Probably a really bad idea after we gave them to Israel.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2023/12/11/israel-us-white-phosphorus-lebanon/
https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/10/12/israel-white-phosphorus-used-gaza-lebanon
One big difference is the Israelis fight in a lot of densely populated and residential areas against fighters that do not wear uniforms. The risk of incidental damage is high.
The steppes of eastern Ukraine are not densely populated, and Russian soldiers are easily distinguished from civilians by their military uniforms. The risk of incidental damage is low.
Agreed the risk is different, but I don’t know that the US should be involved in supplying questionable munitions like this. It’s a small step below chemical and biological weapons.
We shouldn’t be sending them to anyone…
It’s… Not great on that basis. However in this context Ukraine and Russia have been using cluster munitions and worse on each other since the start. They didn’t sign those treaties. If the argument is look, Ukraine is already hitting infantry positions with thermite spraying drones, and these weapons can win the war sooner, I’m not going to be thrilled, but given the consequences of a less than total defeat for Russia I’ll bite my tongue.
I disagree. The main reason they’re banned is due to the high risk of starting uncontrolled fires, which pose a danger to innocents. This indiscriminate danger is a similarity they share with chemical and bio weapons, but can be mitigated with responsible usage. It’s not just “wp is bad”.
Additionally, smoke munitions that rely on WP could potentially be very useful even when not used in direct attack. It’s already present on the battlefield in a variety of forms. Tracer rounds are phosphorous. If you’ve ever seen a tank shoot out a smokescreen for cover, that’s phosphorous too. This would just be another delivery mechanism.
For all intents and purposes, white phosphorus is a chemical weapon that causes chemical burns which means it’s use is highly susceptible to facilitating war crimes, even unintentionally. It’s use should be banned from war.
They’re saving those for Israel.
Sorry Zelensky we need all our phosphorus weapons to assist Israel with the genocide 😢
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The military mostly use white phosphorus for smoke masking, though it also can be used in aerial bombs as an ignition source. So, it depends what you use it for. As an ignition source it’s not very efficient and has been used by the Russians in Ukraine for years.
I mean… the Ukrainians are operating thermite flamethrower drones in some areas for trench-clearing. This would just be a level-up.
White phosphorus burns at 1,000 F, whereas thermite burns at around 4,000 F. Not a step up.
