DV:

Yes, phosphorous is a chemical. So is lead, and so is nickel. Just because something is made of chemicals does not classify it as a chemical weapon in the sense you are trying to use it.

The huge immorality of the war in Iraq is not in the particulars of American firepower or the details of its mechanisms. Those are the deckchairs on the Titanic, to mix metaphors rather badly. The larger question is whether there in FACT exists a moral reason for conducting warfare there at all. Once you are on the front line in a mortal battle, fine distinctions about which chemicals your weapons are made of is not of major importance, unless you find yourself ordered to use WMDs such as biotoxins, nuclear arms, or poison gasses.

Those deckchairs are red herrings, I think.

A