White Phosphorous

Well buried in today’s New York Times editorial is this passage:

The United States restricted the use of incendiaries like white phosphorus after Vietnam, and in 1983, an international convention banned its use against civilians. In fact, one of the many crimes ascribed to Saddam Hussein was dropping white phosphorus on Kurdish rebels and civilians in 1991. New York Times

I sure hope that comes up during Saddam’s trial. Would be nice to know who sold these weapons to Iraq, too, since a lot of Saddam’s arsenal used on the Kurds and Iran was sold to him by the U.S.

But it’s also quite poignant in showing how despicable the use of such a horrible weapon in an urban setting is.