[lit-ideas] Re: Willie Pete, well, okay, a little bit

  • From: "Andreas Ramos" <andreas@xxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Wed, 16 Nov 2005 17:27:16 -0800

Yet WP is not outlawed.

Use of white phosphorus is not specifically banned by any treaty. However, there is a debate on whether white phosphorous is a chemical weapon and thus outlawed by the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) which went into effect in April of 1997. The CWC is monitored by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. The spokesman for that organization, Peter Kaiser, stated that white phosphorus was not against the convention if it was used as a lighting agent, but "If on the other hand the toxic properties of white phosphorus, the caustic properties, are specifically intended to be used as a weapon, that of course is prohibited, because the way the Convention is structured or the way it is in fact applied, any chemicals used against humans or animals that cause harm or death through the toxic properties of the chemical are considered chemical weapons."

However, even when it is used as a weapon, it may be argued that it is not the toxic properties of white phosphorus, but the heat which is produced by its deployment, and thus white phosphorous is not a chemical weapon, but an incendiary weapon.

As to its use as an incendiary weapon, the 1980 Convention on Conventional Weapons (Protocol III) prohibits the use of air-delivered incendiary weapons against civilian populations or indiscriminate incendiary attacks against military forces co-located with civilians.

However, the protocol also specifically excludes weapons whose incendiary effect is secondary, such as smoke grenades. This has been often read as excluding white phosphorus munitions from the protocol, as well.

The United States is among the nations that are parties to the convention but have not signed Protocol III.

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