The term "proportionality is being used by the press and non-governmental organizations in relation to the recent fighting between Israel and Hammas in Gaza. I am preparing a more complete definition than is currently found in Chapter One..

Susan Crawford, Tribunal Appellate Authority, says GTMO prisoner was tortured.

An item on international law and piracy

An item on land mine treaty developments.

U.S. Senate Ratifies Law of War Treaties

17 November, 2005: New York Times p. A-16: Pentagon Justifying Incendiary Arms Use:

The Pentagon acknowledged Wednesday that it used incendiary white phosphorus munitions in an offensive against insurgents in Falluja, Iraq, last year and defended their use as legal amid concerns by arms control advocates.

[An army Spokesman] acknowledges that the United states military had used the weapons, but only against insurgents, he said. He denied that the flammable weapons had been used against civilians.  An Italian state television report this month said such munitions had been used against men, women and children in Falluja who had been burned to the bone.

"We categorically deny that claim," he said. White phosphorus weapons are not outlawed or banned by any convention, he said.

A protocol to an accord on conventional arms, which took effect in 1983, forbids using incendiary weapons against civilians. It also forbids their use against military targets in concentrations of civilians, except when the targets are clearly separated from civilians and "all feasible precautions" are taken to avoid civilian casualties.

The United States is a party to the overall accord, but has not ratified the incendiary arms protocol.

NOTE: See Chapter 3.2.1.

See also NEW ITEM on use of W.P. for smoke in Gaza. (14 January, 2009).

A Decision on Ethiopia and Eritrea Dec. 2005