The Pentagons New Law of War Manual is ChillingBy Claire Bernish This manual is the first comprehensive change made to Department of Defenses laws of war policy since 1956 and has been in the making for 25 years. One change in terminology directly targets journalists, stating, in general, journalists are civilians. However, journalists may be members of the armed forces [] or unprivileged belligerents. Apparently, reporters have joined the ranks of al-Qaeda in this new unprivileged belligerent designation, which replaces the Bush-era term, unlawful combatants. What future repercussions this categorization could bring are left to the imagination, even though the cited reasoningthe possibility terrorists might impersonate journalistsseems legitimate. This confounding label led a civilian lawyer to say it was an odd and provocative thing for them to write. On a purely surface level, a manual of laws governing the details of how a country behaves in conflict intimates that certain conductincluding that which would violate human rightsis simply unacceptable. Although this is technically, ostensibly true of the Department of Defenses 1,180 page, single-spaced de facto user guide, its contents belie the United States standing as the most arrogantly bellicose government on the planet. Use of depleted uranium by U.S. forces during the Iraq War and beyond is well-documented and categorically reprehensibleleaving thousands of Iraqi civilians to suffer the consequences well into the future. What this has generated is, from 2004 up to this day, we are seeing a rate of congenital malformations in the city of Fallujah that has surpassed even that in the wake of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that nuclear bombs were dropped on at the end of World War II, admonished Al-Jazeera journalist Dahr Jamail. He wasnt exaggerating. A study published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health found cancer rates due to use of weaponized depleted uranium to be 40 times greater than before the U.S. invasion. Worldwide calls to ban such munitions have not yet been answeredthough Belgium, all of Latin America, and Costa Rica have all instituted their own proscriptions in the meantime. As countless individuals reported deformities detailing babies born with missing limbs, two heads, no head, and other profoundly disturbing disfigurations, the fact that the Law of War Manual establishes depleted uranium as an acceptable tool of war puts the U.S. in a position to be rightly condemned. It is no less than spectacularly ironic that the government touts itself as a champion of human and civil rights while simultaneously stipulating in writing that internationally-prohibited munitions are perfectly justifiable during waras long as were using them, of course. And to make absolutely certain all bases are covered, the precise descriptions of the types of weapons understandably marked Prohibited, appearin namein the category immediately following: Lawful. If that werent egregious enough, also listed under the heading of Lawful are cluster munitions. The appearance of cluster munitions at all presents a telling paradox since U.S. policy ostensibly only allows for export. Receiving countries must stipulate that the bombs will only be used against military targets with minimal harm to innocent civilians. After reports earlier this month that U.S.-supplied cluster bombs had been used to target Yemeni citizens, the DoD announced it would diligently investigateand also claimed its export of the insidious weapons would cease as of 2018. But, if we are to believe this apparent concern holds any truth whatsoever, then why list cluster munitions as lawful weapons for U.S. use? Yes, that is a facetiously rhetorical question. Depleted uranium and cluster munitions are just two examples of many in the manual that actually generate a plethora of questions rather than provide the definitive answers one might expect from the Pentagons title. Also found among the listed lawful devices are mines, nuclear weapons, booby-traps, herbicides, non-blinding laser weapons, incendiary devices, and fragmentation weaponsand the weapons sections comprise a mere fraction of the voluminous, 6,169-footnoted, document. Such deftly crafted and contrary language in the Law of War Manual would be head-scratchingly comicalwere it not for the very shocking consequences for civilians around the world it ultimately justifies. Some apologists will predictably point to the manuals title as reason to declare that the U.S. government has admirable standards it upholds, even in times of warbut, rather fortunately, the number of people who know better grows exponentially every day. Claire Bernish writes for theAntiMedia.org, where this article first appeared. Tune in! Anti-Media Radio airs Monday through Friday @ 11pm Eastern/8pm Pacific. The minions of the dark side who reside in the District of Columbia are evil, they do only evil, I think we will see a resurgence of the use of napalm to burn ISIS out of caves and cities. Just wait, they will apply this to all of us here in the homeland. Especially after the DHS listed all Veterans as terrorists against America in 2009 and there was no outrage by America what so ever. 