wars will be brutal affairs, and nonlethal weapons do provide politicians and the military with a greater range of options.
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