A real scandal

The Times is on firmer ground with evidence that the Taleban, like Israel, is using white phosphorous. In this case, it seems to have been made in Britain, by BAE:

The Ministry of Defence in London said that there was no evidence that British soldiers had been burnt by white phosphorus munitions in Helmand, but said that there would have to be an investigation into how British-manufactured munitions were in the hands of the Taleban.

Royal Ordnance factories owned by BAE Systems make 81mm mortars that the British fire with white phosphorus rounds for illumination in Afghanistan. But the MoD denied that the Taleban had somehow acquired British mortars sent to troops in Helmand.

No we don't... yes we did

Well done again the Times for keeping on about Israel's use of white phosphorus. Today the paper reports what seems to be an admission from the Israel Defence Forces that media coverage of the issue led them to stop using the very dangerous chemical.

The Times says that the IDF provided "its first explicit admission" on this issue although it does not make this entirely clear. It appears that the IDF is for the first time admitting that it used two different type of phosphorus shell, having previously denied using it at all.

Israel's weapons

As Israel admits that its troops may have used white phosphorus shells in contravention of international law, I've published an Independent Minds blog piece about how mentioning Israel's nukes is officially taboo.

Lies, damned lies and Israel

The Times continues to follow up evidence that Israel used white phosphorous in areas where civilians would inevitably be injured by it, finding a blinded 14 year-old in a Cairo hospital.

With others such as Channel 4 News' Jonathan Miller actually finding the stuff - in a UN school of all places - there is little point in the Israelis denying it any longer. The Times notes:

Israel, which originally denied the use of white phosphorus in Gaza when questioned by The Times two weeks ago, has since said that all weapons used in Gaza were “within the scope of international law”.

The usual tactic when accused of a war crime is to deny it. If you are proved wrong later, what have you lost?

Your credibility next time? We shall see...

Implausible denial

The Times is doing a great job of revealing Israel's use of white phosphorous in Gaza, reporting today that hospitals are seeing civilians with unusual and severe burns:

The Times has identified stockpiles of white phosphorus (WP) shells from high-resolution images taken of Israel Defence Forces (IDF) artillery units on the Israeli-Gaza border this week. The pale blue 155mm rounds are clearly marked with the designation M825A1, an American-made WP munition. The shell is an improved version with a more limited dispersion of the phosphorus, which ignites on contact with oxygen, and is being used by the Israeli gunners to create a smoke screen on the ground.

The rounds, which explode into a shower of burning white streaks, were first identified by The Times at the weekend when they were fired over Gaza at the start of Israel's ground offensive. Artillery experts said that the Israeli troops would be in trouble if they were banned from using WP because it is the simplest way of creating smoke to protect them from enemy fire.

...

Confronted with the latest evidence, an IDF spokeswoman insisted that the M825A1 shell was not a WP type. “This is what we call a quiet shell - it is empty, it has no explosives and no white phosphorus. There is nothing inside it,” she said.

“We shoot it to mark the target before we launch a real shell. We launch two or three of the quiet shells which are empty so that the real shells will be accurate. It's not for killing people,” she said.

Asked what shell was being used to create the smokescreen effect seen so clearly on television images, she said: “We're using what other armies use and we're not using any weapons that are banned under international law.”

Neil Gibson, technical adviser to Jane's Missiles and Rockets, insisted that the M825A1 was a WP round. “The M825A1 is an improved model. The WP does not fill the shell but is impregnated into 116 felt wedges which, once dispersed [by a high-explosive charge], start to burn within four to five seconds. They then burn for five to ten minutes. The smoke screen produced is extremely effective,” he said.