Hey Obama, white phosphorus as a weapon is a war crime
Caught in a Lie, U.S. is Using White Phosphorus in Afghanistan as a Weapon
When doctors started reporting that some of the victims of the U.S. bombing of several villages in Farah Province last week – an attack that left between 117 and 147 civilians dead, most of them women and children – were turning up with deep, sharp burns on their body that “looked like” they’d been caused by white phosphorus, the U.S. military was quick to deny responsibility.
U.S. officials – who initially denied that the U.S. had even bombed any civilians in Farah despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, including massive craters where houses had once stood – insisted that “no white phosphorus” was used in the attacks on several villages in Farah.
Official military policy on the use of white phosphorus is to only use the high-intensity, self-igniting material as a smoke screen during battles or to illuminate targets, not as a weapon against human beings – even enemy troops.
Now that policy, and the military’s blanket denial that phosphorus was used in Farah, have to be questioned, thanks to a recent report filed from a remote area of Afghanistan by a reporter from The New York Times. </em>
