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  •  In Hopes of Clarification (4.00 / 2)

    I posted this in another diary about the use of white phosphorus as an anti-personnel weapon.

    I'm a former officer in the US Army Chemical Corps.  My specialty was nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons.

    White phosphorus (WP or "Willy Pete") munitions are perfectly legal.  So are snow globes, bic pens, and ball peen hammers.  Using ANY of them to intentionally injure or kill an innocent civilian is illegal.  Even in combat.

    Yes, white phosphorus CAN be used as an anti-personnel weapon against an enemy combatant, just as we can use flame-throwers, napalm, flame fougasse systems, and fuel bombs.  However, WP is primarily used for illumination, as an agent in all types of ignition sources, and as an obscurant (smoke to hide movement, for example).  

    Use against unarmed civilians with indiscriminate targeting is illegal, despicable, and grounds for criminal prosecution.

    Hope this helps clear up some confusion.

    "If everyone is thinking alike, someone isn't thinking." -George S. Patton

    by vmibran on Thu Nov 10, 2005 at 06:49:48 AM PDT

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    •  Yep. Very much true... (none / 0)

      Now imagine yourself in combat in Fallujah.

      These enemy tactics make the interaction with civilians very difficult:

      1. Non-uniformed enemy. They don't wear ANY insignia.
      2. Weapons Caches. They don't have a concept of a "personal" weapon like we do. They don't check rifles out from the armorer and they don't get an Article 15 for losing it. They grab a weapon from their cache, fire on US soldiers, run, drop it back in the cache and go have sandwich.
      3. Actively use women and children as shields from which to fire weapons.

      That being said, our soldiers are trained from day one: "You are supposed to do the difficult." I guess this scenario means that it's just MORE difficult than before.

      But maybe we, in all our moral superiority, can cut them just a little slack.

      The Multinationals and the Religious Right have identical goals: Profit from war, ignorance and fear...and the GOP is their Party.

      by dj angst on Thu Nov 10, 2005 at 01:07:47 PM PDT

      [ Parent ]

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