U.S. using phosphorus bombs in Iraq

[Ser Clegane]

but they are defined as weapons that kill via hydrostatic shock not chemical

Yes, and if you get hit by a shell of sarin gas you are probably crushed to death and still nobody would argue that sarin is not a chemical weapon.

The relative importance of the malicious effects of the weapon certainly is an issue here and I am not so sure that the toxic component of white phosphorous as a weapon is so negligable that it warrants shrugging off any claims that it has characteristics of a chemical weapon with snappish remarks (like the one my initial comment was directed at).