Some in the press and anti-war political circles have been scandalized by US military use of white phosphorus munitions in Fallujah, Iraq. Gen. Peter Pace, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff USMC, tackled the subject head-on at the Nov. 29 Pentagon briefing, arguing that these so-called “Willy Pete” munitions—for example, 120 mm mortar smoke cartridges fired in Iraq–are “legitimate tools” in close combat situations. He added that WP munitions are used primarily in two situations—to mark a location for a strike by an aircraft and to act as a screen for troop movements. “It is not a chemical, it is an incendiary,” Pace said. As if that matters to some of the learned commentators out there…..
Raytheon, a division of defense giant RTX, recently announced a multiyear deal with the Pentagon to increase annual production of the Air Force’s primary dogfighting missile by more than 50 percent from two years ago.
