1. While many love the concept of a super-soldier (witness the current popularity of Ironman), I wonder if the miltary would be actually be willing to produce and deploy a "race" of them.

Armies through the centuries seemed to have been able to recruit and develop loyal and elite forces for their special needs. Tales of the tremendous dedication of soldiers in battle have been with us for ages.

I wouldn't be surprised if there was a lot of U.S. black research going on about this; however, I suspect that the military honchos will remain fearful and vigilant of the "loose cannon" factor.

E. R. at 11:34AM on Jun 17th 2008

2. The fact is that like it or not, we may have to develop a 'supersoldier' at some point. We may be confronted by 'supersoldiers' and need to develop our own. These 'super' aggressors may or may not be of 'terrestrial' origin and, if they are of extra-terrestrial origin, their superior strength may be enhanced or just natural for their species. Someday, our soldiers might fight in environments that are chemically toxic, contaminated with biological hazards, highly radio-active or, in the case of a war in space, the planets on which we fight may have much higher gravity or atmospheric incompatibility. For soldier of tomorrow to survive and prevail in such extreme environments, genetic enhancement may be necesssary. The best armor and protective gear, would be costly to produce, add bulk and weight, offers limited protection and can fail. On the other hand, genetic enhancements would make it 'natural' for the engineered soldier to tolerate the hazard. There will, of course be moral outcry but, necessity is the mother of invention.

Keith J. Mohrhoff at 11:59AM on Jun 17th 2008

3. E.R.
Amen to "IRON MAN".

"Yes, I can FLY."

Robert at 11:59AM on Jun 17th 2008

4. Keith-

Sounds like HALO to me.

Robert at 12:18PM on Jun 17th 2008

5. this reminds me of a special i saw on russia. the communists wanted a super solider. the doc in charge of getting this started was trying to breed several different monkey species with humans and vice versus. "the monkey mom, hybrid baby" didn't take, and his research was stopped before he could test his "human mom, hybrid baby" theory. soon after, he died. mind you, this was going on just at the height of the communists taking over russia, so this whole "super solider" idea has been around for a while. i'm guessing the powers that be figure it would be better/easier/faster to have a super solider then to use their fellow countrymen like they are now. i kinda doubt it'll "take," tho on the level that they want it to. at least for a LOOOOOOOOOOOONG while. research takes time. then there's the whole "moral" aspect to deal with. :p what happened to just using robots?! btw, i LOVED Ironman! :)

Devynn at 12:45PM on Jun 17th 2008

6. Devyn:

As far as, 'just using robots': Although they have today and will continue to have a place on the modern battlefield, they suffer rather large obstacles in terms of completely replacing human soldiers in combat. They are, A) limitations in judgment--vital in a combat situation, B) you cannot give a machine the same 'will to live' that a human has innately. Survivability is the first step to ensuring mission success, C) a machine can malfunction and become disabled by battle-damage or simple mechanical failure. In such a case, the robot can be captured, analyzed for vital intelligence, reverse-engineered, reprogrammed and used against you or ALL OF THE ABOVE!!!

Keith J. Mohrhoff at 1:08PM on Jun 17th 2008

7. Warrior engineering...out of the pages of Science Fiction books, to the pages of Time magazine.

JefFlyingV at 3:08PM on Jun 17th 2008

8.
Why stop with soldiers?
If , as some say, Homosexuals are merely born that way, could we, as a society, eradicate gay future children.
Why not weed out all the weak, feeble bodied, or otherwise geneticaly flawed people?

Super soldiers? Super society !....if you don't mind a little uniformity and a lot of comformity.

mac at 7:36PM on Jun 17th 2008

9. keith:

your argument makes a lot of sense. thanks for clearing that up for me! :) i forgot about the REAL aspects of robots on the battlefield. i'm an american looking for my "quick fix." don't hate me! :p i also blame my husband and his obession with the sci-fi, discovery and science channels. not only am i an american looking for my "quick fix," i also like to place the blame on everyone BUT myself. but seriously, why does the idea of robots look so cool!? :(

Devynn at 3:09PM on Jun 18th 2008

10. Devynn:

The idea of robots IS cool. Not only that, it is militarily sound. Despite, the disadvantages I ennumerated, robots do offer advantages (Strength, speed, durabilty and the ability to bring ordinance to bear that would be difficult for a man to carry) making them a prudent choice for some roles in the battlefield. The soundest tactical decisioon is one that offers the greatest advantage for the least cost. (Hence, there are times a retreat is prudent). Most of all, the advantage is psychological. In addition to the fact that we like the idea that we can engage in war without risking the lives of people we care about, there is the sheer terror factor experienced by enemy soldiers confronted in the field by robots. The first tanks were much the same way. Not only were they virtually impervious to the weaponry of the day, but although they weren't very impressive in terms of firepower, the idea of this mechanical monster struck fear into the hearts of the enemy.

Keith J. Mohrhoff at 8:57AM on Jun 19th 2008

11. Ever watch what happens to all genetic engineered humans on TV (your second brain). We kill them or they kill us. I think we have plenty to kill as it is. Let's not even talk about more efficient killers till our prisons are empty of the ones we already have. Okay?

KitCumbie at 9:41AM on Jun 19th 2008

12. McCain’s real military file is unflattering. To end all the speculation, McCain should authorize the Navy to release all his military record.
In June 2005, seven months after he lost his bid for president, Senator John Kerry signed the 180 waiver, authorizing the release of his complete military service record to the Boston Globe, the Los Angeles Times, and the Associated Press. ** Unlike Kerry, McCain shouldn't wait until after the election to do so. The Navy may claim that it already released McCain's record to the Associated Press on May 7, 2008 in response to the AP's Freedom of Information Act request. But the McCain file the Navy released contained 19 pages -- a two-page overview and 17 pages detailing Awards and Decorations. Each of these 17 pages is stamped with a number. These numbers range from 0069 to 0636. When arranged in ascending order, they precisely track the chronology of McCain's career. It seems reasonable to ask the Navy whether there are at least 636 pages in McCain's file, of which 617 weren't released to the Associated Press.
Some of the unreleased pages in McCain's Navy file may not reflect well upon his qualifications for the presidency. From day one in the Navy, McCain screwed-up again and again, only to be forgiven because his father and grandfather were four-star admirals. McCain's sense of entitlement to privileged treatment bears an eerie resemblance to George W. Bush's.
Despite graduating in the bottom 1 percent of his Annapolis class, McCain was offered the most sought-after Navy assignment -- to become an aircraft carrier pilot. According to military historian John Karaagac, "'the Airdales,' the air wing of the Navy, acted and still do, as if unrivaled atop the naval pyramid. They acted as if they owned, not only the Navy, but the entire swath of blue water on the earth's surface." The most accomplished midshipmen compete furiously for the few carrier pilot openings. After four abysmal academic years at Annapolis distinguished only by his misdeeds and malfeasance, no one with a record resembling McCain's would have been offered such a prized career path. The justification for this and subsequent plum assignments should be documented in McCain's naval file.
McCain's file should also include records and analytic reviews of McCain's subsequent sub-par performances. Here are a few cited in two highly favorable biographies, both titled John McCain, one by Robert Timberg and the other by John Karaagac.
Timberg:
"[A]fter a European fling with the tobacco heiress, John McCain reported to flight school at Pensacola in August 1958.... [H]is performance was below par, at best good enough to get by. He liked flying, but didn't love it. What he loved was the kick-the-tire, start-the-fire, scarf-in-the-wind life of a naval aviator. ...One Saturday morning, as McCain was practicing landings, his engine quit and his plane plunged into Corpus Christi. Knocked unconscious by the impact, he came to as the plane settled to the bottom....McCain was an adequate pilot, but he had no patience for studying dry aviation manuals.... His professional growth, though reasonably steady, had its troubled moments. Flying too low over the Iberian Peninsula, he took out some power lines, which led to a spate of newspaper stories in which he was predictably identified as the son of an admiral.... [In 1965] he flew a trainer solo to Philadelphia for the Army-Navy game. Flying by way of Norfolk, he had just begun his descent over unpopulated tidal terrain when the engine died. 'I've got a flameout,' he radioed. He went through the standard relight procedures three times. At one thousand feet he ejected, landing on the deserted beach moments before the plane slammed into a clump of trees."
Adds Karaagac:
"In his memoir, everything becomes a kind of game of adolescent brinksmanship, how much can one press the limits of the acceptable and elude the powers that be....The [fighter jocks'] ethos of exaggerated, almost aggressive sociability becomes an end in itself and an excuse for license. There is a tendency for people, not simply to believe their own mythology but, indeed, to exaggerate it.... Fighter jocks, like politicians around their campaign contributions, often press the limits of the acceptable. It is a type of mild corruption that takes place in a highly privileged atmosphere, where restraints are loosened and excuses made....McCain gives some hint in his memoirs about where he stood in the hierarchy among carrier flyers. Instead of the sleek and newer Phantoms and Crusaders, McCain flew the dependable Douglas A-4 Skyhawk in an attack, not a fighter squadron. He was thus on the lower end of the flying totem pole."
The genius of McCain's mythmaking is his perceived humility amid perpetual defiance. Having been a rebel without cause, and often a rebel without consequences, McCain apparently was not surprised when his Vietnamese captors went relatively easy on him compared to his fellow POWs. The Vietnamese military secretly and frequently filmed the American POWs to learn their propensities. Col. Pham Van Hoa of the Vietnamese People's Army Film Department was in charge of the filming. Asked recently for his dominant impression of McCain, the now-retired Van Hoa said that McCain "seemed superior to other prisoners." How so? "Superior in attitude towards them."
But when Mark Salter, McCain's closest aide and co-author, was asked by the Arizona New Times about the first McCain memoir, Faith of My Fathers, that he was then working on, Salter said "the book will showcase a humble McCain. When I worked on this book with him, he just kept saying, 'Other guys had it a lot worse. I think they took it easier on me because of who my dad was. . . . When they tied me in ropes, they'd roll my sleeve up to give it a little padding between the rope and my bicep, you know, little things I noticed. The only really hard time I had was when I didn't go home, and then it only lasted a week, and sometimes I felt braver, I felt I could get away with more.'"
Is McCain now getting away with more by hiding his official history and by having his national security adviser inflate McCain's resume with a bogus promotion to admiral humbly declined? If so, McCain may be attempting to hide why the Navy was in fact slow to promote him upwards despite his suffering as a POW and his distinguished naval heritage.
One possible reason: After McCain had returned from Vietnam as a war hero and was physically rehabilitated, he was urged by his medical caretakers and military colleagues never to fly again. But McCain insisted on going up. As Carl Bernstein reported in Vanity Fair, he piloted an ultra-light, single propeller plane -- and crashed another time. His fifth loss of a plane has vanished from public records, but should be a subject of discussion in his Navy file. It wouldn't be surprising if his naval superiors worried that McCain was just too defiant, too reckless and too crash prone.
Regardless, McCain owes it to the country to release his complete naval records so that American voters can see his documented history and make an informed decision.

iynaroc02 at 11:48AM on Jun 19th 2008

13. Will the real John McCain please stand up. For people that want to meet the real john McCain, please read these two articles:
http://www.realchange.org/mccain.htm
http://www.nationalreview.com/contributors/levin040501.shtml
Now that's the McCain, the reformer we know.

Data just released show America is behind most industrialized nations when it comes to life expectancy. That is why we need universal healthcare like Obama is advocating. Just food for thought:

- For average white American male, life expectancy is 72 years and John McCain is already 72 years old, so he might kick the bucket any time now

- For average black American male, the life expectancy is 70 years and Barack Obama is only 46 years old.

iynaroc02 at 2:58PM on Jun 19th 2008

14. yeah for robots! :) altho, there's a piece of me that can't help but think about "I, Robot," in all this. more research needs to be done, but i think we can do it! :)

Devynn at 3:42PM on Jun 19th 2008

15. The first tanks were much the same way. Not only were they virtually impervious to the weaponry of the day, but although they weren't very impressive in terms of firepower, the idea of this mechanical monster struck fear into the hearts of the enemy.

That was until some little short dudes wearing sandles made out of truck tires figured a way to disable the "monsters" with the simplest of items at hand.

M2D5 at 10:34AM on Jun 20th 2008