Last edited Fri Aug 15, 2014, 12:55 PM - Edit history (1)
There many links about Ukraine using white phosphorus if you Google...but, if even HRW can't make up its mind about the reports from both Russia and Ukraine sources as to whether it was used or not...then we should keep our minds open.
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Dispatches: White Phosphorus, White Lies, or What?
June 20, 2014
http://www.hrw.org/news/2014/06/20/dispatches-white-phosphorus-white-lies-or-what
After analyzing the LifeNews video clip, Human Rights Watch arms researchers concluded that it didn’t show a white phosphorous – or an incendiary weapon – attack. What the video actually appears to show is an illuminant or a pyrotechnic. First, the intensity of the burning and the amount of smoke it generated aren’t consistent with white phosphorus. Second, the substance falling from the sky in the video has a haphazard pattern, unlike an incendiary weapon. Third, there is no flash of an explosive bursting charge, no instantaneous uniform ignition of the substance, both characteristic of white phosphorus munitions. Whatever is falling from the sky is breaking apart in a non-uniform manner, more akin to crumbling or disintegrating – incendiary weapons don’t do this.
The accusations around the claims are still flying. Ukrainian media outlets have published an apology written by two journalists for Zvezda, the Russian Ministry of Defense media outlet, who said they falsely reported on the use of white phosphorous (among other things) in Semyonovka. However, the circumstances under which the letter was written are still unclear. Both journalists had been detained by Ukrainian security services, and Ukrainian Channel 5 aired a video of one of the two journalists stating that his editors at Zvezda said he had to do the story. Again, this powerful claim is clouded by the fact that it was made while the journalist was in Ukrainian custody. The reporter’s black eye itself is a serious cause of concern.
This certainly wouldn’t be the first time that Russian state media has manufactured montages about eastern Ukraine, twisted the truth, or outright misstated facts. It’s difficult to avoid the impression that aside from mobilizing public outrage in Russia about Ukraine, these manipulations aim to distract and exhaust the experts whose job it is to sift between fact and fiction. It’s like an incendiary weapon that explodes, leaving in its wake anger and disorientation until the media cycle moves on. The Ukrainian media is also no stranger to this tactic.
http://www.hrw.org/news/2014/06/20/dispatches-white-phosphorus-white-lies-or-what
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