Talk:White phosphorus munition/Archives/2006/January

Illumination

Why his illumination standard legitimate use of WP not spoken of? Before admitting of screening-use of WP, Pentagon declared that WP was only used for illumination purpose. (see US State Department correction subsection on this Talk page)

• It's not mentioned in the article? It probably should be. White phosphorus is sometimes used for wide-area illumination in the form of flares, or used in tracer rounds for small arms. This article seems to focus on the most insidious use of white phosphorus ... although the (weapon) tag in its name does make it kind of clear what it's aiming for. --Cyde Weys _talk^contribs 16:10, 14 December 2005 (UTC)

WP isn't used in flares, that's magnesium. The State Department confused the two. There's no reason Wikipedia should do the same. It is used in tracer rounds, and that could be mentioned, but that's not illumination, that's target indication. --BruceR 21:30, 15 December 2005 (UTC)

No doubt, the State Department "confused" the two. Sorta tried to create smokescreens, huh?! WP isn't used in tracer rounds either. That's bullshit. WP has exactly two uses: as an incendiary and as a smokescreen/obscurant. The funny thing is, even though certain Wikipedia editors might insist on WP being only used as an obscurant, there is no real difference between a WP smoke and WP incendiary round. WP 'smoke' hand grenades used in Vietnam had the pretty annoying tendency to expel burning chunks of WP up to 25 meters which endangered the person throwing it. Strangely enough (who would have guessed...) the very same 'smoke' hand grenade was also used as an incendiary and anti personnel device. And can someone please explain to me why an attacking army would shoot rounds with IR 'obscurant smoke' into a city that is under attack, even at night? So that the attacking party with its night vision devices and tanks and artillery cannot identify targets anymore? I guess that pretty much proves the purpose of why WP was used. To all the 'experts' here claiming although WP might be toxic but that wouldn't matter since WP acts only thermally, I again have to say bovine excrement. Once the WP has burned and produced phosphoric acid it indeed is not toxic anymore (but it is still corrosive since H3PO4 happens to be a fairly strong acid... BASIC HIGH SCHOOL CHEMISTRY!!!). Unfortunately WP has the tendency to EVAPORATE, and those fumes are highly TOXIC. May I suggest you look up "PHOSSY YAW". EIther on google or wikipedia. I can't believe how the Iraq war apologists sucessfully manage to pull the wool over most people's eyes all the time. --- a real chemist who has handled WP, napalm and similar shit repeatedly and is sick of people defending the liars and criminals who use such terrible weapons --- (01.01. 2006)

Phossy Jaw is not caused by inhaled white phosporus "fumes", but by handling white phosphorus in its solid form. Phossy jaw is an illness suffered by ninteenth century matchstick makers, not something caused by the WP rounds used in Fallujah.--BohicaTwentyTwo 19:18, 3 January 2006 (UTC)