So successful in Fallujah for clearing out those nasty Sunni insurgents in urban areas, that now the Israelis are reportedly using White Phosphorus rounds in Lebanon, with predictable results:
From Narharnet Newsdesk, an Arabic website:
President Emile Lahoud accused Israel on Sunday of using banned weapons against Lebanese civilians in its military offensive against the country.
Lahoud said Israeli forces have fired “phosphorus incendiary bombs, which are a blatant violation of international laws, …against Lebanese civilians.”
From Forbes.com:
Jawad Najem, a surgeon at the [Najem Hospital], said patients admitted Sunday had burns from phosphorous incendiary weapons used by Israel. The Geneva Conventions ban using white phosphorous as an incendiary weapon against civilian populations and in air attacks against military forces in civilian areas; Israel said its weapons comply with international law.
“Mahmoud Sarour, 14, was admitted to the hospital yesterday and treated for phosphorous burns to his face,” Najem said. Mahmoud’s 8-month-old sister, Maryam, suffered similar burns on her neck and hands when an Israeli rocket hit the family car.
The children were with their father, mother and other relatives when the car was hit by an Israeli missile. The father died instantly.
Please take notice of the official mealy-mouthed response from the Israelis: Israel said its weapons comply with international law. The same excuse we heard from American forces about their use of White Phosphorus in the attack on Fallujah, almost word for word. As Colman notes in The limits of western power, this is the inevitable result when your military values force protection (i.e., the lives of its own soldiers) over civilian casualties. White phosphorus is no doubt effective in clearing areas of possible enemy fighters and bringing them out into the open where they can be more easily slaughtered from a distance. It is also, and let’s not mince words here, a weapon of Terror.
First the Marines, and now the IDF. Both defending countries that are putatively democracies. And both which have now employed chemical terror weapons against innocent civilian populations.
It’s funny how if one is “right”, one can justifying doing any damn thing at all — no matter how wrong.
Since the US provides Israel with so much of its armaments, I wonder if those phospherous bombs are also made in the USA. So much has been made of the Hezbollah rockets being Iranian made and Syrian distributed. Those facts are used in the media over and over ad naseum to demonize Iran and Syria. What about all those Lebanese civilians who see nothing but “made in the USA” on Israeli rockets and bombs?
There has actually been footage of one Lebanese family supposedly exposed to phospherous on CNN. I saw the footage a few times, but only heard the commentary about the phospherous once. The children are burned horribly and the doctor speaks to the condition of the wounds… and that smell. I hope CNN finds some integrity and keeps airing stuff like that. Israel, like any nation, has the absolute right to defend itself. Having said that, I think it’s obvious that Israel, along with it’s big bully friend America, has lost it’s soul.
Recently, I saw an interview with an Israeli “Refusenik”… a soldier who refuses orders to kill. He made a comment about Americans that haunts me. He stated that many Americans aren’t worshipping God so much as worshipping Israel.
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Israel has used artillery-fired cluster munitions in populated areas of Lebanon, Human Rights Watch said. Researchers on the ground in Lebanon confirmed that a cluster munitions attack on the village of Blida on July 19 killed one and wounded at least 12 civilians, including seven children. Human Rights Watch researchers also photographed cluster munitions in the arsenal of Israeli artillery teams on the Israel-Lebanon border.
“Cluster munitions are unacceptably inaccurate and unreliable weapons when used around civilians,” said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch. “They should never be used in populated areas.”
«« click on image for HRW storyM483A1 DPICM artillery-delivered cluster munition present in the arsenal of an IDF unit in northern Israel. © Human Rights Watch 2006According to eyewitnesses and survivors of the attack interviewed by Human Rights Watch, Israel fired several artillery-fired cluster munitions at Blida around 3 p.m. on July 19. The witnesses described how the artillery shells dropped hundreds of cluster submunitions on the village.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."▼ ▼ ▼ MY DIARY
Oh, Oui! This is twice today that I’m in synch with another BooTribber. I didn’t see your post until after I posted mine. Sorry about that. This stuff makes me so wild that I neglected to look. 😉
Now we really are all guilty of “group think”. 🙂
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I can go on a holiday and the news will be covered and the world keeps turning?
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."▼ ▼ ▼ MY DIARY
Thanks for this one Steven.
Anyone want to guess how much press it would get if it was Hizbollah that was firing these instead of Israel? I am just sick that our corporate owned media is slanting their coverage to match our governments views supporting Israels bombardment of 3 million people.
From Common Dreams
BEIRUT, Lebanon – July 24 – Israel has used artillery-fired cluster munitions in populated areas of Lebanon, Human Rights Watch said today. Researchers on the ground in Lebanon confirmed that a cluster munitions attack on the village of Blida on July 19 killed one and wounded at least 12 civilians, including seven children. Human Rights Watch researchers also photographed cluster munitions in the arsenal of Israeli artillery teams on the Israel-Lebanon border.
“Cluster munitions are unacceptably inaccurate and unreliable weapons when used around civilians,” said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch. “They should never be used in populated areas.”
According to eyewitnesses and survivors of the attack interviewed by Human Rights Watch, Israel fired several artillery-fired cluster munitions at Blida around 3 p.m. on July 19. The witnesses described how the artillery shells dropped hundreds of cluster submunitions on the village. They clearly described the submunitions as smaller projectiles that emerged from their larger shells.
I wonder if these cluster bombs are also proudly “made in the USA”.
There have been some incidents on live television during reports that appeared to be the ‘tactical nuke’ bunker buster. Another nasty weapon in the GBU series is the MOAB which might have been used today. During a live piece, the strikes could be seen with huge clouds of smoke. They came reportedly in sets of 2 and the total is disputed. After a few minutes, an enormous blast occurred that moved the on air-live reporter who was a few miles away. They scanned the skyline for expected rises of smoke but none ever appeared. It would make sense, from a death and destruction goal perspective, not mine. to send the air blast concussion weapon after causing the targets to scatter into the street. Collapse the bunkers and then collapse the lungs of the survivors.
We have to stop this madness somehow.
The Israelis also used white phosphorous during their 1982 seige of Beirut, with predictable results: