Quote:
Originally Posted by proIsrael-nonIsraeli  I do not dispute death figures, not here and not now anyway. I dispute accusations that Israelis used phosphorous weapons. Those scary looking, smoky things high up in the sky while are phosphorous-based are not weapons.
Is it possible people could and even got injured by those things? Yes, I am sure it is. But one can get hurt by firecracker just as easily.
You need to realize there are great many and much easier and widely acceptable ways to kill in the war. And being so closely watched Israel will never use anything illegal to avoid international outcry. |
Well, you are simply wrong because
a) you assume that the Israelis actually care about any international outcry and
b) from wikipedia:
Wikipedia: White phosphorus (weapon)
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This article is about the military applications of
white phosphorus. For more general information, see
phosphorus#Forms. For Phosphorus, see White phosphorus (weapon) (disambiguation).
White phosphorus (WP) is a flare- and smoke-producing
incendiary weapon,
[1] or
smoke-screening agent, made from a common
allotrope of the
chemical element phosphorus. White phosphorus bombs and shells are
incendiary devices, but can also be used as an offensive anti-personnel flame compound capable of causing serious burns or death.
[2] The agent is used in
bombs, artillery shells, and mortar shells which burst into burning flakes of phosphorus upon impact. White phosphorus is commonly referred to in military
jargon as "WP". The slang term "Willy(ie) Pete" or "Willy(ie) Peter", dating from the First World War and common at least through the Vietnam era, is still occasionally heard.
White phosphorus weapons are controversial today because of their potential use against civilians. While the Chemical Weapons Convention does not designate WP as a chemical weapon, various unofficial groups consider it to be one. In recent years, the United States, Israel, Russia, and Argentina have used white phosphorus in combat.
Its use by the US has resulted in considerable controversy (see
white phosphorus use in Iraq). Initial field reports from Iraq referred to white phosphorus use against insurgents,
[3] but its use was officially denied until November, 2005,
[4] when the Pentagon admitted
[5] to the use of white phosphorus while stating that its use for producing obscuring smoke is legal and does not violate the
Chemical Weapons Convention.
[6] A Pentagon spokesman has also admitted that WP "was used as an incendiary weapon against enemy combatants", though not against civilians.
[7]