Good evening all children,
tonight I am learning all about something I had never
heard of before
something called "white phosphorus"
WP is an incendiary device used by the military for
illumination. At least
that is the common use we are given.....now to be forward
and truthful these
articles and reports are mostly from 2005 and it may well
be said I am a little
behind here and that there is no great news here........I
was still a little incensed
when I read these so I am passing these along to keep the
story floating and not
let it drift away in our memories.........something we
Americans do with regularity
I am afraid........After reading these reports I must say
I am against the use of this
"chemical weapon" and I am angered that my govt still
considers this a "useful" tool.
First off lets start with a little lesson on what it is
and how it is used. Following is Wikipedia's
definition of white phosphorus........

White phosphorus is a common allotrope of the chemical element phosphorus which has found extensive military application as an incendiary agent [1], smoke-screening agent, and as an antipersonnel flame compound capable of causing serious burns[2]. White Phosphorus (WP) bombs and shells are essentially incendiary devices, and can be used in an offensive anti-personnel role against enemy troop concentrations. It is used in bombs, artillery shells, and mortar shells which burst into burning flakes of phosphorus upon impact. White phosphorus has been called a chemical weapon by many people and organizations, including members of the United Nations, but it has a long history of use in warfare for both offensive and target-marketing purposes. It is commonly referred to in military jargon as "WP". The Vietnam War era slang "Willy(ie) Pete" or "Willy(ie) Peter" is still occasionally heard.
Contents[hide]
1 History
2 Applications
2.1 Smoke-screening agent
3 Effects on humans
3.1 Effects of exposure to WP weapons
3.2 Exposure and inhalation of smoke
3.3 Oral ingestion
4 Arms control status
4.1 Military regulations
4.2 Disposal at sea
4.3 Use in Iraq
5 See also
6 External links
7 Notes

Here is an article on our use of the agent in Falluga in
2004 from the BBC

White phosphorus: weapon on the edge
The Pentagon's admission - despite earlier denials - that US troops used white phosphorus as a weapon in Falluja last year is more than a public relations issue - it has opened up a debate about the use of this weapon in modern warfare.
The admission contradicted a statement this week from the new and clearly under-briefed US ambassador in London Robert Holmes Tuttle that US forces "do not use napalm or white phosphorus as weapons".
The official line to that point had been that WP, or Willie Pete to use its old name from Vietnam, was used only to illuminate the battlefield and to provide smoke for camouflage.
'Shake 'n Bake'
This line however crumbled when bloggers (whose influence must not be under-estimated these days) ferreted out an article published by the US Army's Field Artillery Magazine in its issue of March/April this year.
The article, written by a captain, a first lieutenant and a sergeant, was a review of the attack on Falluja in November 2004 and in particular of the use of indirect fire, mainly mortars.
It makes quite clear that WP was used as a weapon not just as illumination or camouflage.
It's [WP] not forbidden if it is used within the context of a military application which does not require or does not intend to use the toxic properties
Peter Kaiser
"WP proved to be an effective and versatile munition. We used it for screening missions at two breeches and, later in the fight, as a potent psychological weapon against the insurgents in trench lines and spider holes where we could not get effects on them with HE [High Explosive]. We fired "shake and bake" missions at the insurgents, using WP to flush them out and HE to take them out," the article said.
In another passage the authors noted that they could have used other smoke munitions and "saved our WP for lethal missions".
A word about the term "shake and bake." Anyone with a family to feed in the US knows what this term, properly "Shake 'n Bake, means. Made by Kraft, it is a seasoning which is put into a plastic bag with chicken and shaken before before baking. Its use gives the article the smack of reality. It's the kind of thing US soldiers would say. .............(full article)

Shake and bake indeed....

is there no end to the insensitive nature of young american soldiers or have we de-humanized the Iraqi people so much that this would be commonplace?

Here also is a report I was able to locate on Youtube that
speaks to the same issue.....

reading the article is one thing.....actually seeing the weapon and
it's effect is another entirely.
I know that there are terrorists out there who would do that and worse
to us if given the chance.
but the use of this weapon, especially where it may land on civilian
targets, is morally reprehensible......I must add however, that it is heartening
to see the effect of bloggers felt in such a way as to give the super-powers a
wake-up call that propaganda will not so easily be fetted out in the age of
technology.........now if only the bloggers could unite to bring about the end
of the use of this agent. ........and now to bring us up to the present I would like to throw out yet another BBC story....

Leaders agree to UN truce timing
An estimated 30,000 Israeli troops are now in LebanonA ceasefire deal between Israel and Hezbollah will come into force at 0500 GMT on Monday, the UN Secretary General has said.
Kofi Annan announced the timing after discussions with the prime ministers of Lebanon and Israel.
However, Israel is likely to continue operations in Lebanon on Sunday in an effort to clear the south of Hezbollah.
Nineteen Israeli soldiers were killed on Saturday, and five on a helicopter shot down by Hezbollah are missing.
Hezbollah's leader has said his group would abide by the ceasefire plan agreed unanimously at the UN Security Council on Friday.
However, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah said on TV that Hezbollah would continue fighting as long as Israeli soldiers remained in Lebanon.
HAVE YOUR SAY
The UN needs to be firm but fair in its handling of the emerging situation
Peter Hewitt, Borehamwood, UK
Send us your views Lebanon has now also approved the UN resolution, which calls for a "full cessation of hostilities", although Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said the government had "some reservations".
Lebanese officials said that after the truce only Lebanese forces would be authorised to carry weapons in southern Lebanon.
Mr Siniora said the area south of the Litani River, beyond which Hezbollah is expected to withdraw under the terms of the agreement, should be demilitarised. ....(full story)

....sounds good........but I kind of hear little red flags in there like...."isreal will stay to clear remaining forces".......and that "lebonon will still continue to fight as long as Israel stays".....so it sounds like another empty platitude for the war torn middle east.

Ok thats it for another saturday

Prince Ranxid.......signing off....

I'll be back!....