Hi Carolyn; The use of napalm in warfare dates at least as far back as WW2, when we dropped it on Tokyo, in particular:
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On March 9 and 10, 1945, U.S. forces dropped more than 1,500 tons of napalm bombs, all produced at Rocky Mountain Arsenal, on Tokyo. The resulting firestorm destroyed enormous sections of the city. By the end of the war, RMA had produced more than 100,000 tons of incendiary munitions.
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pmrma.army.mil
There's nothing particularly gruesome about napalm. The US got rid of most of it, but reserves the right to use it. Turkey and Iraq supposedly both used it against the Kurds, and I'd bet it was a feature of the Iran Iraq war. Here's a reference from the US military's website showing our use of Napalm during the Gulf War:
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Ground forces are continuing an aggressive and active recon patrolling along and throughout the border area. Marines are also dropping napalm in oil-filled Iraqi trenches to ignite oil, clear a path for assault forces.
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history.navy.mil
Here's the treaty that covers this sort of nastiness:
Certain Conventional Weapons Convention (CCWC)
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Protocol I prohibits the use of non-detectable fragments;
Protocol II restricts the use of mines, booby traps, and other devices;
Amended Protocol II significantly expands and strengthens the restrictions governing the use of mines, booby traps, and other devices;
Protocol III prohibits the use of incendiary weapons; and
Protocol IV prohibits the use and transfer of blinding laser weapons.
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In a reservation submitted with the instrument of ratification for Protocol III (incendiary weapons), the United States will retain the right to use certain incendiary weapons in circumstances where there is no probability of impacting civilian population or civilian objects. The use of napalm to ignite Iraqi oil-filled trenches in order to breech a complex obstacle is a clear example of this reservation in practice. The use of white phosphorus or fuel air explosives are not prohibited or restricted by Protocol III.
nawcwpns.navy.mil
The real nasty is fuel air explosives, which will be particularly effective against well dug in Taliban suicide wannabes. But most of the US' stock of napalm is gone:
Navy Recycles Last of Vietnam's "Liquid Fire"
Trevor Hoehne, Journalist 2nd Class, Navy Compass, April 13, 2001
After more than two decades, the last of the nation's inventory of napalm has been erasedfrom the history books.
... The napalm was reformulated into fuel for use in industrial furnaces in Texas and Louisiana, ...
Eike Hohenadl, the disposal plant's site manager, added, "Napalm is a memory of a war that most Americans would like to forget. I'm glad we are at an end."
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chinfo.navy.mil
-- Carl |
