Report: Marines In Iraq Issued Laser Weapons
Boeing’s Advanced Technical Laser firing against ground targets from a C-130 aircraft in a photo illustration
How cool is that?
Fox News
September 22, 2008
They’re blinding them with science.
U.S. Marines fighting in Iraq have been issued low-power laser weapons designed to temporarily blind enemy forces, the Washington Post reported Monday.
“Dazzlers,” as they’re called, shoot green beams designed to “warn or temporarily incapacitate individuals,” according to a Defense Science Board report extensively quoted in the Post’s story.
The Geneva Conventions ban weapons meant to cause permanent blindness, but a Pentagon spokesman explained two years ago that “Dazzlers” didn’t fall into that category.
“They don’t blind people,” Army Lt. Col. Barry Venable told reporters. “It’s like shining a big light in your eyes.”
The Senate added more money for laser weapons to this year’s defense authorization bill, approved last week, the Post reports.
High-powered ray guns, such as the one Boeing is currently testing to blast missiles out of the sky, were included in the increase.
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