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Air Force chief: Test weapons on testy U.S. mobs
CNN dot com ^ | 09/12/2006 | Associated Press

Posted on 09/12/2006 6:36:50 PM PDT by xrp

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."

(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: dumbideas; michaelwynne; wynne
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To: Hawk1976

nutters?

Do you listen to Hugh Hewitt?? : - ) Great! Also a great word.


41 posted on 09/12/2006 10:30:25 PM PDT by jackibutterfly (.)
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To: PISANO
Am I losing my mind or does this make sense to anyone?
It works great in our peaceful world where every action force is a peace keeping force and nonviolent/nonlethal peace establishment campaigns quell any problems.
The aircraft overfly the area disabling everyone in the area and then the peacekeepers drop in and detain everybody. Oh, a few have to go to the reeducation centers, but they always turn out to be good productive members of society afterwards.
Everyone lives, goes back to work and keeps on spending...

Mooooo
too morbid?

42 posted on 09/13/2006 2:30:18 AM PDT by philman_36
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To: Spktyr
It's hard to claim that US forces are using a "death ray" when you've been zapped by the same thing the last time you started a riot at the G8 meeting.
Details of US microwave-weapon tests revealed
VOLUNTEERS taking part in tests of the Pentagon's "less-lethal" microwave weapon were banned from wearing glasses or contact lenses due to safety fears. The precautions raise concerns about how safe the Active Denial System (ADS) weapon would be if used in real crowd-control situations.
The ADS fires a 95-gigahertz microwave beam, which is supposed to heat skin and to cause pain but no physical damage (New Scientist, 27 October 2001, p 26).

SNIP...One person suffered a burn in a previous test when the beam was accidentally used on the wrong power setting.
43 posted on 09/13/2006 2:41:19 AM PDT by philman_36
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To: WestVirginiaRebel
I also wouldn't mind seeing them used at the border.
The sonic devices as well...

The long range acoustic device (LRAD) is a crowd-control and combatant-deterrent sonic weapon...

44 posted on 09/13/2006 2:50:01 AM PDT by philman_36
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To: xrp
So when is the next DNC press release? Can they set up the equipment in time?
45 posted on 09/13/2006 2:55:07 AM PDT by Caipirabob (Communists... Socialists... Democrats...Traitors... Who can tell the difference?)
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To: xrp

The AP and CNN editor did a horrible hack job. This story has nothing to do with the headline.


46 posted on 09/13/2006 2:58:33 AM PDT by ChadGore (VISUALIZE 62,041,268 Bush fans. We Vote.)
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To: xrp

WTF is the Air Force doing with non-lethal weapons?

The entire point of the military is to kill people and break things. If you want to send a message, the only message that non-lethal weapons send it that we aren't serious and if you mess with the U.S., you'll live to tell about it.

Do your job, General, kill someone.


47 posted on 09/13/2006 3:00:07 AM PDT by Lonesome in Massachussets (NYT Headline: 'Protocols of the Learned Elders of CBS: Fake But Accurate, Experts Say.')
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To: Hilltop

NON-LETHAL

We already use non-lethal weapons.... Tazers, water cannons, rubber bullets, etc.

I don't recall them ever using those in wartime. Do you have a citation showing where the US has used them in wartime?


48 posted on 09/13/2006 3:04:31 AM PDT by xzins (Retired Army Chaplain and proud of it! Supporting our troops means praying for them to WIN!)
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To: PISANO
We are worried that we may harm someone ON THE BATTLEFIELD in a NON leathal way, that was unintended?

Has our nation gone mad?

Am I losing my mind or does this make sense to anyone?


Please reread the article.

What the man is suggesting is a way to blunt the inevitable criticism in the left-wing press on the use of such weapons.

It makes a great deal of sense to me, after all, the operative word here is "non-lethal" and, as the accompanying picture of Code Pink suggests, would be used against the left-wing Marxists.

Actually, I would prefer that "little-less-than-non-lethal" weapons be used against Code Pink, International A. N. S. W. E. R., United for Peace and Justice and the rest of those goons who wish to see the United States fall.
49 posted on 09/13/2006 3:07:01 AM PDT by Beckwith (The dhimmicrats and liberal media have chosen sides and they've sided with the Jihadists.)
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To: Hilltop
I recall the tragic testing on African-Americans of the effects of syphillis.

Nothing personal but not only is this statement a leap of logic, it implies ("I recall") that you were there and are recalling a memory.

So, I ask you, were you a member of the John Andrew Hospital staff in the 1930s?

If not, that sentence should read "I have read that ..." or " I heard that ...", but to say, "I recall" meant you were there.
50 posted on 09/13/2006 3:14:15 AM PDT by Beckwith (The dhimmicrats and liberal media have chosen sides and they've sided with the Jihadists.)
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To: Hilltop; xzins
Think damnit.

xzins provided a clear interpretation of what the guy actually said, and is probably the only poster up to post 21 who actually critically read the article, and provided no commentary. Why do you jump all over xzins for interpreting what you either can't or were too lazy to?

Think damnit.

51 posted on 09/13/2006 3:15:06 AM PDT by Toby06
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To: Cold Heat

"LOL.....I have a suspicion that you are not kidding. It's kinda funny to me, and sorry if I sound trite, but this gizmo would see use as a replacement for a water cannon of something like it."

So use a water cannon.

"The last big bash was in Seattle, during the anarchist riots. This little microwave hotfoot would have been ideal. Look at all the injuries and busted up store fronts you would have prevented.....LOL"

And look at the extreme abuse of power that also took place. I guess what I find EXTREMELY offensive is the military proposing to experiment on US civilians to save terrorists pain and suffering.

Americans tend to chuckly sadly at the freedoms the Brits have lost. We are starting to see the same things here and this guys stupid suggestion is another step down the slope. What happens when they decide that church attendance is a hate crime and start using these tools on the congregation?


52 posted on 09/13/2006 3:21:38 AM PDT by driftdiver
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To: untrained skeptic; Toby06
As for those with strange heart problems or other preexisting conditions, I guess they should check with their doctor before rioting.

LOL!

53 posted on 09/13/2006 3:25:24 AM PDT by xzins (Retired Army Chaplain and proud of it! Supporting our troops means praying for them to WIN!)
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To: xrp
"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."

Well first off I don't give a Flying Flip about world opinion, they don't like us period. You give them money they say not enough your stingy, you give them freedom they claim your to violent, you let them be and they claim you don't care.

This "non-Lethal" crap is just that, how many times do we hear of a Non-Lethal tazer killing someone? At least once a month and thats just whats reported.

So if you want to use these weapons use them but don't attempt to justify their use domestically under the guise of " it's for our own good".

54 posted on 09/13/2006 3:32:09 AM PDT by Kakaze (Exterminate Islamofacism and Apologize for nothing.....except not doing it sooner!)
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To: driftdiver
" This little microwave hotfoot would have been ideal "

Just a question.....What about people with pacemakers, who happen to be either lawfully inside their residence or buisness, in the area where these microwaves are deployed?

Would they just be considered collateral domestic casualties now?

55 posted on 09/13/2006 3:36:57 AM PDT by Kakaze (Exterminate Islamofacism and Apologize for nothing.....except not doing it sooner!)
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To: xrp
And people want to know why I am a small government-libertarian.

Sheeesh!!

56 posted on 09/13/2006 3:38:50 AM PDT by muir_redwoods (Free Sirhan Sirhan, after all, the bastard who killed Mary Jo Kopechne is walking around free)
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To: xrp

One of those illegal immigrant rallies shoud be a target rich environment!


57 posted on 09/13/2006 3:42:56 AM PDT by StoneColdTaxHater
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To: xrp

Boy. I guess it's a good thing we didn't think this way in 1944. The army would have been using flamethrowers against us!

PC is lethal to its practitioners.


58 posted on 09/13/2006 5:03:57 AM PDT by RoadTest (- - - for without victory there is no survival. -Winston Churchill)
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To: xrp
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."

Unbelievable. This moron needs to be fired immediately. Any sissy who's concerned with how he looks in the 'world press' while he's fighting a war is unfit for duty.

59 posted on 09/13/2006 5:35:04 AM PDT by green iguana
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To: xrp

Using that logic, then we should use the MOAB on our own citizens before we use it in the battlefield.


60 posted on 09/13/2006 6:46:59 AM PDT by lormand (May the guns of one million AC-130s infest Islam-0-land)
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