U.S.: (Afghani) Militants Using Chemical Weapons (White Phosphorous)

[sabra]

Source: CBS News/AP

White Phosphorous Found In Dozens Of Attacks In Afghanistan, Military Claims

(AP) The U.S. military says it has documented 44 cases where militants in Afghanistan have used white phosphorus in attacks or where the weapons have been found in caches.

Maj. Jenny Willis says insurgents are using white phosphorus in mortar attacks and in homemade bombs.

U.S. documents show that the most recent attack where militants used white phosphorus was last Thursday, when a NATO outpost in Logar province was hit with two rounds of white phosphorus fire. Most troops in Logar are American.

Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/05/11/world/main5005572.shtml

[ixion]

1. and the military has ANY credibility because?

:shrug:

I don't know about you, but I don't trust a word they say, given that they lie ALL THE TIME.

[montanacowboy]

2. Pot calls Kettle

what about all the white phosphorous we dropped in Iraq? Faluja?

[bushmeister0]

5. Or in the Korangal Valley back on April 19?

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/bushmeister0/83

They're using it a lot in Afghanistan, and the don't seem to be too concerned about anyone knowing about it. The above link is from a story in the NYT by an embedded journalist, who presumably had his worked censored.

If the Talibs are using it, which is dubious, they probably aren't making it themselves. No doubt, they got it from our good Pakistani friends in the ISI.

[atreides1]

3. The US Military isn't helping their case

"White phosphorus is a spontaneously flammable material that leaves severe chemical burns on flesh. Using it to illuminate a target or create smoke is allowed under international law, but rights groups say its use over populated areas constitutes a war crime."

Are they trying to look stupid? They claim that the insurgents have been using WP in attacks, on presumingly, military targets, and not populated areas.

Finding a WP shell/mortar in a weapons cache, or having it used on a military base, isn't the same as dropping it on a populated village.

[thereismore]

4. the other shoe drops. nt

[happyslug]

6. Two Question, WHERE are they getting WP from, and two, is it being used against equipment?

White Phosphorus (WP) can be used against equipment, even if the Equipment is being used by people (i.e. as long as the time being attacked is property NOT people WP is legal, even if People are harmed in the attack). If the target was property then WP is perfectly legal, if the target was people then it is NOT. I hate to say this but the target seems to be property, and that is a legitimate use of WP.

Now an exception exist if excess injuries to people over what property is being destroyed (i.e. the injuries to people out weigh the property damaged, but the burden is on the person saying that is the case).

A second exception exist if the purpose is to retaliate for excess use of WP by the other side. I notice the US did NOT even bring this up, for if that is the case the US will have to show its use was legal while the insurgent's use was illegal.

As to being in Cache, that means nothing, it could be being held for future use in a legal way, (i.e. to create Smoke or destroy things by Fire) or kept for retaliatory purposes, much like how the US kept Gas bombs ready for use during WWII, to be used if the Germans used Gas first (Yes, I know the US had decided to use Gas on Japan in any invasion of Japan, but that was between two countries that had NEVER RATIFIED the International Treaty on the use of Gas, yes the US and Japan did not RATIFY the treaty banning the use of Gas till long after WWII, in fact the US did not sign the treaty till the 1975 and Japan only Ratified the Treaty in 1970).
For more on US and Japan agreeing to the Ban of Chemical Warfare see:
http://www.sipri.org/contents/cbwarfare/cbw_research_doc/cbw_historical/cbw-hist-geneva-parties.html

Now to the first question, where are these insurgents getting WP from? Unlike regular munitions WP have to be carefully stored do to the fact they are a semi-liquid and must be stored standing straight up, so the semi-liquid stays equally displaced within the shell. If stored on their side, the WP will slowly flow to the lower side and when fired from a cannon will tend to go off target in the direction of where the WP flowed to in the shell (and that can be anywhere, as the shell is loaded flat into a Cannon or mortar and then fired they is no way to predict which side will be the side with more WP thus the shell will land almost anywhere).

Thus WP shells are very particular to deal with, most people will avoid using them, but if used as intended, they are very effective. But given the needs to be carefully handled, and guerrilla generally inability to provide such careful handling, why would the insurgents have them? The only answer is the shells are either un-exploded munitions (duds) which the insurgents modified for their own use OR these shells were supplied as part of a bigger shipment and then left in the Caches for no one could figure out how to use them and thus the shells just sat in the Caches.

My point is weapons in a Cache proves nothing, the issue is how the weapons are used, and if used against Equipment, even if people are harmed, perfectly legal for that is how the US is claiming such Weapons are being used.

[bemildred]

7. My God! Who let them do what we do? nt