They call it "The Medusa"

The smoke cloud produced by exploding munitions of

White Phosphorus

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What is White Phosphorus?

According to www.weaponslaw.org

• "White Phosphorus (WP) is an incendiary and toxic chemical substance used as a filler in a number of different munitions that can be employed for a variety of purposes."

• WP has a variety of civilian and military applications. Weapons containing WP can be used for different purposes, including for signalling, screening, illuminating and to kill, injure or cause damage through fire and heat.

• WP weapons can take many different forms and be delivered in various ways, including as artillery or mortar shells, air-dropped bombs, rockets, projectiles for tank guns or howitzers or as hand- or rifle grenades, and fitted with different fuses (e.g. air-burst or point-detonating).

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1980 Protocol on Incendiary Weapons

The 1980 Protocol III on Incendiary Weapons of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons restricts the use of incendiary weapons as a means or method of warfare during armed conflict.

Also known as 'Willy Pete' in military jargon, White Phosphorus (chemical formula: P4) is a white to yellow translucent chemical substance that is wax-like and has a pungent garlic-like, acrid odor.

White phosphorus ignites spontaneously upon exposure to air (it is pyrophoric) at a temperature of around 30-34 degrees Celsius (or lower) by reaction with oxygen, forming ‘phosphorus pentoxide’ (P4O10). This chemical process (oxidation) releases intense heat, produces a bright light and dense white smoke.The smoke is produced due to the reaction of phosphorus pentoxide with moisture in the air. In the reaction of phosphorus pentoxide with water (in the air or in the human body) phosphoric acid (H3PO4) is formed.

WP continues to burn until oxygen supply is cut off or the substance is depleted.

www.weaponslaw.org

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Human Rights Watch

Incendiary weapons produce heat and fire through the chemical reaction of a flammable substance. They can be designed for marking and signaling or to burn materiel, penetrate plate metal, or produce smokescreens. Incendiary weapons cause excruciatingly painful burns that are difficult to treat, and start fires that destroy civilian objects and infrastructure.

Countries that have joined the 1980 Convention on Conventional Weapons are meeting at the treaty’s Fifth Review Conference in Geneva from December 12 to 16, 2016. They should seize the opportunity presented by this major diplomatic gathering, held every five years, to initiate a review of existing legal protections on incendiary weapons.

Protocol III of the Convention on Conventional Weapons governs the use of incendiary weapons, but significant loopholes have undermined the protocol’s effectiveness and failed to deter continued use in Syria and elsewhere.

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Loopholes

The loopholes that Human Rights Watch makes reference to concerning the 1980 Protocol restriction of Incendiary Weapons allows WP to exist in a sort of grey zone because of it's multipurpose capabilities. The Protocol refers to weapons whose 'primary design' is to ignite fires or cause burns and therefore some countries interpretation of the protocol excludes WP which is also used for illuminating or signalling.

Source: Human Rights Watch

Another nonsensical loophole is that there are weaker restrictions on ground-launched incendiary weapons than those launched from the air.

White Phosphorus can be extremely damaging when it comes into contact with the human body and cause horrendous injuries regardless of where the munitions originate from.

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."

Source: BBC

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Protecting Civilians

HRW launched a campaign and released a report entitled "Time to Act Against Incendiary Weapons" the report focuses primarily on the use of WP by Russian and Syrian forces in 2012, documenting civilian harm caused by these types of weapons. The report is co-published by Harvard Law School’s International Human Rights Clinic.

The report describes regions where the use of WP/incendiary weapons have been documented:

The places in which incendiary weapons have been used include: Afghanistan in 1980s and 2000s, El Salvador in early 1980s, Argentina in 1982, Chad in 1983, Turkey in 1990s, Bosnia in 1994, Iraq in 1991 and 2003, Lebanon in 2006, Somalia in 2007, Gaza in 2008 and 2009, Libya in 2015, Ukraine from 2014 to 2015, Yemen in 2016, and Syria from 2012 to the present.

By looking at the countries on the list, it because quite evident that the US military has also been involved in conflict in a large number of these countries. They are not the only culprits here, Russian and Israel have clearly been involved in several incidents themselves.

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Falluja

During the Iraq war, accounts of the use of white phosphorus by the US military during combat operations and intensive battles raging in the city of Falluja, first came to the public's attention in 2006. Falluja was the site of some of the most furious clashes between US forces and the Iraqi 'insurgence'. Images of civilians who were reportedly killed by WP stirred international condemnation.

According to US Pentagon spokesman Colonel Barry Venable:

"White phosphorus is an incendiary weapon, not a chemical weapon."

White Phosphorus is indeed categorized as an incendiary weapon and, at the time of the Falluja battle, the Pentagon maintained that the military used WP solely for illumination (flares, etc.) and signalling purposes. Yet, later they made some 'clarifications' to the official story.

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.

Source: BBC

Until last week, the US state department maintained that US forces used white phosphorus shells "very sparingly in Fallujah, for illumination purposes". They were fired "to illuminate enemy positions at night, not at enemy fighters". Confronted with the new evidence, on Thursday it changed its position. "We have learned that some of the information we were provided ... is incorrect. White phosphorous shells, which produce smoke, were used in Fallujah not for illumination but for screening purposes, ie obscuring troop movements and, according to... Field Artillery magazine, 'as a potent psychological weapon against the insurgents in trench lines and spider holes...' The article states that US forces used white phosphorus rounds to flush out enemy fighters so that they could then be killed with high explosive rounds." The US government, in other words, appears to admit that white phosphorus was used in Falluja as a chemical weapon.

Source: The Guardian

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Gaza and Lebanon

It has been confirmed that Israeli Defense Force (IDF) used WP in military operations in both Lebanon (2006) and Gaza (2008-2009). The IDF also maintains that it acts in accordance to international standards and law.

Edery also pointed out that international law does not forbid the use of phosphorus and that "the IDF used this type of munitions according to the rules of international law."

Edery did not specify where and against what types of targets phosphorus munitions were used. During the war several foreign media outlets reported that Lebanese civilians carried injuries characteristic of attacks with phosphorus, a substance that burns when it comes to contact with air. In one CNN report, a casualty with serious burns was seen lying in a South Lebanon hospital.

In another case, Dr. Hussein Hamud al-Shel, who works at Dar al-Amal hospital in Ba'albek, said that he had received three corpses "entirely shriveled with black-green skin," a phenomenon characteristic of phosphorus injuries.

Source: Haaretz

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Yemen

The Saudi bombing campaign that has been going on in Yemen is largely ignored by the MSM. The Saudis began their bombing campaign in 2015 in an effort to eliminate Houtis (shite) rebels in Yemen. Bombardments by Saudi forces have been characterized as 'indescriminate' and that the civilian population have also been intentionally targeted. The use of White Phosphorus over Yemen has been documented and its origins can be traced back to US arms sales to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

US officials admit that WP has been sold to the Saudis as part of major arms deals and in an unofficial statement, a State Department official commented that:

“The United States expects any recipient of U.S. military assistance to use those items in accordance with international law and under the terms and conditions of any U.S. transfer or sale."

Source: Washington Post

When pressed about the quantity of WP sold to the Saudis, US officials declined to respond.

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Monsanto

During the Vietnam War, Monsanto manufactured Agent Orange a devastating chemical weapon for the US military that incinerated forests and people alike while poisoning the environment and civilian population for generations to come.

For at least 20 years it has supplied the U.S. government with white phosphorus (WP) for incendiary weapons. What’s more, some of this white phosphorus was used in Israel’s invasion of Gaza at the end of 2008, known as Operation Cast Lead or, more appropriately, the Gaza Massacre.

Israel denied using WP at first, but admitted to using it in Gaza under media pressure. It said the WP was used as an obscurant and illuminant, but even this type of use is banned in civilian areas under the Geneva Convention. According to Sputnik News, in 2009 the U.S. State Department confirmed that WP weapons from its Arkansas plant were sent to Israel for use in the Gaza invasion.

Source: Activist Post

By all accounts it would appear that Monsanto and the US government continue to profit from the development of toxic, horrific chemical weapons through international arms sales. The US government is responsible for more than 1/2 of all the weapons sold worldwide (2015).

US Clients

Saudi Arabia, UAE and Turkey are the three top purchasers of US arms in 2016 according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

Source: CNN

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Is White Phosphorus a Chemical Weapon?

In my mind it is...

• if it induces chemical burns, that melt away flesh down to the bone - It's a chemical weapon.
• if it consists of toxic chemical substances - It's a chemical weapon.
• if it is toxic to inhale - It's a chemical weapon.
• if it is manufactured by a chemical company - It's a chemical weapon.
• if it causes unnecessary suffering in death.

When the president decides to bomb in retaliation to a chemical attack because it killed 'beautiful babies', just remember:

• The US sells white phosphorus to military clients worldwide, including dictatorships
• The US uses white phosphorus in military operations
• US clients use white phosphorus against civilians
• Monsanto manufactures and profits off these chemical weapons

White Phosphorus should be considered a chemical weapon and it's use should be completely banned

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NSFW

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Originally, I wasn't going to include photographs of civilians wounded, maimed or killed by White Phosphorus but I thought that the true nature of this horrible weapon is best understood visually.

There are many worse photos easily found with a quick Google search

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Warning - Graphic Photos

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