White Phosphorus

[GeordieGirl]

I have copied and pasted part of the report here as some of the pictures in the report are awful and some might not want to see them.

 

http://www.perthnow.com.au/technology/witnesses-report-return-of-white-phosphorus-as-weapon-of-war/news-story/85c5f6fce9b30b35029e4f544d8243e5?&utm_source=Perth Now&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=editorial

 

THEY called it Willie Pete during WWI and WWII but the innocent name conceals a far more sinister reality.

This is a weapon of war favoured by those aiming to inflict the most misery on their targets.

Its signature is a loud bang and a plume of bright white smoke, but its effects are felt most when long white streams carrying chemicals start falling from the sky.

Those within the fallout zone will suffer such severe burns that if they ever recover they’ll be scarred or crippled for life. Victims have recounted being burned through flesh and bone.

Willie Pete’s other name is WP, or white phosphorus, and it’s being used again after years on the sidelines.

In Iraq, where Islamic State and a US-led coalition are locked in a tense stand-off, white plumes are again filling the air. Experts say those fleeing the conflict are the most at risk. Human rights groups say use of the weapon is bordering on a war crime.

 

A New York Times photographer captured an image last week of smoke above a town near Karemlesh, east of the Iraqi city of Mosul.

Amnesty International reports the dispersal pattern is consistent with a US-made white phosphorus munition capable of spreading the deadly chemicals over an area between 125-250m wide.

It’s not clear who fired it because US-led forces, Peshmerga forces and Iraqi central government forces are all taking the fight to ISIS there. Whoever it is, human rights groups say it has to stop.

“White phosphorus can cause horrific injuries, burning deep into the muscle and bone,” Donatella Rovera, Senior Crisis Response Adviser at Amnesty International, said.

“It is possible that some of it will only partially burn and could then reignite weeks after being deployed.”

That’s what happened to an eight-year-old girl named Razia who was badly burned when a white phosphorus shell landed on her home in June, 2009.

Human Rights Watch reported that as doctors began treating her, the oxygen mask on her face began to melt. They said flames appeared when doctors began scraping at dead tissue.

Pictures of Razia show her crying out in pain with burns across most of her face. She survived, and she’s one of the lucky ones.

 

White phosphorus — also used in rat poison — is so revered because it can lay dormant in the ground, on clothing and even on skin. When the chemical is exposed to air, it immediately ignites.

There’s a big problem with banning it, too. The use of incendiary weapons against civilians in general is illegal and has been since signatories declared it so in the 1980 Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons Protocol III. But the protocol’s definition of an incendiary weapon does not specifically refer to white phosphorus bombs.

 

 

[Ahuvah]

Isn't it just unbelievable that right now this moment somewhwere someone or many people are going through this horror? We have no idea sitting here in our comfy chairs and with amug of coffee and cat purring next to us. *shakes her head sadly at our helplessness to help. So thankful for Jehovah.

[SusanE]

No, I don't wanna see the pics--thanks for the warning.  It was hard enough just reading what you c&p.  Just so dreadful..and that poor little girl.  Oh Jehovah, please let your Kingdom come!  We know you're angry about the wickedness and evil all around us, and there are those that suffer more than others, especially victims of war.  We know you *will act in your due time. I just pray we all have the needed endurance.  And to think things will only get worse .. Oh Jehovah, Please don't let go of us; please hold our hand ever tighter and may we never *ever let go of yours!

[hatcheckgirl]

Ugly, sickening system ... can't wait for it's end.

 

I remember your judgments from of old, O Jehovah, And I find comfort in them.   I am seized with burning rage because of the wicked, Who forsake your law. - Ps 119:52, 53

 

But it won't be much longer: To proclaim the year of Jehovah’s goodwill And the day of vengeance of our God, To comfort all who mourn - Is 61:2

[GeordieGirl]

1 hour ago, Stormswift said:

Isn't it just unbelievable that right now this moment somewhwere someone or many people are going through this horror? We have no idea sitting here in our comfy chairs and with amug of coffee and cat purring next to us. *shakes her head sadly at our helplessness to help. So thankful for Jehovah.

I think similar thoughts, Mandi. Such horrors going on in the world and we cant even imagine what it must be like to live with such fear every minute of every day. 

[vern]

The creator must suffer seeing what humans do to each other; if we want it to stop; how much more the creator would want it to stop.   

[Ahuvah]

Realistically, though this weapon could be deployed anywhere in the world ... over issues like fresh water for instance. So it's really a warning that if we see white strands falling from the sky - take shelter and urge others to as well, do not investigate them as many would.  This world is capable of anything before Jehovah steps in ... we must tred carefully now.