US jets strike Syrian town with banned white phosphorus bombs – Russian Defense Ministry

Submitted by Amanda Matthews on Mon, 09/10/2018 - 1:04pm

Two US jets have bombed a town in the Syrian Deir Ez-Zor province with white phosphorus munitions, causing massive fires, Russian military has said.

Two F-15 jets on Saturday bombed the town of Hajin with white phosphorus incendiary munitions, banned under the Geneva Convention, according to the Russian Center for Reconciliation in Syria.

“Following the strikes, large fires were observed in the area,” Lieutenant-General Vladimir Savchenko said Sunday. There’s still no information on casualties caused by the bombing run, he added.

A Pentagon spokesperson denied the allegations of dropping white phosphorus bombs. “At this time, we have not received any reports of any use of white phosphorous,” Commander Sean Robertson told the media on Sunday. “None of the military units in the area are even equipped with white phosphorous munitions of any kind.”

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White phosphorus, however, is also used for smoke screens and signals, which are not banned under the Convention. The loophole allows several nations, including the US, to keep the white-phosphorus based weapons in their arsenal.

https://www.rt.com/news/438008-us-strikes-syria-white-phosphorus/

We used WP all over Iraq and we’re using it in Syria too

Iraq/Syria: Danger From US White Phosphorus

https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/06/14/iraq/syria-danger-us-white-phosphorus

This is obscene.

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This makes me want to punch Lee Greenwood right smack in the mouth

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Comments

Submitted by dervish on Mon, 09/10/2018 - 2:48pm

Burns from WP are especially grievous,

It keeps on burning as long as it's exposed to oxygen. The injuries have to be treated while submerged in water.

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"Obama promised transparency, but Assange is the one who brought it."

Submitted by snoopydawg on Mon, 09/10/2018 - 4:25pm

Bolton threatens the ICC

This country's arrogance knows no bounds. We've been dragging war criminals to the ICC after they stop doing our bidding, but country's that have had war crimes committed against them have no recourse in the ICC.

Reinforcing US Status as 'Bully and Hegemon,' Bolton to Threaten ICC Over Probes into America's War Crimes

Reinforcing the worldwide perception of the U.S. as "a bully and a hegemon" that will not tolerate attempts by the global community to hold it accountable for its deadly actions overseas, President Donald Trump's national security adviser John Bolton is set to deliver a speech on Monday that will reportedly threaten International Criminal Court (ICC) officials with sanctions if they dare to move ahead with probes into U.S. or Israeli war crimes.

"The United States will use any means necessary to protect our citizens and those of our allies from unjust prosecution by this illegitimate court," Bolton will say at an event hosted by the right-wing Federalist Society, according to a speech draft viewed by Reuters. "If the court comes after us, Israel, or other allies, we will not sit quietly."

To deter ICC officials from investigating American actions in the 17-year-long Afghanistan war, Bolton will reportedly outline a plan to hit all who cooperate with the probe with economic sanctions and a ban on travel to the U.S.

Then there's this.

Responding to the Trump administration's reported plan to shutter a Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) office in Washington over Palestinians' attempts to investigate and prosecute Israelis for war crimes through the ICC, Palestinian official Saeb Erekat told Reuters, "We reiterate that the rights of the Palestinian people are not for sale, that we will not succumb to U.S. threats and bullying."

"Accordingly, we continue to call upon the International Criminal Court to open its immediate investigation into Israeli crimes," Erekat said.

We really should change the name of the country to the USA&I

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To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize.

- Kevin Alfred Strom

Submitted by lotlizard on Tue, 09/11/2018 - 4:03pm

2005, when TOP still seemed to be an oasis of dissent and sanity

Hunter’s classic, “Melting the skin off of children” — whereby the warning about “graphic” content no longer seems to apply, since the links to photographs no longer work:

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2005/11/09/163726/-Melting-the-Skin-Off...