Report: Marine Corps Delayed 'Urgently Needed' Laser Weapon

The military needlessly delayed by six months an urgently needed, nonlethal laser weapon that could have saved the lives of U.S. Marines and Iraqi civilians, according to a report released today by the Pentagon's inspector general.

"Delays left Marines deployed to Iraq in 2006 without a critical nonlethal weapon to more effectively perform security missions for nearly 6 months," Richard Jolliffe, the assistant inspector general, wrote in a memo accompanying the main report, which examines the Marines' effort to procure the lasers.

The problem dates back to a 2005 request by the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force in Iraq for nonlethal blinding lasers -- sometimes called laser dazzlers -- that could be used to warn drivers approaching military checkpoints. The U.S. military at the time was facing a rash of car bombs, which in turn prompted a number of cases in which civilians were shot after failing to heed Marines' warnings to stop.

Laser dazzlers were seen a way to solve two problems. The intense beams of light would alert drivers of a checkpoint. And for potential bombers who ignored those warnings, the lasers would temporarily blind them, making it harder for them to attack the checkpoint.

But bureaucratic bungling delayed by months efforts to provide the much-needed lasers, according to the inspector general's investigation.

"The Marine Corps took 15 months to process this urgent request for a nonlethal laser dazzler capability that could have been fulfilled 6 months earlier had Marine Corps leadership at two commands exercised sufficient oversight and effectively monitored the progress of the urgent request," the report said.

It concluded, however, there was no criminal negligence.

Franz Gayl, a Marine Corps science adviser whose concerns about the delay in procuring the laser dazzler prompted the initial investigation, criticized the final report as "weak." He said it failed to include many key details.

The report "lacks factual accuracy and balanced inclusion of facts," Gayl wrote in a memo, in response to an earlier draft he was provided with for review. Gayl provided a copy of his memo to AOL News.

Though the report agrees with the contention, originally made by Gayl, that the Marine Corps needlessly delayed providing the lifesaving dazzlers, it lays part of the blame on the decision to initially buy a compact high-powered laser from a Connecticut company called LE Systems. That laser, the inspector general's report claimed, did not pass safety testing.

Ti Casazza, the president of LE Systems, called the military testing "completely flawed" and noted that the company's laser was independently tested for safety. Gayl, in his memo to the inspector general on the report, agrees with Casazza's claim on safety and argues that the company's laser was "superior" to the alternatives.

Gayl, who has sought protection as a whistle-blower, is on paid administrative leave. He says he has been targeted for retaliation for his efforts to draw attention to the Marine Corps' failure to buy lifesaving equipment such as laser dazzlers and armored vehicles that protect against roadside bombs.