White phosphorus
There's been a growing anger in Afghanistan over an allegation that the US dropped white phosphorus into a battle area severely wounding civilians.
I haven't posted on this because I haven't really been able to figure out the truth, but take a look at what the US is releasing today, a claim that Taleban are in possession of and have used white phosphorus on 12 occasions.
Again, I don't know what's true here, but this story seems a clear step towards an admission those civilians were injured by white phosphorus and then a likely joined step to blame the Taleban or, at least, muddy the waters.
It just seems a substantial development in the story.
I haven't posted on this because I haven't really been able to figure out the truth, but take a look at what the US is releasing today, a claim that Taleban are in possession of and have used white phosphorus on 12 occasions.
Again, I don't know what's true here, but this story seems a clear step towards an admission those civilians were injured by white phosphorus and then a likely joined step to blame the Taleban or, at least, muddy the waters.
It just seems a substantial development in the story.
posted by mikevotes at
7:41 AM
3 Comments:
We are dealing with the after effects of Bush's half-assed policies in Afghanistan. It will be half a century (at least) before the region is as stable (maybe "manageable" is a better word) as it was before Bush executed his policies.
By
-epm, at 10:09 AM
Agreed.
But this phosphouros storyt has big echoes around the anti-US Muslim world, after the incidents in Iraq and the very public use by ISrael in Gaza six months ago.
By
mikevotes, at 10:33 AM
Agreed.
I kind of stepped back from the specifics of your post because the whole Iraq/Pakistan/Afghanistan "big picture" has been on my mind lately. I'm frustrated by the complete cock-up Bush has made of the entire region. Even more so when you consider the tremendous opportunity of goodwill that was squandered -- just pissed away -- post 9/11.
But to your post, the Taliban has been good at leveraging anti-American sentiment... even in the face of their own atrocities vis a vis, civilian slaughter.
By
-epm, at 10:55 AM
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