passing on the news

[netmouse]

Melting the skin off of children (graphic) (yes, this is the U.S. military. Maybe we forgot to sign the We-will-not-melt-the-skin-off-children part of the Geneva Convention)

White House attempts to alter press conference transcript

Comments

[mjwise.livejournal.com]

The US is signatories to Protocols I and II of theConvention on Certain Conventional Weapons (http://www.un.org/millennium/law/xxvi-18-19.htm), which don't appear to apply, and it's not a Chemical Weapon (http://www.opbw.org/convention/conv.html) either. Th

Plus the original report does not seem extraordinarily well-sourced to me, relying on a few residents (incendiary experts?) and an unnamed "ex-soldier" (as if there weren't 5 governments at least in Europe who would protect a US soldier speaking against the US government). Frankly, if there really was indiscriminate WP usage (at least to the point claimed), I think there would have been more gore to splash across the screen. And to be even more frank, I don't believe anything Giuliana Sgrena has to say.

[novapsyche.livejournal.com]

DailyKos has this diary, which states that "WP [white phosphorus] is a chemical weapon if it is used illegally. It does not matter if it is also an incendiary. The CWC [Chemical Weapons Convention] classification of dual use chemicals depends not only on their properties, but also on their use. Any illegal use of WP as a weapon renders it a chemical weapon under the CWC."

[yarram.livejournal.com]

Not that we didn't already know that King George was morally bankrupt...

[skylarker.livejournal.com]

OMFG. There are times when I am horrified to be living in the same world with the people who do these things.