EFP = WMD? WTF?

According to the press release, the Michigan militiamen who were just arrested face a count of attempting to kill local law enforcement officers using improvised explosives "with Explosively Formed Projectiles" which "constitute weapons of mass destruction."

Now, I've always thought that the definition of WMD was pretty stupid - putting chlorine gas and thermonuclear warheads in the same category makes for a pretty meaningless category - but this latest usage needs a bit more explanation.

An IED designed to punch through armor is now a WMD? By that standard we've found WMD in Iraq - and I'm pretty sure that would be news to the rest of the world. I get that a prosecutor is going to reach for the stars - but the vast chasm between a homemade bomb that can destroy an armored vehicle and a bomb that splits the atom demands more precise terminology.

A roadside bomb is not a weapon of mass destruction - it can be an instrument in an act of treason without being hyped to the level of something that can kill millions.

Enough with the fear mongering, eh? We're still full up from the last administration.

Later update:
Newshoggers has a fine observation: Aren't EFPs something that requires state backing to create?

Late update:
Here's the section of US code they are citing in the indictment (PDF) defining their terms:

(2) the term “weapon of mass destruction” means—

(A) any destructive device as defined in section 921 of this title;

(B) any weapon that is designed or intended to cause death or serious bodily injury through the release, dissemination, or impact of toxic or poisonous chemicals, or their precursors;

(C) any weapon involving a biological agent, toxin, or vector (as those terms are defined in section 178 of this title); or

(D) any weapon that is designed to release radiation or radioactivity at a level dangerous to human life; and

-and here's the relevant language from section 921 which turns all destructive devices into WMDs:

(4) The term “destructive device” means—

(A) any explosive, incendiary, or poison gas—

(i) bomb,

(ii) grenade,

(iii) rocket having a propellant charge of more than four ounces,

(iv) missile having an explosive or incendiary charge of more than one-quarter ounce,

(v) mine, or

(vi) device similar to any of the devices described in the preceding clauses;

Which translates into - a person who sends anything that could be defined as a 'bomb' through the US mail can be charged with using WMD.

None of which is to suggest such a actions aren't vile or deserving of severe punishment - I'm just pointing out how stupid it is to have a category of WMD in the US Code that equates a half-ounce incendiary with a sarin gas or an H bomb.

I would hope such a distinction would be captured by other statues. But mostly, I'm just sick of the alarmist tone that will suggest that militia members have WMDs - when they're really talking about homemade bombs.