Monday, October 23, 2006

Slo-news day 2...

Had a quiet debate going with Callimachus, fine right wing gent that he is, where he made this threat to expose my "anti-semitism"...
You sure you don't want to see a post here about your opinions about Jews and Americans? It would lend a lot of context.

Well, it might be quite a party if he did.

Here is the background -
JERUSALEM, Oct 22 (Reuters) - Israel confirmed on Sunday it had used phosporus shells, a controversial munition condemned by many human rights groups, during its war against Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon.

The International Red Cross and other human rights organisations have urged a world ban on the munitions, saying they cause undue suffering through severe burns.

An Israeli military spokesman confirmed a report in Israel's left-leaning newspaper Haaretz that it had used phosphorus munitions in the 34-day offensive against Hezbollah, which ended in a U.N.-brokered ceasefire on Aug. 14.

"The army made use of phosphorus shells during the recent conflict with Hezbollah in Lebanon for the purpose of attacking military targets located in open areas," the Israeli military said in a statement.

"According to international law, the usage of phosphorus ammunition is permitted and the army conforms to international regulations and standards."

and
The announcement that the Israel Defense Forces had used phosphorus bombs in the war in Lebanon was made by Minister Jacob Edery, in charge of government-Knesset relations. He had been queried on the matter by MK Zahava Gal-On (Meretz-Yahad).

"The IDF holds phosphorus munitions in different forms," Edery said. "The IDF made use of phosphorous shells during the war against Hezbollah in attacks against military targets in open ground."

Edery also pointed out that international law does not forbid the use of phosphorus and that "the IDF used this type of munitions according to the rules of international law."

Edery did not specify where and against what types of targets phosphorus munitions were used. During the war several foreign media outlets reported that Lebanese civilians carried injuries characteristic of attacks with phosphorus, a substance that burns when it comes to contact with air. In one CNN report, a casualty with serious burns was seen lying in a South Lebanon hospital.

In another case, Dr. Hussein Hamud al-Shel, who works at Dar al-Amal hospital in Ba'albek, said that he had received three corpses "entirely shriveled with black-green skin," a phenomenon characteristic of phosphorus injuries.

Lebanon's President Emile Lahoud also claimed that the IDF made use of phosphorus munitions against civilians in Lebanon.


4 comments:

Kevin said...

Sooo...

Napalm is OK, but WP is verboten?

As I recall, the claim against White Phosphorous munitions is that it's a "chemical weapon." Well duh, so is Composition B.

I fail to see the problem.

Care to elaborate?

The probligo said...

No, Kevin, there are some poeple who would like WP banned as a weapon - exactly as napalm should be in their minds.

I have little problem with how people kill each other.

The main point here are the strenuous denials, six months ago when the Lebanese "produced" the three bodies, that P weapons had been used.

Is all.... slo-news day!

Dave Justus said...

Um, if the main point is strenuous denials that Israel made, wouldn't it make sense to mention those denials at least? Providing a link would be useful as well.

The probligo said...

Dave, I unreservedly apologise to the Israeli government, and to the world at large, for accusing Israel of denying their use of phosphorus weapons.

One of the few still extant and reasonably reliable news reports indicates that Israel did not deny the use of phosphorus weapons, or that they had been used against civilian targets...
There have also been reports in Lebanon that Israel is using phosphorus munitions, with doctors reporting burn wounds to civilians. Israel has commented that it believes that it has used its weapons legally.