Let us not forget Gaza.
Physicians for Human Rights recently wrote to Isreali Defense Minster Peretz, asking for information on the apparent use of a new, US-developed, weapon (still officially untested) that has killed and injured hundreds of Palestinians in Gaza over the course of the Summer.
Palestinian doctors began seing injuries of a type they had never seen before: The doctors reported an exceptionally large number of wounded who lost legs, of completely burned bodies and injuries unaccompanied by metal shrapnel. Some of the doctors also claimed that they removed particles from wounds that could not be seen in an x-ray machine.
According to those who testified, the wounded were hit by munitions launched from drones, most of them in July.
These weapons appear to have similar effects to the so-called DIME weapons. These consist of carbon-fiber casing filled with tungsten powder and explosives. In the explosion, tungsten particles - a metal capable of conducting very high temperatures - spread over a radius of four meters and cause death.
The particles are believed to be highly carcinogenic; one of the things that the doctors have been unable to explain is the number of injured patients who appear to stabilise, and then who suddenly die after two or three days. They have seen numerous cases where patients' internal organs appear coated with a microscopic dust.
US defense tech language describes these weapons as having a 'focussed lethality' - they are designed to hit very small targets.
Now, what I don't know about is the legality of this weapons use. If a weapon is not yet officially proto-typed, but is used anyway, is that legal?
More here:http://www.haaretz.com/...
With all of the mounting horror in Iraq, Gaza seems to be slipping off the front page. But using these still-experimental weapons, which clearly have horrendous and lethal effects on the human bodies at which they are aimed, needs to be scrutinized.
Where did the Israelis get these weapons from? Are DIME weapons being used in Iraq? (It appears that the investigative team that is working on this is the same group that exposed the US use of phosphorous bombs in Iraq some months ago).