[Bubba]

As the photos topic was going massively I've split this into a new topic

Illegal white phosphorus dropped by Israel hits Gaza.

[Houdini]

Yep, up there w/ the Nazi's in terms of commitment to absolute ruthlessness.  Despicable.   

[Bubba]

Aye, check this little lot out [graphic images]

[Houdini]

Savages.  Israel should be ostracised completely.  I stopped buying Israeli products many years ago.

I wonder what Obama will do?

[SA Chris]

Aye, check this little lot out [graphic images]

od that's awful.

Can't believe they are using phosporus, let alone on civilians. Stuff should be outlawed.

[Jaspersharpe]

It is isn't it but since when has Israel given a fuck? Utterly disgusting that they can get away with this. 

[cofe]

it is truly fucked up.

[SA Chris]

It is isn't it but since when has Israel given a fuck? Utterly disgusting that they can get away with this. 

I have no idea, if it isn't it should be. It is a filthy weapon, utilised deliberatley to disable and inflict as much pain on large infantry divisions, incapacitating men in such a way that they make a lot of noise, and require immediate attention of two or more men of their own side. Even if they survive the scars and disability that normally result are horrendous. Originally meant to demoralise and affect psychologically, and not to be used on civilians!

[Jaspersharpe]

There was a guy on the news the other day who had phosphorus burns and the doctor said they couldn't do anything about them getting worse as they were basically eating his flesh.

As you say, bad enough on the battlefield but they have used this on civilians.

I wonder what Obama will do?

Me too.

[SA Chris]

There was a guy on the news the other day who had phosphorus burns and the doctor said they couldn't do anything about them getting worse as they were basically eating his flesh.

Aye, it's horrible stuff. Not sure of the SCIENCE of phosphorous (had a play with it one at high school) but I think it ignites when exposed to oxygen (?) so is almost impossible to operate on to remove it, and is usually left to burn out, then what is left gets patched up as best as possible. Just horrific.

[Houdini]

It's function is to provide smoke cover in expansive battlezones, such as a metropolis...

[slackline]

There was a guy on the news the other day who had phosphorus burns and the doctor said they couldn't do anything about them getting worse as they were basically eating his flesh.

Aye, it's horrible stuff. Not sure of the SCIENCE of phosphorous (had a play with it one at high school) but I think it ignites when exposed to oxygen water so is almost impossible to operate on to remove it, and is usually left to burn out, then what is left gets patched up as best as possible. Just horrific.

All elements in the alkali group (the first group of the periodic table) are volatile with water, and this volatility increase with the weight of the atom.

This is probably what most people saw in chemistry...



But Brainiac do it far better...



Its sickening that this shit is being used.

[sammo]

Slack---line,

What you've written about the alkali metals is true (and your second video link is cool!), but phosphorous isn't an alkali metal - it's from group 15.

The white phosphorus allotrope should be kept under water at all times as it presents a significant fire hazard due to its extreme reactivity with atmospheric oxygen, and it should only be manipulated with forceps since contact with skin can cause severe burns.

Sorry for the pedantry 

[slackline]

Slack---line,

What you've written about the alkali metals is true (and your second video link is cool!), but phosphorous isn't an alkali metal - it's from group 15.

The white phosphorus allotrope should be kept under water at all times as it presents a significant fire hazard due to its extreme reactivity with atmospheric oxygen, and it should only be manipulated with forceps since contact with skin can cause severe burns.

Sorry for the pedantry 

    Thats probably why I ended up studying biology over chemistry 

No problems with pedantry in my eyes, sorry Chris.

[SA Chris]

It's function is to provide smoke cover in expansive battlezones

No it isn't. Smoke ordinanace does contain phoshorous, but it usually has a parachute on it to land it intact so that it burns for as long as possible, not an explosive charge in the middle in order to disperse small bits of it over a wide area.

[BB]

iirc the treament for white phos burns is to prevent oxygen from getting to it by poring water over it continuously and dig it out with a knife.

Trouble is that Phosphor absorption into the blood through the burn site is almost inveitable and it causes liver and kidney failure.

Very unpleasant, but defintely not banned under the Geneva convention. Not that Israel worry about that.

[SA Chris]

iirc the treament for white phos burns is to prevent oxygen from getting to it by poring water over it continuously and dig it out with a knife.

Exactly. Occupies a lot of people, usually 2 plus. More effective at reducing number of available combatants than straightforward elimination using death by shrapnel.

[Bubba]

Chomsky speaks out - a long read but well worth it.

I have maximum respect for Chomsky - he's not afraid to speak out against the disgrace that is Israel and the disgrace that is the US (and by association our) support for their atrocities.

[dave]

whats amazing is that after all these year the protestants and the catholics haven't yet sorted their shit out. disgraceful.

[SA Chris]

This looks like it could be interesting watching http://www.godwentsurfingwiththedevil.com/about

[Iesu]

Savages.  Israel should be ostracised completely.  I stopped buying Israeli products many years ago.

I wonder what Obama will do?

i guess that means the computer you're using doesn't have intel inside^tm?

pretty sure they have fab and/or R&D facilities in Israel http://www.inminds.co.uk/boycott-intel.html.

apologies for coming across as facetious, i haven't got the words in my vocabulary to express how this makes me feel.

where is the humanity?

it seems like they're following the recommendations of "the idiots guide to inciting freedom fighters/terrorists" (delete as you see fit)

[Iesu]

Very unpleasant, but defintely not banned under the Geneva convention. Not that Israel worry about that.

for some reason i thought it was (mistaken reporting somewhere perhaps?)

i'm pretty sure that collective punishment IS illegal under international law (not sure which ), which this clearly is.

please correct me if i'm wrong on this score. I'm no legal beagle, but none of what is happening here is justifiable in my eyes.

Barack has said fairly recently that he would expect Israel to respond to the provocation of being attacked with rockets. I wonder how this will pan out

more interesting coverage http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/news/israeli-armys-use-white-phosphorus-gaza-clear-undeniable-20090119

Chomsky speaks out - a long read but well worth it.
I have maximum respect for Chomsky - he's not afraid to speak out against the disgrace that is Israel and the disgrace that is the US (and by association our) support for their atrocities.

no time to read all of that now, but this is interesting:

In his retrospective "Parsing Gains of Gaza War," New York Times correspondent Ethan Bronner cited this achievement as one of the most significant of the gains. Israel calculated that it would be advantageous to appear to "go crazy," causing vastly disproportionate terror, a doctrine that traces back to the 1950s. "The Palestinians in Gaza got the message on the first day," Bronner wrote, "when Israeli warplanes struck numerous targets simultaneously in the middle of a Saturday morning. Some 200 were killed instantly, shocking Hamas and indeed all of Gaza." The tactic of "going crazy" appears to have been successful, Bronner concluded: there are "limited indications that the people of Gaza felt such pain from this war that they will seek to rein in Hamas," the elected government. That is another long-standing doctrine of state terror. I don't, incidentally, recall the Times retrospective "Parsing Gains of Chechnya War," though the gains were great.

classic shock tactics exercised against the general civilian population.

[Bubba]

One glimmer of hope regarding Obama is that he's rumoured to be going to "open a channel" to Hamas. Beyond that will much really change? I'm doubtful.