Exposed: The Obama Invasion of Syria

[Jackalope]

White phosphorus is not a chemical weapon.

No, it is not. It's classified as an incendiary.

It does, however, produce toxic fumes. Whether or not it's use in warfare is lawful under international convention and agreement depends wholly on how it's used. Using it as a weapon against civilians, and using it in a way to leverage the toxic effects of the chemical reaction are certainly not acceptable uses. Use as an anti-materiel weapon, or against military targets is not prohibited (provided that the use is as an incendiary, not a toxin). Using WP to gas people (not it's intended function), would fall under chemical weapon conventions, even though it is not classified as such.

That being said, it's my view that using white phosphorus as an anti-personnel weapon in any capacity is unnecessarily cruel and barbaric. It's nasty, nasty stuff - great for destroying equipment, but on people, I can think of few things that would be worse.

In my time in the army, had I ever been ordered to use WP against people, I would have refused - fuck the consequences.


ETA - there is conflicting information in Army training materials as to the policy and legality of using WP against personnel. Some newer materials state unequivocally that it's use against personnel is prohibited, older materials are less clear. I vaguely recall that I was trained that we were told that WP was to be used only as an anti-materiel weapon. Then again, what is policy, and what is actually done in warfare are not necessarily the same thing.