BBC: White phosphorus: weapon on the edge

[leftchick]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4442988.stm

<snip>

The debate about WP centres partly though not wholly on whether it is really a chemical weapon. Such weapons are outlawed by the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) to which the United States is a party.

<snip>

"No it's not forbidden by the CWC if it is used within the context of a military application which does not require or does not intend to use the toxic properties of white phosphorus. White phosphorus is normally used to produce smoke, to camouflage movement.

"If that is the purpose for which the white phosphorus is used, then that is considered under the Convention legitimate use.

"If on the other hand the toxic properties of white phosphorus, the caustic properties, are specifically intended to be used as a weapon, that of course is prohibited, because the way the Convention is structured or the way it is in fact applied, any chemicals used against humans or animals that cause harm or death through the toxic properties of the chemical are considered chemical weapons."

[Briar]

1. I don't know what they mean by "on the edge"

It is a horrible, cruel, inhuman weapon. The very fact that the US military denied they were using it shows they are well aware that by using it they behave as Saddam did. No matter that it is, in terms of technical nicety, legal if used directly against enemy combatants - it is still disgusting to use it at all. And to use it in an urban setting where civilians are certain to be involved just makes it even more atrocious.

[PDJane]

2. The idea is

that it is technically not a chemical weapon, but its use in Fallujah made it one.......so although the US is technically OK, the actually usage of the weapon is not OK.

[Briar]

3. Yes

but that doesn't make it okay. We can't let them get away with such sophistry.

[PDJane]

4. No,

It's not OK, but it is how this administration spins its atrocities.

It's just another war crime to add to the list.

[EuroObserver]

5. Chemical weapon burns (warning, graphic):

Worth repeating. More here: http://dahrjamailiraq.com/gallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=album32

Home Page here: http://dahrjamailiraq.com/

<snip>

Dahr Jamail's Iraq Dispatches
News From Inside Iraq

Weary of the overall failure of the US media to accurately report on the realities of the war in Iraq for the Iraqi people and US soldiers, Dahr Jamail went to Iraq to report on the war himself.

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Dahr has spent a total of 8 months in occupied Iraq as one of only a few independent US journalists in the country. Dahr uses the DahrJamailIraq.com website and his popular mailing list to disseminate his dispatches.