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November 16th,
2005 - U.S. Denies Using Phosphorus Against Civilians |
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U.S. Denies Using Phosphorus
Against Civilians Military says incendiary powder used against Iraqi insurgents in
Fallujah From the Associated Press November 16, 2005 Washington - Pentagon
officials say white phosphorus was used as a weapon against insurgent
strongholds during the battle of Fallujah last November, but deny an Italian
television news report that it was used against civilians. Lt. Col. Barry Venable, a
Pentagon spokesman, said Tuesday that while white phosphorus is most
frequently used to mark targets or obscure a position, it was used at times
in Fallujah as an incendiary weapon against enemy combatants. White phosphorus is a
colorless-to-yellow translucent wax-like substance with a pungent,
garlic-like smell. The form used by the military ignites once it is exposed
to oxygen, producing such heat that it bursts into a yellow flame and
produces a dense white smoke. It can cause painful burn injuries to exposed
human flesh. “It was not used against
civilians,” Venable said. The spokesman referred
reporters to an article in the March-April 2005 edition of the Army’s Field
Artillery magazine, an official publication, in which veterans of the
Fallujah fight spelled out their use of white phosphorus and other weapons.
The authors used the shorthand “WP” in referring to white phosphorus. “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. “We fired ‘shake and bake’
missions at the insurgents, using WP to flush them out and HE to take them
out.” The authors added, in citing
lessons for future urban battles, that fire-support teams should have used
another type of smoke bomb for screening missions in Fallujah “and saved our
WP for lethal missions.” The battle for Fallujah was
the most intense and deadly fight of the war, after the fall of Baghdad in
April 2003. The city, about 35 miles west of Baghdad on the Euphrates River,
was a key insurgent stronghold. The authors of the “after action” report said
they encountered few civilians in their area of operations. Italian communists protest Italian communists held a
sit-in Monday in front of the U.S. Embassy in Rome to protest the reported
use by American troops of white phosphorus. Italy’s state-run RAI24 news
television aired a documentary last week alleging the U.S. used white
phosphorus shells in a “massive and indiscriminate way” against civilians
during the Fallujah offensive. The State Department, in
response, initially denied that U.S. troops had used white phosphorus against
enemy forces. “They were fired into the air to illuminate enemy positions at
night, not at enemy fighters.” The department later said
its statement had been incorrect. “There is a great deal of
misinformation feeding on itself about U.S. forces allegedly using ‘outlawed’
weapons in Fallujah,” the department said. “The facts are that U.S. forces
are not using any illegal weapons in Fallujah or anywhere else in Iraq.” Venable said white
phosphorus shells are a standard weapon used by field artillery units and are
not banned by any international weapons convention to which the U.S. is a
signatory. © 2009 The Associated Press.
All rights reserved. External link: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10064711/ US used white phosphorus in
Iraq US troops used white phosphorus as a weapon in last year's offensive
in the Iraqi city of Falluja, the US has said. From BBC News November 16, 2005 "It was used as an
incendiary weapon against enemy combatants," spokesman Lt Col Barry
Venable told the BBC - though not against civilians, he said. The US had earlier said the
substance - which can cause burning of the flesh - had been used only for
illumination. BBC defence correspondent
Paul Wood says having to retract its denial is a public relations disaster
for the US. Col Venable denied that
white phosphorous constituted a banned chemical weapon. Washington is not a
signatory to an international treaty restricting the use of the substance
against civilians. The US state department had
earlier said white phosphorus had been used in Falluja very sparingly, for
illumination purposes. Col Venable said that
statement was based on "poor information". ‘Incendiary’ The US-led assault on
Falluja - a stronghold of the Sunni insurgency west of Baghdad - displaced
most of the city's 300,000 population and left many of its buildings destroyed. Col Venable told the BBC's
PM radio programme that the US army used white phosphorus incendiary
munitions "primarily as obscurants, for smokescreens or target marking
in some cases. "However it is an
incendiary weapon and may be used against enemy combatants." And he said it had been used
in Falluja, but it was a "conventional munition", not a chemical
weapon. It is not "outlawed or
illegal", Col Venable said. He said US forces could use
white phosphorus rounds to flush enemy troops out of covered positions. "The combined effects
of the fire and smoke - and in some case the terror brought about by the
explosion on the ground - will drive them out of the holes so that you can
kill them with high explosives," he said. San Diego journalist Darrin
Mortenson, who was embedded with US marines during the assault on Falluja,
told the BBC's Today radio programme he had seen white phosphorous used
"as an incendiary weapon" against insurgents. However, he "never saw
anybody intentionally use any weapon against civilians", he said. ‘Particularly nasty’ White phosphorus is highly
flammable and ignites on contact with oxygen. If the substance hits someone's
body, it will burn until deprived of oxygen. Globalsecurity.org, a
defence website, says: "Phosphorus burns on the skin are deep and
painful... These weapons are particularly nasty because white phosphorus
continues to burn until it disappears... it could burn right down to the
bone." A spokesman at the UK
Ministry of Defence said the use of white phosphorus was permitted in battle
in cases where there were no civilians near the target area. But Professor Paul Rogers,
of the University of Bradford's department of peace studies, said white
phosphorus could be considered a chemical weapon if deliberately aimed at
civilians. He told PM: "It is not
counted under the chemical weapons convention in its normal use but, although
it is a matter of legal niceties, it probably does fall into the category of
chemical weapons if it is used for this kind of purpose directly against
people." When an Italian TV
documentary revealing the use of white phosphorus in Iraq was broadcast on 8
November it sparked fury among Italian anti-war protesters, who demonstrated
outside the US embassy in Rome. External link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4440664.stm |