Air Force Chief wants to test weapons on U.S. Civilians

The Republic continues to further devolve into fascism before my very eyes. I saw this piece on CNN.com Wednesday evening.

See full article on CNN.com: "WASHINGTON (AP) -- Nonlethal weapons such as high-power microwave devices should be used on American citizens in crowd-control situations before being used on the battlefield, the Air Force secretary said Tuesday.

The object is basically public relations. Domestic use would make it easier to avoid questions from others about possible safety considerations, said Secretary Michael Wynne.

"If we're not willing to use it here against our fellow citizens, then we should not be willing to use it in a wartime situation," said Wynne. "(Because) if I hit somebody with a nonlethal weapon and they claim that it injured them in a way that was not intended, I think that I would be vilified in the world press."

The Air Force has paid for research into nonlethal weapons, but he said the service is unlikely to spend more money on development until injury problems are reviewed by medical experts and resolved.

Nonlethal weapons generally can weaken people if they are hit with the beam. Some of the weapons can emit short, intense energy pulses that also can be effective in disabling some electronic devices."

I have some questions... do they tell people they are testing new weapons? How do they define who in the crowd these "non-lethal weapons" are used on? What kind of reimbursement do the "victims" of this test get if it has unexpected or unforeseen side effects or is not-so-non-lethal? We've already seen how some Cops get trigger happy with tasers...I'd expect there'd be some of that too.

Don't get me wrong I'm all for human testing (especially in the medical field) where it's voluntary. But in all likelihood, they aren't going to tell the crowds upfront that they are testing new non-lethal weapons for the Air Force.

I have a better idea. Police officers are tasered in training, maybe the Air Force should test "non-lethal" (I mean come on, it is non-lethal) weapons on themselves.