kmi,
I have a few bones to pick with Alex Small, the almost Ph.D. None of my comments reflect on you, because you only posted what Mr. Small said.
First of all, he says: "Terrorists would need a large laser with a portable power supply and cooling system. Such systems are available, but they are bulky and expensive."
My comment to that is that if it would be a concerted terrorist attack, they would have the money. No question about it.
Second, Mr. Small says, "...teporary blindness is certainly dangerous. However... blinding a pilot for a few second is not necessarily enough to bring down a plane."
What if you're on finals 1,000 or 500 feet from touchdown and you can't see a thing? I don't think Mr. Small has ever piloted an aircraft, large or small. I have.
Thirdly, he says, "Realistically, the weapons system would cost a hundred thousand dollars..."
I don't think that is out of the reach of potential terrorist funds.
Then he says that the system would have to be dismantled so as not to leave a trace. That's where the fertilizer and diesel come in to place. They've done their job and now let's blow it up to cover our tracks.
If they are foreign terrorists, they'll disappear in a day or two. If they are domestic terrorists, the FBI will probably put the pieces together and eventually arrest someone. In any case, I was rather commenting on the international types.