Umm, #1, I don't watch Fox News, in fact, I don't watch much TV at all. Secondly, it is in fact, "peace" groups protesting these weapons. These groups protest any new weapons technology, regardless of whether it is "more humane", the same way anti-nuke groups protest cleaner fission reactors, or nuclear waste disposal sites, because they are opposed to nuclear power itself. And puhlease, "riot control" non-lethal weapons are not going to be used in wartime. You really think the US Army is going to go out with "superglue/foam/soaker" guns against AK-47s?
Most of these non-lethal weapons are being developed for crowd control/snatch and grab/rescue operations, not military warfare, as alternatives to rubber bullets and bean bags which are too lethal and not able to subdue large crowds. Many non-lethals fall into the category of super-lube weapons, super foam guns, super slime-glue guns, "heat" guns (microwave), "vortex" guns (wind machines), fog machines, and ultra-sound.
The idea that the US military is using non-lethals to sell us on a bloodless war where no one gets killed is ludicrous. I haven't see any such assertions from the government. What we are being sold is "minimal collateral damage" weapons (smart bombs), and "minimal american lives" standoff weapons (fight from a distance, remote control)
When Bush or Rumsfeld gets up and says "today, we can use lasers, superfoam, and microwaves to win his war without killing anyone", I'll start worrying about non-lethals propaganda.
Until then, this issue is a Red Herring being sold by leftist groups to oppose any new weapons development because of their hatred of the military industry complex, and luddite fantasies, you know, the kids who grew up watching OCP in Robocop or Cyberdyne in T2 and thinking that Boeing and Lockheed executives work the same way.
At best, you could make a claim that cops are more likely to use a non-lethals on crowds because it is perceived as being less damaging. You would be correct. Cops use pepperspray, tear gas, and water cannons more than they resort to rubber bullets. AND? So what. I don't have a problem with police using water cannons, and I wouldn't have a problem with them using "super foam" or "super lube" on mobs. Just because "super foam" is new, doesn't mean it's any more evil than water cannon.
The biggest problem with non-lethals is that they aren't. They are "less lethal". The Russian "mystery gas" used to storm the Moscow theater is the best example. Pretty much anything can kill someone. A taser shock, a blow to the kidneys. There's no such thing as a weapon that's 100% non-lethal.
And frankly, comparing US posession of battlefield "dazzler" prototypes to rogue states possessing WMD is quite ludicrous. Yet another leftist fantasy that the P5 security council states should give up all their weapons just because rogue states have to. You know, those nuts who show up in threads defending North Korea's right to have nuclear weapons just because we have them.
p.s. it's not just "leftists" I'll concede that there are also the right wing nuts who watched too many Stephen King movies about "the shop" and X-Files exotic government conspiracies/weapons that criticize these weapons. Those types who believe in Area 51, "chemtrails", CIA mind control via microwaves, who build bunkers, and prepare for survival when the end comes, and the CIA/Aliens come for everyone. But they don't have the legitimacy that, for example, "Human Rights" Watch has.
