White Phosphorous Used in Battle

The US military has confirmed reports that it used artillery rounds containing white phosphorous in the battle against insurgents in Fallujah. (Washington Post: U.S. Used Phosphorous Munitions In Fallujah). Italian TV is reporting that the rounds were used against civilian targets; a claim that is vehemently denied by the US.

What is troubling here is not the use of white phosphorous nor the targets against which these rounds were used. No, what is troubling here is that our military is being forced to openly discuss what weapons we are using on the battlefield and why we use those weapons. At what point will this country wake up and realize that we are at war? This is a war, not just with Iraq, but with extremists operating world-wide with the primary goal of overthrowing American society and culture. We are at war. While at war, we do not publicly discuss what weapons are being deployed on the battlefield.

Any information provided in the media regarding what weapons we are using is additional information in the hands of the enemy. In this regard, the public does not have any "right to know", and quite frankly, the public is not qualified to hear the answer. For the record, it is my view that any weapon in our arsenal is appropriate for use by the military with the approval of the Commander in Chief. There is no justification for leaving our military or our leaders hamstrung over the use of weapons that are at our disposal.

We did not defeat Germany and Japan in the second world war by pulling punches. We did not win that war by avoiding civilian deaths. Rather, we won that war by completely leveling major cities controlled by the enemy. By today's standards, much of what we did in the second world war would be considered outrageous. By today's standards, we could not have won that war since our leaders would have been prevented from deploying the most successful tactics that we used. We cannot allow that to happen here. We are in this war for the long haul and we cannot be restricted in how we fight this war. That is a recipe for defeat.

There is only one "rule of war" that I want to see out military follow: WIN. Now that the rule's clear let's step aside and allow the finest military in the world to go out and do it's job. Win.

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