[Marxism] Is Israel Using Prohibited Weapons?

[Dbachmozart@xxxxxxx]

By Stuart Littlewood 
Not content with their massive blood-letting and maiming mission last  
weekend, the Israelis couldn't resist nipping back into Gaza last night for 
more  of 
the same. 
Not that the British government seems to give a damn about the murder and  
mayhem being visited on the Gazans. Our foreign secretary David Miliband said:  
"I condemn the rocket attacks against Israel. These are terrorist acts. They  
should be seen for what they are - an attempt to break the political process 
by  breaking the will of those committed to peace.â 
No condemnation of Israel's terrorist acts, then. No acknowledgement that any 
 political process involving unrepresentative placemen like Abbas and Fayyad 
is  doomed. No recognition that the prospect of peace has already been 
scuppered by  the acceleration of Israel's land-grab and illegal settlement 
programme.  
And the dear boy still seems utterly oblivious to the inevitableâ that  
someone, sooner or later, will have to talk with Hamas. Good manners require 
it,  
even if good sense is lacking. 
Anyway, who is this Miliband person, somebody asked me. And does he write his 
 own speeches or are the words supplied by some Zionist scribbler on loan 
from  the White House? 
Well, I have no idea. Miliband just popped out of Labourâs âbright young  
thingsâ cupboard one day and suddenly became foreign secretary with no  
qualifications for the job whatsoever, a folly compounded by harnessing him 
with  
former chairman of Labour Friends of Israel and the minister for the Middle  
East, 
Dr. Kim Howells.  
Miliband told the Daily Mail âcategorically" that he didn't believe in God.  
Maybe that explains why he voted for the war in Iraq.  
So can we take it that he also doesnât give a damn about thermobaric weapons  
and whether his US and Israeli chums are using them against civilians? The  
question arises because I have just received from Gazaâs Ministry of Health a 
 
report into the effects of prohibited weapons Israel is suspected of using. 
In July 2006 doctors in Lebanon and Gaza were saying: âWe never saw before  
wounds and corpses like those that arrive in the wardâ what are these new  
weapons that cause such wounding and horrible deaths?â The large majority of  
victims in both locations were women, children and elders caught in Israeli  
attacks in the street, in the market place and at home.  
Thermobaric bombs and grenades leave no visible wound  
What they saw led doctors to believe that a new generation of weapons was  
being used in both territories. For example, in Sidon, Lebanon eight victims  
(three children, four men and one woman) were described thus: "One might think  
they were burnt, but they are not, only their color is dark, they're inflated, 
 and they have a terrible smell. The hair is not burnt nor the bodies woundedâ
.  Due to the strong smell of the corpses, the medical director said he 
couldn't  breath properly for at least 12 hours after they were handled.  
The report stated: âCommon features of all the victimâs bodies were lack of 
 
main woundsâ All victims had serious internal edema and hemorrhage with loss 
of  blood from all body orifices. All the bodies were covered of dark powder 
so to  look black, but were not burnt. Clothes and hair were not damaged or 
burnt.â 
Samples from the skin of six corpses were analyzed for histology in two  
independent laboratories. The results revealed no altered elements in the skin  
and derma and no sign of burns. All samples showed particles of dark color  
covering the skin, histologically staining for iron. 
Electron microscope scans showed the presence of phosphorous, iron and  
magnesium at below the normal level of detection. Analysis of the dark  
refractive 
material layered over the skin of one victim showed it contained  mainly 
carbon and oxygen, and lesser amounts of iron, silicon and calcium. Some  of 
these 
elements are used in particle form as fuel additives to boost the blast  of 
thermobaric bombs or grenades. 
Thermobaric, or fuel-air energy (FAE), explosives work in two stages. The  
shell, or container, is burst open to spread the combusting agent as a fine  
aerosol, then this is ignited, creating an overpressure blast wave traveling at 
 
3000 metres per second, and burning all available oxygen in the process.  
The GlobalSecurity website describes the effect of a thermobaric bomb: âThose 
 near the ignition point are obliterated. Those at the fringe are likely to  
suffer many internal, and thus invisible injuries, including burst eardrums 
and  crushed inner ear organs, severe concussions, ruptured lungs and internal  
organs, and possibly blindness. The destruction, death, and injury are caused 
by  the blast wave.â  
Enhanced performance is achieved by adding excess metals to the explosive  
composition, aluminum and magnesium being the metals of choice.  
A report on the Defense Technology website says that instead of  
shrapnel/fragment injuries a thermobaric device produces blast effects. âEach 
 tissue 
type, when interacting with the blast wave, is compressed, stretched,  sheared 
or 
disintegrated by overload according to its material properties.  Internal 
organs that contain air (sinuses, ears, lungs and intestines) are  particularly 
vulnerable to blast.â 
âSix rounds in three secondsâ I thought this thing was sick.â  
The US uses dinky 40mm thermobaric grenades developed for the âwar against  
terrorâ in Afghanistan. Is it too big a stretch of the imagination to suppose 
 
they are being supplied for use in places like Gaza? These little beauties  
produce âa thermobaric overpressure blast rather than fragmentation. As a 
result 
 of the thermobaric reaction, all enemy personnel within the effective radius 
 will suffer lethal effects as opposed to the conventional fragmentation 
round.â  
The grenades look like cannon shells and are fired from a lumpy, aggressive  
looking shoulder weapon with a multi-chambered revolving cylinder. âYou can 
put  six rounds on target in under three seconds,â one Marine Corps corporal 
said. âI  thought this thing was sick.â Just the job, then, for eliminating 
Qassam  rocketeers and their families and friends and anyone else who happens 
to 
get in  the wayâ.  
In the victim cases examined, the weapon used left no traces visible to the  
naked eye or detectable by instruments commonly used in hospitals and 
emergency  wards. This makes it all the more difficult to provide proper care 
for the  
wounded. âThese weapons do not leave fragments on/in the victims' bodies and  
this fact already puts them outside established conventions of war, 
regardless  of whether they are used against military or civilians,â say the 
doctors.  
According to Geneva Conventions (Protocol on Non-Detectable Fragments), "it  
is prohibited to use any weapon the primary effect of which is to injure by  
fragments which in the human body escape detection by X-rays." 
Of course none of this is news to the arms industry. But itâs time the public 
 â who pay for the development of such weapons and could one day find 
themselves  on the wrong end â knew more about it. 
Thankfully, here in Britain we seem to be a bit queasier about prohibited  
weaponry than our thermobarbaric allies. Rumour has it that our enlightened  
government has opted for âenhanced blast explosives technologyâ, which is  
designed to fully comply with international humanitarian law. How thoughtful.  
Letâ
s hope women, children and old folk on the receiving end appreciate the  
difference.  
I suppose this is as near as Britain gets these days to taking a moral  lead. 
-Stuart Littlewood is author of the book Radio Free Palestine, which  tells 
the plight of the Palestinians under occupation. For further information  
please visit _www.radiofreepalestine.co.uk_ 
(http://www.radiofreepalestine.co.uk/) 
.  He contributed this article to  PalestineChronicle.com



**************It's Tax Time! Get tips, forms, and advice on AOL Money & 
Finance.      (http://money.aol.com/tax?NCID=aolprf00030000000001)
________________________________________________
YOU MUST clip all extraneous text before replying to a message.
Send list submissions to: Marxism@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism