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Journalism of Courage
The US military is deploying a laser device in Iraq that would temporarily blind drivers who fail to heed warnings at checkpoints in an attempt to stem shootings of innocent Iraqis. The project involves equipping M-4 rifles with the 10 1/2-inch-long weapon, which projects an intense beam of green light to ‘‘dazzle’’ the vision of oncoming drivers. Said Lt Gen Peter Chiarelli, the commander in charge of day-to-day operations in Iraq: ‘‘I promise you no one— no one— will be able to ignore it.’’
But so-called tactical laser devices have been controversial in the past. A protocol to the Geneva Convention bans the use of lasers that cause blindness, and human rights groups have protested against previous US attempts to employ such weapons. A decade ago, the experimental use of tactical laser devices by Marines in Somalia was curtailed at the last minute for ‘‘humane reasons,’’ according to the New York-based Human Rights Watch which called their use ‘‘repugnant to the public conscience’’ in a 1995 report.
The Pentagon has cancelled several programmes for the stronger ‘‘blinding’’ lasers, in adherence with the Geneva protocol, according to Human Rights Watch. But the group has said that even less powerful ‘‘dazzling’’ lasers, similar to the one to be deployed in Iraq, can cause permanent damage. ‘‘If this ‘safe’ laser damages retinas, we’re in for a whole new type of angry Iraqi civilians,’’ said Winslow T. Wheeler, of the Center for Defense Information.
The military, however, has apparently decided the risks can be minimised through proper training, and are worth taking, to help US troops ward off suicide attacks and to reduce accidental shootings of Iraqi civilians. ‘‘I have no doubt,’’ Chiarelli said, ‘‘that bullets are less safe.’’ A military standards panel analysed the laser—a modification of a more powerful system used for aiming heavy machine guns—and found the device could be harmful to the eyes when viewed from 75 yards or closer, the manufacturer said.
Lt. Col. Richard Smith, the deputy director of the Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Directorate at the Pentagon, said the deployment of the laser, which has been under development for a decade, marked an important milestone for non-lethal weapons. ‘‘This is really the first time the visually overwhelming laser devices have actually been used,’’ Smith said. ‘‘This was based on needs of war fighters and commanders in the field. They have several incidents a day where a vehicle is coming at a group of soldiers. … These dazzlers can reach out a couple of hundred metres and give soldiers added security.’’
The laser being deployed in Baghdad is one of about six different models being tested by the directorate, Smith said. In recent months, suicide bombings have been aimed mostly against Iraqis. The bulk of attacks on American troops, in contrast, have been made with explosives hidden along streets and highways. But about eight times a day around Iraq, American soldiers still shoot in an attempt to stop vehicles that come too close to them, US military statistics show. Although such confrontations are down from double that rate, commanders still worry about wounding or killing of non-combatants. The military has not released figures on the number or Iraqis killed and wounded in the confrontations, but Iraqi civilians frequently have protested about what they consider reckless shootings.
The laser that will be attached to soldiers’ rifles—known as the ‘‘green beam designator’’—is manufactured by B.E. Meyers & Co, Washington, which it calls the most powerful device of its kind in production. David Shannon, director of product development for the company, said that at a distance of 110 yards, the beam widens to cover an area about 16 inches in diameter—a little smaller than a regulation basketball hoop. The beam can be fixed or set to pulse at two different rates. It can be seen from more than two miles. From 328 yards and closer it’s powerful enough to be ‘‘a strong deterrent,’’ Shannon said.
In a recent demonstration at the US military headquarters at Camp Victory in Baghdad, a soldier fired the beam across an indoor hallway. Even the indirect exposure of the light bouncing off the white marble floor left observers seeing stars for several minutes afterward. Shannon agreed that use of stronger lasers would be ‘‘cruel and unusual’’ even in warfare. But he said the green beam designator was safer, particularly with proper training to limit its use with targets inside 75 yards. ‘‘We know right now people are dying and being maimed by bullets,’’ he said. ‘‘This whole programme is designed so that fewer people die or get hurt.’’
(James Rainey)
