Russia Says U.S. Dropped Phosphorus Bombs Over Syria, Which Pentagon Denies
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https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2018-09-09/russia-says-us-dropped-phosphorus-bombs-over-syrias-deir-al-zor
MOSCOW/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Russia's military said on Sunday that two U.S. F-15 fighter jets dropped phosphorus bombs over Syria's Deir al-Zor province on Saturday, the TASS and RIA news agencies reported, an allegation the United States denied. The air strikes targeted the village of Hajin, the last major stronghold of Islamic State in Syria, and resulted in fires, but there was no information about casualties, the Russian military said. A Pentagon spokesman denied that U.S. planes dropped phosphorus bombs. "At this time, we have not received any reports of any use of white phosphorous," said Commander Sean Robertson. "None of the military units in the area are even equipped with white phosphorous munitions of any kind." Human rights groups have said the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State has used white phosphorous munitions over the course of the Syria conflict. The bombs can create thick white smoke screens and are used as incendiary devices. The rights groups criticize use of the munitions in populated zones because they can kill and maim by burning people to the bone.
they probably both have lol
All you gotta do to cover up your own treacherous deeds is pull a "what about"-ism and make everyone know your opposition did the same thing but worse
This is funny, but I really hope this isn't actually happening. Using White Phosphorus should be a war crime, if it isn't already.
I believe it's complicated where it's a crime to use it on people but not for illumination
It's only banned if it's used on civilian targets, not when it's used on military targets, so it would really depend on where the US is using them.
Literally everything is banned to use on civilian targets, mate. WP is in a weird spot where it's legal to use, but not really legal to use against people, but if you happen to hit people when you're using it that's not illegal.
Strange choice of deflection, even if it were true using WP is not always a crime, unlike the gas attacks the Syrussian regime has carried out which are.
>america
>war crimes
i see nothing wrong with this
Ah, so is this the legendary "A big boy did it and ran away" defence but played out by geopolitical player? America did it and flew away!
Figured as much.
It's not explicitly banned in used against military targets in any treaties
A guy I knew that was in the army basically said "its used for destroying enemy equipment, if the enemy is wearing said equipment when it goes off then oh well."
TBH the only acceptable targets for WP should be the cunts fighting for ISIS.
Willy Pete is in a weird legal position just because a case can be made to classify it as either a chemical, incendiary, or smoke munition. The official laws currently hold that it's an incendiary, as such it's restricted but not prohibited; can't be used against civilians or in civilian areas, memory servicing the American field manuals on incendiary munitions say it's legal to use them offensively against "targets which require their use" and as a smoke screen generator.
I think the generally accepted limit for white phosphorus is that you don't shell urban areas.
The UK military even employs things like armour piercing incendiary 30mm rounds with a WP charge in them. Officially it's for feedback on your aiming by producing white flashes. Unofficially it's because if you blast WP into an enemy crew compartment it's going to become a very hazardous environment to work in.
it is if you intend to use it to harm people but its so easy to say they just were in the way ect ect. Bolton preparing to call the ICC illegitimate just makes these things harder to control
WP is kinda hard to replace on the battlefield, not because it's a terrifying weapon, but because there isn't really anything that produces such immediate smoke that also masks IR signatures. It really is something that is required for an army to have, and it's easy to use it on your enemies despite being illegal as a weapon against people.
I absolutely, wholly, and totally believe that the US government has used war-crime-tier weapons, repeatedly, in the last several conflicts.
What are you going to do about it?
WP shells for smokescreen are different from offensive WP shells. this thread does a decent job explaining
https://twitter.com/ThomasWictor/status/1038890501800255488?s=19
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