Accused of using white phosphorus in coalition bombings? Suggest the Taliban are actually the ones using white phosphorus. You don't need proof, just floating the accusations is enough to create an equilibrium between the two accusations in future discussions. Despicable behavior, I think. I don't think there's much question that it is the U.S. who has brought white phosphorus to Afghanistan to use against combatants there. What makes this latest tactic so abhorrent is that it follows attempts by the Pentagon to deflect from their hours of bombing of these villages in their unproven suggestions that the Taliban actually killed their own villagers as they fled Afghan/coalition forces. The huge craters left by the tons of bombs dropped by the U.S. warplanes is evidence enough to put the first and most conclusive blame for the killings on our own airstrikes. But, now this rumor is being floated to further deflect blame for the slaughter of civilians.
from the AP:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hvWEqwq3CrRvaQCmt21MfoYhjZJQD983E1AG0KABUL — Afghanistan's leading human rights organization said Sunday it was investigating the possibility that white phosphorus was used in a U.S.-Taliban battle that killed scores of Afghans. The U.S. military rejected speculation it had used the weapon but left open the possibility Taliban militants did.
White phosphorus can be employed legitimately in battle, but rights groups say its use over populated areas can indiscriminately burn civilians and constitutes a war crime.
Afghan doctors are concerned over what they are calling "unusual" burns on Afghans wounded in last Monday's battle in Farah province, which President Hamid Karzai has said may have killed 125 to 130 civilians.
Col. Greg Julian, the top U.S. military spokesman in Afghanistan, said the U.S. did not use white phosphorus as a weapon in last week's battle. The U.S. does use white phosphorous to illuminate the night sky, he said.
Julian noted that military officials believe that Taliban militants have used white phosphorus at least four times in Afghanistan in the past two years. "I don't know if they (militants) had it out there or not, but it's not out of the question," he said.
read:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hvWEqwq3CrRvaQCmt21MfoYhjZJQD983E1AG0from The War Profiteers - War Crimes, Kidnappings & Torture:
http://www.expose-the-war-profiteers.org/DOD/iraq_II_white_phosphorus/index.htmMedia Reports on White Phosphorus: June 12th, 2008 - ‘Special Weapons’ Have a Fallout on Babies
http://www.expose-the-war-profiteers.org/archive/media/2008-2/20080612-2.htm November 30th, 2005 - US General Defends Phosphorus Use
http://www.expose-the-war-profiteers.org/archive/media/2005-2/20051130.htm November 24th, 2005 - Life Goes On in Fallujah’s Rubble
http://www.expose-the-war-profiteers.org/archive/media/2005-2/20051124.htm November 21st, 2005 - U.S. is Slow to Respond to Phosphorus Charges
http://www.expose-the-war-profiteers.org/archive/media/2005-2/20051121-1.htm November 19th, 2005 - White Phosphorus Debate Grows White-Hot
http://www.expose-the-war-profiteers.org/archive/media/2005-2/20051119.htm November 17th, 2005 - Incendiary Weapons: The Big White Lie
http://www.expose-the-war-profiteers.org/archive/media/2005-2/20051117-1.htm November 16th, 2005 - U.S. Denies Using Phosphorus Against Civilians
http://www.expose-the-war-profiteers.org/archive/media/2005-2/20051117-1.htm November 15th, 2005 - The Fog of War: White Phosphorus, Fallujah and Some Burning Questions
http://www.expose-the-war-profiteers.org/archive/media/2005-2/20051115.htmNovember 8th, 2005 - US Forces ‘Used Chemical Weapons’ During Assault of Fallujah
http://www.expose-the-war-profiteers.org/archive/media/2005-2/20051108.htm November 26th, 2004 - ‘Unusual Weapons’ Used in Fallujah
http://www.expose-the-war-profiteers.org/archive/media/2004-2/20041126.htm November 10th, 2004 - U.S. Forces Battle Into Heart of Fallujah
http://www.expose-the-war-profiteers.org/archive/media/2004-2/20041110-1.htm April 10th, 2004 - Violence Subsides for Marines in Fallujah
http://www.expose-the-war-profiteers.org/archive/media/2004/20040410.htmGovernment Reports November 30th, 2005 - Chairman Calls White Phosphorous Legitimate Military Tool
http://www.expose-the-war-profiteers.org/archive/government/2005-2/20051130-1.pdfMarch 2005 - The Fight for Fallujah/Indirect Fires in the Battle of Fallujah
http://www.expose-the-war-profiteers.org/archive/government/2005/20050300.pdfApril 23rd, 1996 - Artillery Manual Cannon Gunnery - FM 6-40: Chapter 13/Special Munition - Excerpt of a Field Manual by the U.S. Army and the U.S. Marine Corps (5,6 MB)
http://www.expose-the-war-profiteers.org/archive/government/1996/19960423.pdf Smoke projectiles are used for smoke screens, obscuring smoke, and marking targets for aircraft.
a. Types. The three types of smoke projectiles areas follows:
(1) Hexachloroethane. Hexachloroethane (HC) smoke (smk) projectiles are available for 105-mm and 155-mm howitzers. They are used for screening, obscuration, spotting, and signaling purposes. The projectile has no casualty-producing effects. This base-ejection projectile is ballistically similar to the HE projectile. It is fitted with a mechanical time fuze M565 or M577. The round expels smoke canisters that emit smoke for a period of 40 to 90 seconds.
(2) Burster-type white phosphorus. White phosphorus projectiles are available for 105-mm and 155-mm howitzers. They are bursting-tube type projectiles that can be fired with point-detonating (PD) or MTSQ fuzes. The projectile has an incendiary-producing effect and is ballistically similar to the HE projectile. Normally, shell WP is employed for its incendiary effect. The projectile also can be used for screening, spotting, and signaling purposes.
(3) M825 white phosphorus. The M825 WP projectile is an FA-delivered 155-mm base-ejection projectile designed to produce a smoke screen on the ground for a duration of 5 to 15 minutes. It consists of two major components--the projectile carrier and the payload. The projectile carrier delivers the payload to the target. The payload consists of 116 WP-saturated felt wedges. The smoke screen is produced when a predetermined fuze action causes ejection of the payload from the projectile. After ejection, the WP-saturated felt wedges in the payload fall to the ground in an elliptical pattern. Each wedge then becomes a point or source of smoke. The M825 is ballistically similar to the M483A1 (DPICM) family of projectiles.
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