42 replies to this topic

[imminstmorals]

Hacktivism on the net isn't really much an issue

forgot to mention nanotech can v replicated

[imminstmorals]

Laser tech isn't really used in military
just publicity to make people feel safe, and looks apealling =D

[Lazarus Long]

Mind:
However, my mental jury is still out on lasers. It is really getting close to the time of great "promise and peril" as many futurists have opined.

I am putting this here though I think as Mind's post suggests (though perhaps not exactly what he meant) we might start seeing these as examples of the growing proliferation of ever more destructive weapons and interests that seek to wield them. I suggest it long past when we should be investing an equal effort in making the use of these weapons obsolete.

We should renew such serious efforts at rapprochement and dialog before all that is left is to fight to the death.

http://edition.cnn.c...n.ap/index.html


Anti-rocket laser cannon gets funding
Report: Company develops rifle that fires at right angles
Wednesday, October 29, 2003 Posted: 1527 GMT (11:27 PM HKT)


The U.S. Army's beam director is shown during tests at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.


JERUSALEM (AP) -- Israel and the U.S. are to spend at least $57 million for development of a laser cannon that can shoot down short-range missiles, an Israeli legislator and security officials said Tuesday.

A recent Israeli delegation successfully lobbied Congress to approve the new funding package for the joint U.S.-Israeli Nautilus laser weapon project, said Israeli lawmaker Yuval Steinitz, who was part of the delegation.

Israel wants the Nautilus to help protect its northern border towns from Katyusha rockets, fired by the Lebanese guerrilla group Hezbollah during Israel's 18-year occupation of southern Lebanon that ended in 2000. Israel claims that Hezbollah now has 11,000 rockets aimed at Israel.

Congress approved $57 million to fund the project, and Israel will also contribute funding, Steinitz said, but could not say how much.

There is, however, no public record of congressional approval for Nautilus funding. It may fall under the classified portion of the 2004 Defense Authorization bill, passed by Congress and signed by U.S. President George W. Bush on September 30.

The laser beam system was successfully tested at the U.S. White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, in February 1996. However, since then, development of the project had been held up by skeptics in the U.S. Congress, said an Israeli security official.

New funding is now needed to transform the technology into a practical weapon, said Steinitz, who is the chairman of the parliamentary foreign affairs and defense committee.

"Now we have to make it an efficient, compact weapon that can be used in the battlefield and in the war on terrorism," Steinitz said.

The Nautilus uses a high power radar to track and lock onto the incoming projectile. Then a Mid-Infrared Advanced Chemical Laser (MIRACL), which looks like a large spotlight, shoots out an intense beam that destroys the rocket.

The White Sands test marked the first time that a rocket has been destroyed in flight by a laser beam. The laser has also proved its ability to shoot down artillery shells.

Israeli security officials said that the potential to use this technology in the war against terrorism was a major factor in convincing Congress to renew support for the project.


Corner Shot said its new rifle is composed of two parts. The front, that can swivel from side to side, contains a pistol with a color camera mounted on top. The back section consists of the stock, trigger and a monitor.

"If the technology is developed, it will be applicable to many other military mechanisms," said Steinitz, "It could be a central mechanism in the future battlefield." Congress also approved a further $89 million for a second joint U.S.-Israeli project, the Arrow anti-ballistic missile system, which has already entered production, Steinitz said. The system is already operational.

Also Tuesday, the Maariv daily reported that a U.S.-Israeli company has developed a gun that can fire at right angles.

According to the report, the pistol, produced by the Florida-based Corner Shot Holdings, is being tested by the Israeli military and has already been bought by a number of special forces around the world.

A spokesman for the Israeli branch of the company refused to comment on the report.

Pictures of the weapon show a gun composed of two parts -- the front, that can swivel from side to side, containing a pistol with a color camera mounted on top, and the back section which consists of the stock, trigger and a monitor.

The unique weapon allows the soldier to remain behind cover, with only the barrel of the rifle exposed in the direction of the hostile fire, even at a sharp angle.

[Lazarus Long]

Because of the importance of this thread and how it overlaps Threats to Life I moved it into the Threats to Life Council. The issue of weapons of mass destruction is obvious and thus it is self evident we should pay attention to this trend that bodes so ill.

http://story.news.ya...y_bioweapons_dc

CIA Says Experts See 'Darker Bioweapons Future'
Fri Nov 14, 5:11 PM ET Science - Reuters
By Tabassum Zakaria

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A panel of outside experts told the CIA (news - web sites) that advances in technology due to genomic research could produce the worst known diseases and the "most frightening" biological weapons, a CIA report said on Friday.

"The effects of some of these engineered biological agents could be worse than any disease known to man," the panel told the CIA.

The unclassified two-page CIA report dated Nov. 3, 2003, and titled "The Darker Bioweapons Future," was posted on the Federation of American Scientists Web site at http:/www.fas.org/irp/cia/product/bw1103.pdf .

It summed up a January workshop of a panel of non-government science experts who discussed with the CIA the potential threat from new biological weapons.

Growth in biotechnology and a knowledge explosion due to the genomic revolution which provided an understanding of genes and how they work could be used in unpredictable ways, the panel warned.

"The same science that may cure some of our worst diseases could be used to create the world's most frightening weapons," the report said.

In the next decade or beyond, some of the unconventional pathogens that could arise included binary biological warfare agents that only become effective when two components are combined, such as a mild pathogen and its antidote, the panel of experts said.

There could be development of "designer" biological warfare agents created to be antibiotic-resistant or evade an immune response, weaponized gene therapy vectors that cause permanent change in the victim's genetic makeup, or a "stealth" virus which could lie dormant inside the victim for an extended period before being triggered, the report said.


STEALTH VIRUS ATTACK

One panelist gave as an example the possibility of a stealth virus attack that could cripple a large portion of people in their forties with severe arthritis, leaving a country with massive health and economic problems.

"The resulting diversity of new BW (biological warfare) agents could enable such a broad range of attack scenarios that it would be virtually impossible to anticipate and defend against," the report said. "As a result, there could be a considerable lag time in developing effective biodefense measures."

Traditional intelligence methods for monitoring development of weapons of mass destruction "could prove inadequate" in dealing with the threat from advanced biological weapons, the report said.

Detecting the development of novel bioengineered pathogens will increasingly depend on human intelligence and require a closer working relationship between the intelligence and biological sciences community, the report said.

One panelist proposed that the bioscience community help government by acting as a "living sensor web" at international conferences, in university labs and through informal networks, to identify and alert about new technical advances with weaponization potential, the report said.

"The quality of intelligence can only improve from the rough and tumble of peer review and outside input," said Steven Aftergood, director of the government secrecy project at the Federation of American Scientists.

"In the past, CIA has been completely insular, they have been unwilling to engage with outside experts," he said, "and so this is a welcome departure from that norm."

[Mind]

Here is an article about the obvious trend toward robotic warfare.

Robots for No Man's Land
Defense Companies Developing the 'Brains' to Remake War

By Yuki Noguchi
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, January 30, 2004; Page E01


The education of Stryker, an 18-ton military monster truck, begins in the warehouse lab of General Dynamics in Westminster, Md.

There, Stryker, one of the U.S. Army's newest infantry vehicles, is fitted with a "ladar" scanner, the equivalent of a mounted pair of eyes that see by emitting 400,000 laser and radar beams and snap 120 camera images every second. Its brain -- a 40-pound computer system tucked inside its body -- processes that data, and makes instant judgments on how to act and where to go.

The eight-wheeled Stryker has already seen service in Iraq as an armored troop carrier with human drivers. The idea is to teach Stryker to accomplish a mission on its own, as a robot. By 2010, robotic Strykers and similar contrivances are slated to be in use as all-purpose battlefield vehicles, surveying battlegrounds, sniffing for land mines, or transporting supplies and troops to the front line.

An unmanned Stryker is part of the military's effort to move more machines into battle to save both money and lives. "Well before the end of the century, there will be no people on the battlefield," said Robert Finkelstein, a professor at the University of Maryland's School of Management and Technology.

Companies throughout the defense industry, among them United Defense LP of Arlington, Lockheed Martin Corp. of Bethesda and the smaller Gaithersburg-based Robotics Research LLC, are developing robotic systems to fill a variety of military functions. For General Dynamics' robotic systems department, making robot brains -- called autonomous navigation systems -- represents the largest business deal in the unit's 14-year history. In November, it won a $185 million award to develop between 30 and 60 automated-navigation prototypes that can be fitted onto vehicles of different size and function, not just Stryker vehicles.........

Read the full story here

[Mind]

Another article about the future potential battelfield in Space

The U.S. Air Force has filed a futuristic flight plan, one that spells out need for an armada of space weaponry and technology for the near-term and in years to come.

Called the Transformation Flight Plan, the 176-page document offers a sweeping look at how best to expand America’s military space tool kit.

The use of space is highlighted throughout the report, with the document stating that space superiority combines the following three capabilities: protect space assets, deny adversaries’ access to space, and quickly launch vehicles and operate payloads into space to quickly replace space assets that fail or are damaged/destroyed. 

The U.S. Air Force's Air Vehicles Directorate is developing a Space Operations Vehicle to serve as the reusable launch vehicle component of the proposed Air Force Space Command (AFSPC) Military Space Plane. The SOV integrated concept is not a specific design concept, but rather a set of capabilities. Desired attributes for the SOV include responsive on-demand launch, high sortie rates, short turnaround times, and aircraft-like systems operability.
 
The U.S. Air Force's proposed Long Range Strike Aircraft (LRSA) will use technologies enabling a rapid global delivery of force from bases located in the continental United States.
 
A Military Space Plane could carry several Common Aero Vehicles, each containing multiple submunitions. Dropped from space, smart bombs and other high-velocity penetrators would strike enemy targets on Earth. CREDIT: U.S. Air Force

RASCAL's concept of operations. It is designed to place small payloads in orbit on a moment’s notice by launching them from a high-speed, high-altitude aircraft that eliminates a large and expensive first stage booster. CREDIT: DARPA

From space global laser engagement, air launched anti-satellite missiles, to space-based radio frequency energy weapons and hypervelocity rod bundles heaved down to Earth from space – the U.S. Air Force flight plan portrays how valued space operations has become for the warfighter and in protecting the nation from chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and high explosive attack.

Now to far-term needs

A number of space-related transformational capabilities are described in the document. While some of these are seen as needed in the near-term (until 2010), others are described as mid-term efforts in 2010-2015, while some efforts are viewed as far-term, beyond 2015.

Among a roster of projected Air Force space projects:

Air-Launched Anti-Satellite Missile: Small air-launched missile capable of intercepting satellites in low Earth orbit and seen as a past 2015 development.

Counter Satellite Communications System: Provides the capability by 2010 to deny and disrupt an adversary's space-based communications and early warning.

Counter Surveillance and Reconnaissance System: A near-term program to deny, disrupt and degrade adversary space-based surveillance and reconnaissance systems.

Evolutionary Air and Space Global Laser Engagement (EAGLE) Airship Relay Mirrors: Significantly extends the range of both the Airborne Laser and Ground-Based Laser by using airborne, terrestrial or space-based lasers in conjunction with space-based relay mirrors to project different laser powers and frequencies to achieve a broad range of effects from illumination to destruction. 

Ground-Based Laser: Propagates laser beams through the atmosphere to Low-Earth Orbit satellites to provide robust, post-2015 defensive and offensive space control capability.

Hypervelocity Rod Bundles: Provides the capability to strike ground targets anywhere in the world from space.

Orbital Deep Space Imager: A mid-term predictive, near-real time common operating picture of space to enable space control operations.

Orbital Transfer Vehicle: Significantly adds flexibility and protection of U.S. space hardware in post-2015 while enabling on-orbit servicing of those assets.

Rapid Attack Identification Detection and Reporting System: A family of systems that will provide near-term capability to automatically identify when a space system is under attack.

Space-Based Radio Frequency Energy Weapon: A far-term constellation of satellites containing high-power radio-frequency transmitters that possess the capability to disrupt/destroy/disable a wide variety of electronics and national-level command and control systems. It would typically be used as a non-kinetic anti-satellite weapon.

Space-Based Space Surveillance System: A near-term constellation of optical sensing satellites to track and identify space forces in deep space to enable offensive and defensive counterspace operations.

Read the full story here at Space.com

[advancedatheist]

http://www.gateway2r.../art_217290.php

02 March 2004 10:56
The Mark of Doom

In the not-so-distant future, a new kind of weapon could appear that would change the balance of political power in the world. This main principle behind this weapon: seek and destroy according to genetics.

Vasili Sychev

American scientists have declared that in ten years they will succeed in creating a radically new type of biological weapon. This weapon would be capable of infecting people according to a genetically predetermined marker such as skin color or eye shape. Infection could have a delayed effect or only begin once a certain type of medicine was taken. A recent closed seminar held by the CIA was devoted to the topic. The event took place as part of the Project for the New American Century.

A slow sickness

Scientists have been exploring the possibilities of selective biological weapons for some time now. This is roughly how these weapons would work. Genetic information is implanted into bacteria’s “programming,” reflecting the gene structure or gene combination of a certain targeted group of people. Once the programmed bacteria enter someone’s system, they “recognize” their target and kill the person. If the genetic structure of the infected person does not correspond, the microbe dies without harming him.
Even specialists will have a hard time differentiating bacterial ethnic cleansing from a regular epidemic, if only because the countries leading the development of these weapons could purposefully misinform the public. There will be few direct clues.
Another difficulty is that this weapon could have a delayed effect. It could be turned on by a trigger mechanism, meaning it could target not only specific people but also people under very specific conditions. This means that illness could be delayed not just by days but for an indefinite period of time. Yet the moment the infected person, say, comes down with strep throat and takes antibiotics, the bacteria begin to multiply, leading to a severe illness that eludes diagnosis.
“It is already possible today to create antibiotic resistant cultures,” Alexander Prozorov, a professor in the microorganism genetics lab at the Russian Academy of Science Institute for General Genetics, told Expert. The most striking examples of this type of culture are streptomycin-dependent bacteria that only grow in the presence of the antibiotic streptomycin. This will make it hard for doctors to do much, as traditional pharmaceuticals won’t help. On the contrary, treatment will only make the patient sicker.

Political germs

Yet the most terrifying new possibility is the hypothetical biological weapon that could infect people according to genetic markers. Not only would it allow for genocide; it would be created specifically for that purpose. A recent report by the British Medical Association stated that “the rapid progress in genetics could become the basis for ethnic cleansing on an unheard of scale in the near future.”
Three years ago, ideologues like US Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz and PNAC Director William Crystal were already discussing genetic weapons. They recommended that the Pentagon consider the possibility for using this type of weapon not only to successfully wage war, but also to reconfigure world politics. According to a PNAC report, genetic weapons could completely change the politics of the entire planet: “cutting-edge biological warfare targeting a certain genotype could turn the reign of terrorism into a politically useful tool.”
According to information from PNAC, Israel has also recently begun to work actively on mutagenic weapons. Israel geneticists confirm that Arabs carry a unique gene that no one else in the world has. This gene forms the basis for the Israeli research, believe American experts.
Things look far more frightening, in fact. Genetic weapons could do more than destroy an ethnic group. They could kill according to a person’s “usefulness” or “talents.” American journalist and bestselling author Thom Hartmann has argued that it would even be possible to kill those with the gene for attention deficit disorder. This means that if you are easily distracted and have a hard time concentrating (there could be other selection criteria as well), you could end up marked for destruction.

We will survive

Fortunately, it is not as easy to create a selective biological weapon as some scientists are claiming. Though it may be possible to create bacteria that multiple only when a person takes a specific medication, the creation of an effective genetic weapon that would not harm the developers themselves seems unrealistic in the foreseeable future.
“It is hard to imagine how a microbe would determine the presence or absence of a certain gene or its structure. Even a researcher armed with the last word in scientific technology has a hard time doing this. It would impossible for bacteria to accomplish such a task,” believes Prozorov.
And so on. Even if bacteria could learn how to identify specific genes, how would this information be transformed into infection? That bacteria multiply in the presence of certain antibiotics is clear, but how would information about eye and hair color turn into certain doom for the world’s blue-eyed blonds? For this kind of weapon to become a reality, its creators would have to stuff the bacteria with a powerful “computer” to identify genes and at the same time arm them with the means to begin an infection.
There is one more reason why this kind of biological weapon is unlikely to be as effective as the ideologues would wish. As Nazi doctor Josef Mengele put it, “Scratch a Frenchman and find an African.” Humanity has existed for many millennia. In the context of all our past tribal and intertribal connections, it is not far from the truth to say that we are all brothers. “Over the many years of human existence, ethnics groups have intermingled to such an extent that the genetic structures determining ethnic identity have blurred and become difficult to recognize,” notes Prozorov.

[communicator]

Most of this discussion has been on offensive weaponry and strikes. The United States has grown as a military power from our defensive posture, or the "Carry a big stick" philosphy. The cold war was based upon the idea of first strike capability, yet Reagan introduced "Star Wars" and missile defense (as well as first strike aircraft such as the B-2). The theory of survival by Mutual Assured Destruction became the catch phrase, all or nothing.
What if we could assure survival of our country and society through the development of life within a digital enviroment. I don't enjoy using this analogy, but the "Matrix" brought this theory into our homes. Imagine the power of a defense that would allow a country to outlive an Extinction Level Event. As well as, the possiblities of continuing a war from the digital enviroment to completely destroy the opposing force, utilizing advanced weaponry and reconsiance machinery such as stealth aircraft / seacraft, and satellites. Take this theory even farther to utilize advanced robotics and cloning to re-integrate humanity to earth once environmental conditions recover.
I'll admit this is purelly science fiction, but imagine the potential of technology as a defensive weapon.

[Mind]

The future is now

Army prepares "robo-soldier" for Iraq

[Lazarus Long]

Well besides recent developments in body armor, reactive armor and personalized stealth there appears to have been a set back in plans to deploy some of the less than lethal weapons.

Is it the price tag?

Or are the technical difficulties common to such new weapon systems getting ahead of all the hype?

http://news.yahoo.co...GZ1BHNlYwMxNzAw

Military's Energy-Beam Weapons Delayed
By BRIAN BERGSTEIN, AP Technology Writer
Sat Jul 9, 8:31 PM ET

ARLINGTON, Va. - For years, the U.S. military has explored a new kind of firepower that is instantaneous, precise and virtually inexhaustible: beams of electromagnetic energy. "Directed-energy" pulses can be throttled up or down depending on the situation, much like the phasers on "Star Trek" could be set to kill or merely stun.

Such weapons are now nearing fruition. But logistical issues have delayed their battlefield debut — even as soldiers in Iraq encounter tense urban situations in which the nonlethal capabilities of directed energy could be put to the test.

"It's a great technology with enormous potential, but I think the environment's not strong for it," said James Jay Carafano, a senior fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation who blames the military and Congress for not spending enough on getting directed energy to the front. "The tragedy is that I think it's exactly the right time for this."

The hallmark of all directed-energy weapons is that the target — whether a human or a mechanical object — has no chance to avoid the shot because it moves at the speed of light. At some frequencies, it can penetrate walls.

Since the ammunition is merely light or radio waves, directed-energy weapons are limited only by the supply of electricity. And they don't involve chemicals or projectiles that can be inaccurate, accidentally cause injury or violate international treaties.

"When you're dealing with people whose full intent is to die, you can't give people a choice of whether to comply," said George Gibbs, a systems engineer for the Marine Expeditionary Rifle Squad Program who oversees directed-energy projects. "What I'm looking for is a way to shoot everybody, and they're all OK."

Almost as diverse as the electromagnetic spectrum itself, directed-energy weapons span a wide range of incarnations.

Among the simplest forms are inexpensive, handheld lasers that fill people's field of vision, inducing a temporary blindness to ensure they stop at a checkpoint, for example. Some of these already are used in Iraq.

Other radio-frequency weapons in development can sabotage the electronics of land mines, shoulder-fired missiles or automobiles — a prospect that interests police departments in addition to the military.

A separate branch of directed-energy research involves bigger, badder beams: lasers that could obliterate targets tens of miles away from ships or planes. Such a strike would be so surgical that, as some designers put it at a recent conference here, the military could plausibly deny responsibility.

The flexibility of directed-energy weapons could be vital as wide-scale, force-on-force conflict becomes increasingly rare, many experts say. But the technology has been slowed by such practical concerns as how to shrink beam-firing antennas and power supplies.

Military officials also say more needs to be done to assure the international community that directed-energy weapons set to stun rather than kill will not harm noncombatants.

Such issues recently led the Pentagon to delay its Project Sheriff, a plan to outfit vehicles in Iraq with a combination of lethal and nonlethal weaponry — including a highly touted microwave-energy blaster that makes targets feel as if their skin is on fire. Sheriff has been pushed at least to 2006.

"It was best to step back and make sure we understand where we can go with it," said David Law, science and technology chief for the Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Directorate.

The directed-energy component in the project is the Active Denial System, developed by Air Force researchers and built by Raytheon Co. It produces a millimeter-wavelength burst of energy that penetrates 1/64 of an inch into a person's skin, agitating water molecules to produce heat. The sensation is certain to get people to halt whatever they are doing.

Military investigators say decades of research have shown that the effect ends the moment a person is out of the beam, and no lasting damage is done as long as the stream does not exceed a certain duration. How long? That answer is classified, but it apparently is in the realm of seconds, not minutes. The range of the beam also is secret, though it is said to be further than small arms fire, so an attacker could be repelled before he could pull a trigger.

Although Active Denial works — after a $51 million, 11-year investment — it has proven to be a "model for how hard it is to field a directed-energy nonlethal weapon," Law said.

For example, the prototype system can be mounted on a Humvee but the vehicle has to stop in order to fire the beam. Using the vehicle's electrical power "is pushing its limits," he added.

Still, Raytheon is pressing ahead with smaller, portable, shorter-range spinoffs of Active Denial for embassies, ships or other sensitive spots.

One potential customer is the Department of Energy. Researchers at its Sandia National Laboratories are testing Active Denial as a way to repel intruders from nuclear facilities. But Sandia researchers say the beams won't be in place until 2008 at the earliest because so much testing remains.

In the meantime, Raytheon is trying to drum up business for an automated airport-defense project known as Vigilant Eagle that detects shoulder-fired missiles and fries their electronics with an electromagnetic wave. The system, which would cost $25 million per airport, has proven effective against a "real threat," said Michael Booen, a former Air Force colonel who heads Raytheon's directed-energy work. He refused to elaborate.

For Peter Bitar, the future of directed energy boils down to money.

Bitar heads Indiana-based Xtreme Alternative Defense Systems Ltd., which makes small blinding lasers used in Iraq. But his real project is a nonlethal energy device called the StunStrike.

Basically, it fires a bolt of lightning. It can be tuned to blow up explosives, possibly to stop vehicles and certainly to buzz people. The strike can be made to feel as gentle as "broom bristles" or cranked up to deliver a paralyzing jolt that "takes a few minutes to wear off."

Bitar, who is of Arab descent, believes StunStrike would be particularly intimidating in the Middle East because, he contends, people there are especially afraid of lightning.

At present, StunStrike is a 20-foot tower that can zap things up to 28 feet away. The next step is to shrink it so it could be wielded by troops and used in civilian locales like airplane cabins or building entrances.

Xtreme ADS also needs more tests to establish that StunStrike is safe to use on people.

But all that takes money — more than the $700,000 Bitar got from the Pentagon from 2003 until the contract recently ended.

Bitar is optimistic StunStrike will be perfected, either with revenue from the laser pointers or a partnership with a bigger defense contractor. In the meantime, though, he wishes soldiers in Iraq already had his lightning device on difficult missions like door-to-door searches.

"It's very frustrating when you know you've got a solution that's being ignored," he said. "The technology is the easy part."

___

On the Net:

Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Directorate: https://www.jnlwd.usmc.mil

[chris_h]

Well besides recent developments in body armor, reactive armor and personalized stealth there appears to have been a set back in plans to deploy some of the less than lethal weapons.

Is it the price tag?

Or are the technical difficulties common to such new weapon systems getting ahead of all the hype?

I think the army/government wants to kill the enemy soldiers because the prisoners would be a problem. If the captured soldiers were let go after they were captured with non-lethal weapons they would probably start trying to kill again, and it would be impractical to keep them all in prison.

[knite]

OOOOhhh phasers.
On a side note, I was watching something on Discovery Times channel last night, about how the military went into afghanistan.
My mouth dropped. The power and preciseness is almost disgusting.
The military got a tip on a taliban meeting, so they sent a predator spy plane. The plane confirmed tip, pointed out the buildings that they did NOT want to hit (the mosque) and all this was fed directly to a c130(i think thats what it is.) gunship. The taliban came outside, army radio says fire at will, and boom, all the little white thermal dots running around are one by one just killed. The scariest thing ive ever seen. These guys were all talking a few seconds before, no idea what was about to happen.