The U.S. Uses Illegal Chemical Weapons … Again
Both the New York Times and Washington Post confirm that the U.S. used white phosphorous in densely populated Iraq and Syria.
Why does this matter?
The use of white phosphorus is a war crime under international treaties and domestic U.S. laws. For example, the Battle Book, published by the U.S. Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, contains the following sentence:
It is against the law of land warfare to employ WP [i.e. white phosphorous] against personnel targets.
And the U.S. called white phosphorous a chemical weapon when Saddam used it against the Kurds.
Unfortunately, this is not the first time … The U.S. has repeatedly used illegal chemical weapons.
http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2017/06/u-s-uses-illegal-chemical-weapons.html
U.S.-led forces appear to be using white phosphorus in populated areas in Iraq and Syria
The U.S.-led coalition in Iraq and Syria appears to have used white phosphorus-loaded munitions on at least two occasions in densely populated areas of Mosul and in the Islamic State’s de facto capital of Raqqa, according to videos posted online and human rights groups.
The often-controversial munitions are common in western militaries and are used primarily to create smoke screens, though they can also be dropped as an incendiary weapon. When a white phosphorus shell explodes, the chemical inside reacts with the air, creating a thick white cloud. When it comes in contact with flesh, it can maim and kill by burning to the bone.
While international humanitarian law stipulates that civilians must be protected from all military operations, it also says that countries must take even more care when using white phosphorus. Additionally, because of the weapon’s ability to cause grievous and inhumane injuries, rights groups caution against using white phosphorus to kill enemy troops if other weapons are available.
[U.S. forces are using white phosphorus munitions in Iraq but it’s unclear exactly how]
On Thursday, footage posted by the activist group Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently showed the signature spread of airburst white phosphorus munitions — probably M825 series 155mm artillery rounds — exploding over eastern Raqqa, the same area where U.S.-backed Syrian fighters made advances earlier this week.
#Raqqa #US-led Coalition targeting #Raqqa city neighborhood with WP ammunition. #Syria pic.twitter.com/eciPMrZain
— الرقة تذبح بصمت (@Raqqa_SL) June 8, 2017
U.S. Army Col. Ryan Dillon, a spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition fighting in Iraq and Syria, would not confirm the use of the munition but said in an email that the U.S. military uses it in “accordance with the law of armed conflict” and that white phosphorus rounds are “used for screening, obscuring, and marking in a way that fully considers the possible incidental effects on civilians and civilian structures.”
“The coalition takes all reasonable precautions to minimize the risk of incidental injury to non-combatants and damage to civilian structures,” he said.
The Pentagon posted photographs of Marine M777 howitzers in Syria — deployed to support the Raqqa operation — with a pallet of white phosphorus munitions in May. The image was taken in March, and while the unit in the photograph probably has returned to the United States, its replacement is likely using similar munitions.
Mary Wareham, the advocacy director at Human Rights Watch’s arms division, said in email that the group is still trying to determine the veracity of the videos, but the munitions look similar to the ones used Saturday in the Iraqi city of Mosul. Wareham said that in Mosul it appeared that the rounds exploded close to the ground, in “an attempt to minimize the footprint of the effects.”
U.S Army soldiers with Battery C, 1st Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment, Task Force Strike, execute a fire mission in August 2016 in northern Iraq. White phosphorus smoke rounds are pictured in the right hand corner. (1st Lt. Daniel I. Johnson/U.S. Army)When M825 rounds explode, they jettison roughly 115 felt wedges that are impregnated with white phosphorus. If exploded high above the ground, the wedges can spread over a greater distance, starting fires over a wide area. In Mosul, smoke munitions were used, according to a statement by Iraqi forces, to provide cover for civilians targeted by Islamic State snipers.
While the Islamic State controls only a few remaining neighborhoods in the western part of Mosul, the small area is packed with tens of thousands of civilians, raising concerns among rights groups that the heavy fighting will kill hundreds of civilians before the fighting ends.
“White phosphorus should not be air burst over populated areas due to its indiscriminate effect but it’s not clear from available information that civilians are in the area,” Wareham said. “The [Iraqi Security Forces] is claiming that it used white phosphorus to protect civilians. As such, more information is needed to determine whether the white phosphorus use here is lawful.”
This is the longer version of Amaq video of White phosphorous used yesterday in Zanjili neighborhood of west Mosul #Iraq pic.twitter.com/9QTQhAlDSw
— Fazel Hawramy (@FazelHawramy) June 4, 2017
[t Pentagon acknowledges more civilian deaths in U.S.-led air campaign against Islamic State]
A report from the casualty-monitoring group Airwars.Org indicates that this mixed messaging has created some confusion among the civilian population in the city and that despite the fighting, some are still evacuating.
The Pentagon has admitted to killing roughly 500 civilians in the nearly three-year-old war against the Islamic State. Monitoring groups, such as Airwars, say that number is extremely conservative. The U.K.-based organization claims that roughly 3,800 civilians have been killed by the U.S.-led coalition.