Nov 15, 2005

The Truth About White Phosphorus

Well, I think we'd all be a little further ahead if we could get a straight answer from someone..anyone... about what takes place during a battle when the technique know as "shake and bake" is used. Now, God forbid that anyone around here would jump to any conclusions about whether the Pentagon is capable of lying to us or not, but just to be on the safe side, I figured maybe I'd do some thinking for myself and see if I might be able to make some sense of the situation, based on what is known about the matter. Now I realize I'm not a military man, and that as such I'm not privy to all the 'intel' on WP, but I think that it's safe to say that the substance is notable for at least three characteristics; it is extremely caustic, extremely toxic..... and it burns real bright, making a damn good flare! Using these features as clues, I went about trying to determine what specific stimulus could possibly be derived from WP that could be so motivating as to make whole bunches of "insurgents" obligingly leap out of their trenches so that they could be cut down by our troops in the conventional manner. Bring my considerable intellect to bear on the problem, I went through the possibilities in an orderly manner and came to a rather stunning conclusion. Becuse we know that the Pentagon would never allow it's field commanders to violate any international conventions banning Chemical weapons, we know that the WP couldn't be (well,it could. But it just wouldn't be) used as a toxin. As already noted, it's against the law and besides, I just don't see these Iraqi's who, upon realizing they've been poisoned, all emerging from their trenches to give our boys some Moslem interpretation of the last big scene in Hamlet. I will admit that the horror of such a spectacle may well be cause for forgiveness should our troops mow down the entire lot using the most expedient method at hand, but I just don't think that Iraqis are so well versed on Shakespeare that they can give an impromptu USO performance of that magnitude. So that's not it..... So what that leaves us with is a choice between WP's use as a flare or in its dry, "caustic" form. The only other time causticity has been known to been used in battle was during the seige of a French castle during the campaign to capture the Holy Grail. Deffending the fortress was a lone Frenchman armed with an extremely caustic tongue. During the brief sequence captured by the Python war correspondents, we see a "taunting" so vicious...so cruel, that it's legacy exists to this day as a ban by all English speakers everywhere on caustic agents of any kind. Of course that leaves us with but one possibility. Moths. Yes...moths. Clearly the use of WP in battle is sufficient to lure battle hardened soldiers out of their trenches even where the most horrific pounding of high explosive shells could not. Iraqi insurgents have a "jumping gene" so to speak which causes them to jump out of their trenches and chase WP flares in the same way a moth is attracted to a lightbulb. As such, there is absolutely nothing for these nasty rumours about using WP as an incendiary weapon to rest on. It is simply not needed. Why would the U.S. risk it's reputation as a moral "giant among nations" by using such prohibited and vile weapons as incendiaries when it is now known that something as simple as a flashlight can be used to lead Iraqi's insurgents out of their trenches and to their deaths. Indeed. Why would they? Mycos

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