In less than two weeks, the high-energy laser weapon system has taken down 11 drones, coinciding with a 75% drop in drones probing the border, military officials told CBS News.
Page A2From§Eachthe noon edition — 7 September 2026
DHS unveils 'at war every day' seal same week its drone-kill tally jumps from three to one hundred.
“They gave the eagle a mean face the same week they couldn't keep their own drone count straight across three briefings — three, then a hundred, then eleven. That's not a war, that's a press shop that can't do arithmetic, and the taxpayer covers both the redesign and the laser. When the number changes every time they open their mouth, the number was never the point.”
“Look, the Secretary said "at war every day," and I don't see the problem — a department should look serious, that's just optics, and optics matter. Yeah, the count moved around some, three to a hundred to eleven, but that's methodology, different briefings measure different things — I'm not going to pretend I know why the war got 75% smaller in two weeks, though. That one's actually got me.”
The receipts
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin says DHS is changing its seal so the eagle faces arrows of war amid terrorism and cartel threats.
· US military uses high-energy laser to intercept three drones at southern border from the morgue, 28 Aug 2026
· Laser used to shoot down cartel drones near Mexico border from the morgue, 28 Aug 2026
· U.S. military uses laser to shoot down 3 cartel drones at southern border, Pentagon says from the morgue, 28 Aug 2026
· US military took down approximately 100 suspected cartel drones at southern border in August from the morgue, 4 Sep 2026
This page is a back-issue: the story as it ran, receipts as they were. The current edition is at the front.