Incapacitating Agents

Introduction

As defined in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, to “incapacitate” means “to deprive of strength or ability.” The word is not synonymous with paralysis, confusion, or any other specific affliction. It is a general term, implying neither global inability to act nor any particular type of disability. For example, blurred near vision might be incapacitating for a computer programmer or air traffic controller but probably would not be incapacitating for a laborer or a football player. Consequently, when the word incapacitating is used, we should ask, “incapacitating for what activity?” Used in a military context, incapacitation is understood to mean inability to perform one’s military mission. Since missions vary, we could theoretically consider a particular agent to be incapacitating if it disrupts aspects of performance vital to a particular mission. Impaired hearing might incapacitate a translator, a severe tremor might incapacitate a sniper, and so forth. In this chapter, however, incapacitation means the inability to perform anymilitary task effectively and implies that the condition...