It does but I'm not sure if it's that or if it's the utter waste of manpower and money that will go into developing it. Plus, it's billed for crowd control yet by it's nature seems to be for use on a single combatant. What are they proposing? A riot squad stand back to back in a circle and hit everyone in the crowd?
Protocol IV on Blinding Laser Weapons prohibits the use of laser weapons specifically designed, as their sole combat function or as one of their combat functions, to cause permanent blindness to unenhanced vision, that is to the naked eye or to the eye with corrective eyesight devices. The High Contracting Parties shall not transfer such weapons to any State or non-State entity. It's an additional protocol added in 1998 http://www.icrc.org/ihl.nsf/INTRO?OpenView link to specifics http://www.icrc.org/ihl.nsf/FULL/570?OpenDocument
Ah, thank you. This helps me immensely in a variety of forums. I'd found the ICRC site, but for some reason none of my searches had yielded information on protocols after 1949.
Hmm. Seems the United States has not ratified this protocol anyway. Makes me wonder about the international politics surrounding the introduction of this particular protocol. This source gives only the text and signatories of the protocol itself, with no background. Obviously, you're much more familiar with it than I: Can you provide any of the missing background or point me to good additional sources?
Yeah I could see all sorts of holes. I'm not sure if normal mirrored lenses would do it but you know as soon as they come out with this thing, there will be all sorts of adds for glasses that will deflect the beam. So why bother to begin with.
If the American public weren't so dead set against killing foreign scumbags who are out to kill them, we wouldn't be wasting money on this sort of thing. We could continue to handle things in time-honoured fashion and kill the enemy, instead.
I'm all for that. Yet another thing you and I agree on. If you are going to fight a war then fight it. And I think there are/must be better methods for domestic crowd control. At best this would only stop one rioter so what's the point.
wander
Comments
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Protocol IV on Blinding Laser Weapons prohibits the use of laser weapons specifically designed, as their sole combat function or as one of their combat functions, to cause permanent blindness to unenhanced vision, that is to the naked eye or to the eye with corrective eyesight devices. The High Contracting Parties shall not transfer such weapons to any State or non-State entity.
It's an additional protocol added in 1998
http://www.icrc.org/ihl.nsf/INTRO?OpenView
link to specifics
http://www.icrc.org/ihl.nsf/FULL/570?OpenDocument
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