It is bad enough that the US is using this weapon. It is even worse that it is forced to lie about it.
Surely if the goal of US policy is to win the hearts and minds of
Afghanistan’s people, it shouldn’t be using a weapon that causes such
terrible and indiscriminate wounds. Then again, maybe winning those
hearts and minds isn’t really the goal. Maybe, as in the
so-called “Pacification Program” applied by US forces in rural South
Vietnam, the goal is to terrorize Afghan villagers in Taliban-dominated
regions into rejecting the Taliban in their midst.
Requests for answers from the press office at the Pentagon, and at
military headquarters in Afghanistan, regarding US policy on the use of
white phosphorus, and on the specific use of the shells mentioned in
the New York Times article were ignored.
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DAVE LINDORFF is a Philadelphia journalist. His latest book is "The Case for Impeachment" (St. Martin's Press, 2006). His work can be found at www.thiscantbehappening.net
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