Specially Protected Persons in Combat Situations (new title)

[JMA]

Israel's use of white phosphorus 155mm artillery shells in densely-populated parts of Gaza in 2009 became the basis for war crimes allegations, as defined by Protocol III, Convention on Conventional Weapons, which Israel did not ratify. The shells Israel used were made in the U.S. The same thing about WP was said about the U.S. Marines when they retook Fallujah in 2004. I don't know whether the U.S. ratified the protocol. The Field Artillery School at Fort Sill may have to be more emphatic about defining when it can and cannot be used.

When I was in the Field Artillery we were taught to use WP for establishing hasty smoke screens, marking targets for air attack, and setting fire to supply dumps. It is a legal weapn of war, but many people in the human rights community regard it as some sort of WMD.

I believe the concern is when WP is fired into areas of civilian population and/or with the intention to start fires (burn them out).

Can the effect of this photo on the Vietnam war effort (and beyond) ever be truly assessed?



The response to claims of war crimes should be met at a political PR level and not by soldiers on the ground who should bound only by the parameters for the use of such weapons passed down their chain of command.

We had similar problems (but on a small scale) where whatever we did was closely scrutinised and in many instances deliberately misreported. The US and Israel are no strangers to this phenomenon either.

The US and Israeli politicians should be demanding war crimes proceedings be initiated against those firing rockets into civilian settlements. Can't for one reason think why they have not... or maybe they accept that these Israeli settlements are legitimate targets?