After the fiasco that surrounded a few American media outlets (and the subsequent fallout over their massive screw-up) over the White Phosphorous story you’d have thought the BBC would have had the intelligence to read the newspapers and not make the same mistake.
WRONG
Booyah! - US used white phosphorus in Iraq
That headline could read US used White Phosphorous in WWII on European and Pacific fronts, In the Korean War, In Vientam, in the First Gulf war and in the Second Gulf War
White Phosphorous has been around forever. It’s not a chemical weapon, it never has been classified as a chemical weapon, about the only thing chemical about it is the fact that it is, itself, a chemical.
“the substance - which can cause burning of the flesh”
Correct, WP can cause burning of the flesh if you were to take a shower in it, when ignited.
However, WP has basically 1 primary purpose, to create a massive cloud of white smoke - which is why it’s used in artillery training (you can accurately gauge the shell’s impact) and in Helicopter drills (massive columns of white smoke are easy to see).
I think one thing should have tipped them off: This came from RAI. They say that the reason the RAI channels are so vehemently socialist (think the BBC only magnified a thousandfold) is that the other channels are all owned by Silvio Berlusconi, however at the end of the day, that doesn’t excuse poor reporting like this.
This sort of thing reminds me of the old Brass Eye TV show where they’d get celebrities to take part in a public information broadcast about made up drugs with names like “Cake”, describing ridiculous effects and the outlandish consequences of taking the fake narcotics. You can say anything, no matter how stupid and if someone wants to believe it, they’ll pick it up and run with it.
Later
John
Posted by John Swaine at November 15, 2005 10:15 PM