Lest you forgot, white phosphorous is a chemical weapon. It burns -- hot and deeply. When it touches human skin it disolves it right down to the bone. It is the heir of that wonderful Vietnam era weapon called "napalm." It stick to the skin and near impossible to put out.

It is my understanding that according to international weapons treaties, white phosophorous is permissible to use to create smoke; its use, however, upon human beings represents a war crime. The line between these two uses, of course, is very thin. Deniablity is all that is necessary -- or the claim that something on the ground "ignited" the phosphorous, rather than the intent of the military using the chemical.

The issue came to light last week as the UN has accused Israel of using white phosphorous on the ground in the invasion into Gaza that they had put under seige for months. It is no surprise that English newspapers cover what is neglected in the United States. The Times and The Guardian have "broken" the story (see http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article5526955.ece and http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/17/israel-gaza-phosphorus-civilians).

In the response the IDS has claimed innocence, according to the Times: " Spokesmen for the IDF have repeatedly stated that Israel has used only weapons that meet international rules on warfare, and that it has not resorted to any system that other countries, including Nato members, have not deployed in past battles."

Interestingly, this so-called denial is not a denial at all. As mentioned above, "legal" military uses exist that can provide cover for illegal uses according to "international rules"; second "other countries, including Nato member" have used white phosphorous before."

Who? Where? Anyone want to guess?

How about the United States in Iraq, particularly in the same type of punitive mass punishment urban warfare that the Israeli's are conducting in Gaza that the US used in Falluja. So let's get this straight. After lying about its use, the US decided that their use was legal and therefore admitted that they used it because it was an "incidentary weapon" not a "chemical weapon".and used it only against "military tragets" not "civilians" in a densely populated urban area. This therefore sets the precedent to which the Israeli's can claim, "Who, me?" with a denial that is not a denial at all. It is merely dissemblance, a wonderful type of propaganda that obscures the reality of the situation. And remember in case you ever want to incinerate human flesh off of human bones that you can do so legally: you can claim that you were just trying to light your way with white phosphorous when someone unfortunately walked into it. After all, white phosphorous is a incidenary, not a chemical weapon.

The first casualty of war is truth. Even when those engaged in legitimating war are truthful, it still is spoken at the expense of the truth.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4440664.stm

US troops used white phosphorus as a weapon in last year's offensive in the Iraqi city of Falluja, the US has said.

"It was used as an incendiary weapon against enemy combatants," spokesman Lt Col Barry Venable told the BBC - though not against civilians, he said.

The US had earlier said the substance - which can cause burning of the flesh - had been used only for illumination. BBC defence correspondent Paul Wood says having to retract its denial is a public relations disaster for the US. Col Venable denied that white phosphorous constituted a banned chemical weapon.

White phosphorus is an incendiary weapon, not a chemical weapon

Col Barry Venable
Pentagon spokesman
US military interview

The US state department had earlier said white phosphorus had been used in Falluja very sparingly, for illumination purposes. Col Venable said that statement was based on "poor information".

'Incendiary'

The US-led assault on Falluja - a stronghold of the Sunni insurgency west of Baghdad - displaced most of the city's 300,000 population and left many of its buildings destroyed.
Col Venable told the BBC's PM radio programme that the US army used white phosphorus incendiary munitions "primarily as obscurants, for smokescreens or target marking in some cases. "However it is an incendiary weapon and may be used against enemy combatants."

And he said it had been used in Falluja, but it was a "conventional munition", not a chemical weapon. It is not "outlawed or illegal", Col Venable said. He said US forces could use white phosphorus rounds to flush enemy troops out of covered positions. "The combined effects of the fire and smoke - and in some case the terror brought about by the explosion on the ground - will drive them out of the holes so that you can kill them with high explosives," he said.
San Diego journalist Darrin Mortenson, who was embedded with US marines during the assault on Falluja, told the BBC's Today radio programme he had seen white phosphorous used "as an incendiary weapon" against insurgents. However, he "never saw anybody intentionally use any weapon against civilians", he said.

'Particularly nasty'

White phosphorus is highly flammable and ignites on contact with oxygen. If the substance hits someone's body, it will burn until deprived of oxygen. Globalsecurity.org, a defence website, says: "Phosphorus burns on the skin are deep and painful... These weapons are particularly nasty because white phosphorus continues to burn until it disappears... it could burn right down to the bone." A spokesman at the UK Ministry of Defence said the use of white phosphorus was permitted in battle in cases where there were no civilians near the target area.
But Professor Paul Rogers, of the University of Bradford's department of peace studies, said white phosphorus could be considered a chemical weapon if deliberately aimed at civilians.
He told PM: "It is not counted under the chemical weapons convention in its normal use but, although it is a matter of legal niceties, it probably does fall into the category of chemical weapons if it is used for this kind of purpose directly against people." When an Italian TV documentary revealing the use of white phosphorus in Iraq was broadcast on 8 November it sparked fury among Italian anti-war protesters, who demonstrated outside the US embassy in Rome.