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  •  I've seen it, smelled it, felt the heat (4.00 / 3)

    You never forget.

    Napalm is bad enough - and we've already used napalm in Iraq at least once, en route to Baghdad in 2003, as reported in the San Diego Union Tribune:

    http://www.globalsecurity.org/org/news/2003/030805-firebombs01.htm

    In Israel, we had to pretend we didn't use phosphorus regularly--our grenades, artillery shells and airforce bombs were all labeled "exploding smoke" - what a cute euphemism, like fireworks.

    But phosphorus just doesn't burn out. It ignites at room temperature and just keeps sparkling and burrowing and sizzling and burning. It's the fucking energizer bunny of incendiary torture.

    Of course, a Geneva Convention bans it - but we never signed it.

    Bombs bursting in air. The phosphor's white glare. The troops were all glad, cause the flag was still there.

    They're dropping 2,000 pound "conventional" bombs, too.

    Remember, every crater is $$ for Halliburton to fill.

    Our Moral Values, on display. America, Destroyer of Worlds.

    Drive-by commenting is such fun!

    by galiel on Thu Nov 11, 2004 at 10:25:22 PM PDT

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    •  reference (none / 0)

      If you could provide a reference for the phrase "a Geneva Convention bans it-but we never signed it", I would very much appreciate it.

      There wasn't anything concrete in the article you linked to.

      Thanks.

      And if you need anything...there's some ants.

      by Skipbidder on Thu Nov 11, 2004 at 11:33:24 PM PDT

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      •  asdf (none / 0)

        I think it is a reference to the 1977 protocols (amendments) which the US did not ratify.  Whether the use of phosphorus is banned by the Conventions is open to debate because they do not itemize prohibited weapons.

        Steny Hoyer = a slam dunk argument for term limits

        by jlynne on Fri Nov 12, 2004 at 01:13:28 AM PDT

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      •  1977 (none / 0)

        This reference mentions two protocals in 1977 that were not ratified by the US.

        According to the Council on Foreign Relations:
        Are all countries agreed on the rules?
        No. While both the United States and Iraq have ratified the 1949 Geneva Conventions, for example, neither has agreed to the 1977 agreements, which deal with guerrilla fighting and other issues of modern war. Generally, rules of war are determined not only by what is in treaties, but also by international consensus and practice. This is called customary international law.

        In illegal wars, do humanitarian laws still apply?
        Yes. No matter what one thinks about the legality of a war--some critics have said the U.S.-led assault on Iraq is unlawful--humanitarian laws must be followed. A strict interpretation of the Geneva Conventions would make illegal all tactics that unnecessarily endanger and target the civilian population.

        John McCain

        by joejoejoe on Fri Nov 12, 2004 at 01:33:41 AM PDT

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      •  i think he means in Israel (none / 0)

        when he was part of the IDF there.

        Though the US has been shockingly selective about what Conventions and International Laws it has signed, so it could be here instead.

        "Don't be a janitor on the Death Star!" - Grey Lady Bast (change @ for AT to email)

        by bellatrys on Fri Nov 12, 2004 at 03:32:17 AM PDT

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        •  Wrong, US not signatory to 1980 Geneva Protocol (none / 0)

          The "Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons Which May Be Deemed to Be Excessively Injurious or to Have Indiscriminate Effects"
          Geneva, 10 October 1980

          Protocol II Article 2 clearly prohibits the use described in the article.

                 INCENDIARY WEAPONS (PROTOCOL III)

                                        Article 1

                                       Definitions

          For the purpose of this Protocol:

          1. "Incendiary weapon" means any weapon or munition which is primarily designed to set fire to objects or to cause burn injury to persons through the action of flame, heat, or a combination thereof, produced by a chemical reaction of a substance delivered on the target.

              (a) Incendiary weapons can take the form of, for example, flame throwers, fougasses, shells, rockets, grenades, mines, bombs and other containers of incendiary substances.

              (b) Incendiary weapons do not include:

               (i)  Munitions which may have incidental incendiary effects, such as illuminants, tracers, smoke or signalling systems;

              (ii)  Munitions designed to combine penetration, blast or fragmentation effects with an additional incendiary effect, such as armour-piercing projectiles, fragmentation shells, explosive bombs and similar combined-effects munitions in which the incendiary effect is not specifically designed to cause burn injury to persons, but to be used against military objectives, such as armoured vehicles, aircraft and installations or facilities.

          1. "Concentration of civilians" means any concentration of civilians, be it permanent or temporary, such as in inhabited parts of cities, or inhabited towns or villages, or as in camps or columns of refugees or evacuees, or groups of nomads.

          2. "Military objective" means, so far as objects are concerned, any object which by its nature, location, purpose or use makes an effective contribution to military action and whose total or partial destruction capture or neutralization, in the circumstances ruling at the time, offers a definite military advantage.

          3. "Civilian objects" are all objects which are not military objectives as defined in paragraph 3.

          4. "Feasible precautions" are those precautions which are practicable or practically possible taking into account all circumstances ruling at the time, including humanitarian and military considerations.

                                        Article 2

                      Protection of civilians and civilian objects

          1.It is prohibited in all circumstances to make the civilian population as such, individual civilians or civilian objects the object of attack by incendiary weapons.

          1. It is prohibited in all circumstances to make any military objective located within a concentration of civilians the object of attack by air-delivered incendiary weapons.

          2. It is further prohibited to make any military objective located within a concentration of civilians the object of attack by means of incendiary weapons other than air-delivered incendiary weapons, except when such military objective is clearly separated from the concentration of civilians and all feasible precautions are taken with a view to limiting the incendiary effects to the military objective and to avoiding, and in any event to minimizing, incidental loss of civilian life, injury to civilians and damage to civilian objects.

          3. It is prohibited to make forests or other kinds of plant cover the object of attack by incendiary weapons except when such natural elements are used to cover, conceal or camouflage combatants or other military objectives, or are themselves military objectives.

          The US is NOT a party to this protocol.

          http://www.un.org/millennium/law/xxvi-18-19.htm

          Drive-by commenting is such fun!

          by galiel on Fri Nov 12, 2004 at 06:13:16 AM PDT

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