Newsgroup: it.politica.internazionale
Titolo: US defends use of white phosphorus (Reuters)

US defends use of white phosphorus
By Will Dunham  Wed Nov 16, 4:41 PM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon on Wednesday acknowledged using 
incendiary white-phosphorus munitions in a 2004 offensive against 
insurgents in the Iraqi city of Falluja and defended their use as legal, 
amid concerns by arms control advocates.
Army Lt. Col. Barry Venable, a Pentagon spokesman, said the U.S. 
military had not used the highly flammable weapons against civilians, 
contrary to an Italian state television report this month that stated 
the munitions were used against men, women and children in Falluja who 
were burned to the bone.
"We categorically deny that claim," Venable said.
"It's part of our conventional-weapons inventory and we use it like we 
use any other conventional weapon," added Bryan Whitman, another 
Pentagon spokesman.
Venable said white phosphorus weapons are not outlawed or banned by any 
convention.
However, a protocol to an accord on conventional weapons which took 
effect in 1983 forbids using incendiary weapons against civilians.
The protocol also forbids their use against military targets within 
concentrations of civilians, except when the targets are clearly 
separated from civilians and "all feasible precautions" are taken to 
avoid civilian casualties.
The United States is a party to the overall accord, but has not ratified 
the incendiary-weapons protocol or another involving blinding laser 
weapons.
White phosphorus munitions are primarily used by the U.S. military to 
make smoke screens and mark targets, but also as an incendiary weapon, 
the Pentagon said. They are not considered chemical weapons. The 
substance ignites easily in air at temperatures of about 86 degrees F 
(30 C), and its fire can be difficult to extinguish.
'APPROPRIATE OR NOT'
Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Washington-based Arms Control 
Association, questioned whether the U.S. military was using the weapons 
in a manner consistent with the conventional weapons convention.
"White phosphorous weapons should not be used just like any other 
conventional weapon," Kimball said.
Kimball called for an independent review of how the United States was 
using the weapons and possibly an investigation by countries that are 
parties to the convention "to determine whether their use in Iraq is 
appropriate or not."
U.S. forces used the white phosphorus during a major offensive launched 
by Marines in Falluja, about 30 miles (50 km) west of Baghdad, to flush 
out insurgents. The battle in November of last year involved some of the 
toughest urban fighting of the 2-1/2-year war.
Venable said that in the Falluja battle, "U.S. forces used white 
phosphorous both in its classic screening mechanism and ... when they 
encountered insurgents who were in foxholes and other covered positions 
who they could not dislodge any other way."
He said the soldiers employed a "shake-and-bake" technique of using 
white phosphorus shells to flush enemies out of hiding and then use high 
explosives artillery rounds to kill them.
The Italian documentary showed images of bodies recovered after the 
Falluja offensive, which it said proved the use of white phosphorus 
against civilians.
"We don't target any civilians with any of our weapons. And to suggest 
that U.S. forces were targeting civilians with these weapons would 
simply be wrong," Whitman said.

 We don't target any civilians with any of our weapons.
come direbbe Totò, ma mi faccia il piacere...
-- 
Luca Logi - Firenze - Italy        e-mail: 
ll...@dada.it

conventional weapon," Kimball said.
*ROTFL*
Torniamo a combattere con le clave :)
-Stefano

 come direbbe Totò, ma mi faccia il piacere...
C.V.D.
-Stefano

,


pulisciti la bocca, che quella roba bianca che cola fa schifo
abbastanza... (TM Amaryllide)
Am.

> -Stefano
Perche' tu che fai?
Am.

abbastanza...
*ROTFL*
....disse il bue all'asino.... :)
-Stefano

 Perche' tu che fai?
????????????
Hai dimenticato di collegare il cervello?
-Stefano

 
Quindi i proiettili al WP non sono stati usati contro civili secondo
Venable.
A me invece il dubbio che, perlomeno, siano stati usati scriteriatamente
(spero non *volontariamente* contro civili ma pur sempre in modo
irresponsabile) viene leggendo questo post in un thread di ieri.
Marco
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2004/04/11/military/iraq/19_30_504_10_04.txt
il caro Darrin Mortenson era con chi sparava e non poteva certo vedere
che effetti avevano dove i proiettili cadevano (a meno che non fosse il
figlio segreto di Superman con la vista a raggi X).
====
Fighting from a distance
After pounding parts of the city for days, many Marines say the recent
combat escalated into more than they had planned for, but not more than
they could handle.
"It's a war," said Cpl. Nicholas Bogert, 22, of Morris, N.Y.
Bogert is a mortar team leader who directed his men to fire round after
round of high explosives and white phosphorus charges into the city
Friday and Saturday, ***never knowing what the targets were or what
damage the resulting explosions caused***.
====

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-- 
TBLOG
http://www.tonibaruch.blogspot.com/
FALSO. E GLASSATO DI BLU:
http://tonibaruch.buzznet.com/user/?id=1653547
I CULOTASTIERATI:
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 wrote:

Guarda che sono d'accordo. Tra l'altro sono stato tra i primi a postare 
quanto sopra, e anche a segnalarlo a RAI24.
Tuttavia uno posta i media per rendersi conto delle reazioni nel 
mondo,non necessariamente  perche' approva.
Magari se avessi seguito maggiormente i thread te ne renderesti conto.
Un conto e' l'elaborazione che si fa su IPI, un conto e' quella che 
fanno i media.In questo caso credo che siamo un passo avanti rispetto a 
loro, ma poi il dibattito si allarga, e si viene raggiunti dall'intero 
mondo dell'infomazione, le valutazioni politiche nazionali, ecc...
Am.

e anche a segnalarlo a RAI24.
Facendo fare a RaiNews24 l'ennesima figura da pirla :)
-Stefano