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November 16, 2005
Pentagon Admits to Chemical Weapon Use in Fallujah
After weeks of denial, the U.S. Department of Defense admitted in an interview with BBC news that it used white phosphorus as "an incendiary weapon against enemy combatants" during the battle for Fallujah last year.
An Italian TV news documentary broke the story on November 8.
But for weeks after the broadcast,which led to massive demonstrations at the U.S. embassy in Rome, the Pentagon insisted it had used the agent only for "illumination" and "obscuring troop movement."
The scope of the government denial of its use of "Willy Pete" (white phosphorus) as a weapon reach bizarre proportions on this "Identifying Misinformation" page of "International Information Programs" section of the State Department's Web site. (I archived it here, if that link goes dead. As of this writing, the last update to the page was made Nov. 10.)
Some excerpts:
The fighting in Fallujah, Iraq has led to a number of widespread myths including false charges that the United States is using chemical weapons such napalm and poison gas. None of these allegations are true...U.S. forces have used [phosphorus shells] very sparingly in Fallujah, for illumination purposes. They were fired into the air to illuminate enemy positions at night, not at enemy fighters.
[November 10, 2005 note: We have learned that some of the information we were provided in the above paragraph is incorrect. White phosphorous shells, which produce smoke, were used in Fallujah not for illumination but for screening purposes, i.e., obscuring troop movements and, according to an article, "The Fight for Fallujah," in the March-April 2005 issue of Field Artillery magazine, "as a potent psychological weapon against the insurgents in trench lines and spider holes..." The article states that U.S. forces used white phosphorous rounds to flush out enemy fighters so that they could then be killed with high explosive rounds.] (Culture Freak archive of "The Fight for Fallujah," if above link goes dead.)
The content on this State Department page is worded very carefully, as might be expected from any crisis-management PR communication. I particularly like the journalistic-like correction on the factual errors. I wonder if they'll eventually issue a correction advising that, in fact, the Pentagon had been lying for two weeks.
The latest spin, and perhaps the best face the government can muster now is that "it was not used against civilians," as Pentagon spokesperson Lt. Col. Barry Venable told reporters.
That claim may not sit well in the public stomach. We now know the military lied about using white phosphorus as a weapon at all, so why should we believe this, especially considering the difference between "enemy combatants" and "civilians" is murky at best?
AGAINST INTERNATIONAL LAW?
Whether it is illegal for the military use of white phosphorus as an anti-personnel (i.e. burn people alive) agent is up for debate.
"White phosphorus is not banned by any treaty to which the United States is a signatory," according to GlobalSecurity.org. "Smokes and obscurants comprise a category of materials that are not used militarily as direct chemical agents."
The chemical falls into this category becuase it was originally used for primarily illumination purposes, including tracer rounds and smoke screens. (That may still be its primary purpose, but I just don't know. The military may have just figured out a way to use it as "legal" chemical weapon, sort of like fuel air explosives.
But, while not explicitly banned, international treaties state that any chemical that can cause harm or death may be classified as a chemical weapon. When a BBC news correspondent pointed this out to Pentagon spokesperson Col. Venable, Venable didn't seem to know how to respond:
BBC: There are suggestions here that if…used in that way, an incendiary weapon such as white phosphorus would be against the various conventions governing the use of weapons during war. Do you disagree?Venable: Cite the conventions.
BBC: The eh…chemical weapons convention.
Venable: "Okay, does it list white phosphorus as a chemical?"
BBC: No it doesn't but it says a chemical weapon can be any chemical which through its chemical action on life processes can cause death, temporary incapacitation or permanent harm.
Venable: But...uh, this is...we're talking white phosphorus.
If the wording of the chemical weapons convention is followed to the letter, Willy Pete is a chemical weapon.
"White phosphorus results in painful chemical burn injuries," according to GlobalSecurity.org. "Phosphorus burns on the skin are deep and painful…The burns usually are multiple, deep, and variable in size. The solid in the eye produces severe injury. The particles continue to burn unless deprived of atmospheric oxygen. These weapons are particularly nasty because white phosphorus continues to burn until it disappears. If service members are hit by pieces of white phosphorus, it could burn right down to the bone..."
Posted by MJuhre at November 16, 2005 10:05 AM