Necessary Roughness

AP reports (link dead) that the Secretary of the Air Force recommends trying nonlethal weapons on civilian mobs before deploying them to the battlefield.

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.”

I wonder if he feels the same way about lethal force. Why do we have an air force secretary who cares more about the world press than killing the enemy and breaking things?