In both WWII, Korea, and Vietnam WP was authorize for use when attacking enemy forces in trenches and fortifications routinely, Further, beginning in March of 1945 B-29s under General LeMay used WP bombs to ignite firestorms in Japanese cities, killing hundred of thousands civilians while destroying Japan's military production capacity and to force Japan to surrender. In this context, the atomic bomb was not seen as a huge escalation. Under the circumstances described in the Washington Post article, and even in the Italian documentary, that the use of WP shells and grenades to attack entrenched troops, or troops hiding in tunnels, was legal. Nevertheless, there is the PR problem and that problem evolves from the nature of the Iraq war, which necessarily was going to be a guerrilla war in third world country. Such a war will always be a dirty, messy war, amongst civilians. This is War, its cruelty and suffering, and why it should never be entered into lightly. Unfortunately, the decision to enter this war, and to fight it, appears to have been made very lightly with very little thought about how to follow through. This administration has always viewed Iraq through the lens of its political agenda, and except when motivated by the politics, has shown little energy in its prosecution and management so it is always being caught by surprise.
Etiketter: kriget i irak