Paging Dr. Strangelove...

So Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne has suggested that the military test its experimental non-lethal weapons on US civilians because -- and this is brilliant -- they may not be so non-lethal after all. Here's what CNN has to say:

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."

OK. So I wholeheartedly agree that we shouldn't be going out and injuring or possibly killing foreigners with untested weapons (or tested weapons for that matter, but that's just me), but I'm really trying to get my head around how it follows that we should therefore test them on US citizens.

Really, this sounds like something the Onion would print.