"WP proved to be an effective and versatile munition," the authors wrote. "We used it for screening missions at two breeches and, later in the fight, as a potent psychological weapon against the insurgents in trench lines and spider holes when we could not get effects on them with HE [high explosive]" munitions.One man's psychological weapon is another's weapon of terror. Is napalm sprayed at civilians a psychological weapon? Is the weapon "psychological" when used against "enemy combatants" and one "of terror" when used against civilians? Perhaps it's difficult to only burn the flesh off the bad guys when you're assaulting a city. Perhaps people might not like the United States after seeing their family members scream in agony as phosphorous burned them to the bone despite attempts to smother it or immersing it in water.
Military invasion is not a "surgical" tool for peacebuilding. It should be a last resort, carried out with a heavy heart. The world is not a chess board, but rather filled with actual real people. People cannot really create reality through the might and power of their wonderful empire.
