White phosphorus use in Iraq

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There are several cases in which white phosphorus (WP) has been used as an anti-personnel weapon in Iraq, as confirmed by a United States military general serving in Iraq, but stated they did not intend for its use on civilians, only what it deemed hostile insurgents.[1]

Contents

[edit] Use by Saddam Hussein to quash rebellion

March 1988: According to an undated ANSA article quoted by a RAI documentary, White phosphorus was used by Saddam Hussein during the Halabja poison gas attack: (transl.) "On the morning of March 16, 1988, the Iraqi aerial forces bombed several times the city with a chemical cocktail of nerve agents: yperite, tabun, VX, napalm and white phosphorus." WP use had not been previously mentioned in other reports on Halabja.[2]

[edit] 1991 Gulf War

In February 1991, the Iraqi military itself was accused of using WP as a chemical weapon against both combatants and non-combatants.

[edit] First major assault on Fallujah

In the documentary "Fallujah: The Hidden Massacre", aired on the Italian state television network RAI, a former soldier testified "I saw the burned bodies of women and children. The phosphorus explodes and forms a plume. Who ever is within a 150 metre radius has no hope."[3][4][5] The U.S. State department first dismissed such claims,[6] but was later corrected in other reports. Lt Col Barry Venable stated to the BBC, "it is an incendiary weapon and may be used against enemy combatants." According to Protocol III of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, white phosphorus can be used, but only against enemy combatants and not civilians.[7] The Independent later reported that "there remain widespread reports of civilians suffering extensive burn injuries. While U.S. commanders insist they always strive to avoid civilian casualties, the story of the battle of Fallujah highlights the intrinsic difficulty of such an endeavour."[8]

In April 2004, during the first major U.S. assault on Fallujah after the fall of Saddam Hussein's government, Darrin Mortenson of the North County Times in California reported that WP was used as an incendiary weapon. Embedded with the 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, Mortenson described one marine, a Cpl. Bogert, and his mortar team in action:

"Bogert is a mortar team leader who directed his men to fire round after round of high explosives and white phosphorus charges into the city Friday and Saturday... The boom kicked dust around the pit as they ran through the drill again and again, sending a mixture of burning white phosphorus and high explosives they call "shake 'n' bake" into a cluster of buildings where insurgents have been spotted all week."[9]

[edit] Second major assault on Fallujah

In November 2004, during Operation Phantom Fury (the second major assault on Fallujah), Washington Post reporters embedded with Task Force 2-2, Regimental Combat Team 7, wrote on November 9, 2004 that "Some artillery guns fired white phosphorus rounds that create a screen of fire that cannot be extinguished with water."[10]

This claim was also confirmed by members of the US military itself in the March-April 2005 issue of Field Artillery, a journal published by the US Department of Defense. The article, titled "TF 2-2 in FSE AAR: Indirect Fires in the Battle for Fallujah":

"WP proved to be an effective and versatile munition. 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. We fired "shake and bake" missions at the insurgents, using WP to flush them out and HE to take them out."[11]

Fallujah, The Hidden Massacre, a documentary film by Sigfrido Ranucci diffused on Italy's RaiNews24 on November 8, 2005, claimed that the U.S. military killed civilians in Fallujah using WP and MK-77 (modernized napalm). The documentary included numerous photographs of charred bodies, claiming they showed fatal wounds caused by WP. The documentary also includes footage of WP being fired from helicopters over Fallujah. It also quoted journalist Giuliana Sgrena, who had been in Fallujah, as a testimony.[12]

On November 15, 2005, Dept. of Defense spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Barry Venable confirmed to the BBC that WP had been used as an incendiary antipersonnel weapon in Fallujah:

"Yes, it was used as an incendiary weapon against enemy combatants. When you have enemy forces that are in covered positions that your high explosive artillery rounds are not having an impact on and you wish to get them out of those positions, one technique is to fire a white phosphorus round into the position because 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."[13]

On November 22, 2005, An Iraqi investigation was launched into the application of WP by the United States throughout the attack on Fallujah - an inquiry that could reveal whether American forces breached a fundamental international weapons treaty.[14][15]

On November 30, 2005, General Peter Pace justified use of WP, declaring that WP munitions were a "legitimate tool of the military", used to illuminate targets and create smokescreens, adding: "It is not a chemical weapon. It is an incendiary. And it is well within the law of war to use those weapons as they're being used, for marking and for screening". Peter Pace then made the point that conventional weapons can be more dangerous than non-conventional weapons: "A bullet goes through skin even faster than white phosphorus does".[1]

[edit] Insurgent usage in Iraq

Insurgents have utilized white phosphorus rounds in roadside bombs. In one example in early 2005, Iraqi National Guard members captured Amir Saleh Ismael and Ahmed Qumra Isaa in the act of placing improvised explosive devices (IED). Ismael and Isaa admitted to placing other devices leading the ING to uncover a 155 mm white phosphorus round with detonation cord.[16]

[edit] External links

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b BBC NEWS: US general defends phosphorus use. Retrieved on December 13, 2005.
  2. ^ MK-77
  3. ^ "Did the U.S. military use chemical weapons in Iraq?", The Christian Science Monitor, 2005-11-08.
  4. ^ "Fallujah: The Hidden Massacre" on the U.S. Use of Napalm-Like White Phosphorus Bombs", DemocracyNow.Org, 2005-11-08.
  5. ^ fallujah_ING (WMV). Rainews24.rai.it.
  6. ^ "Did the U.S. Use "Illegal" Weapons in Fallujah?", U.S. Department of State, 2004-11-12.
  7. ^ "US used white phosphorus in Iraq", BBC, 2005-11-16.
  8. ^ "The Fog of War: White Phosphorus, Fallujah and Some Burning Questions", CommonDreams.Org, 2005-11-15.
  9. ^ Violence subsides for Marines in Fallujah North County Times - North San Diego and Southwest Riverside County columnists. Retrieved on December 4, 2005.
  10. ^ U.S. Forces Battle Into Heart of Fallujah (washingtonpost.com). Retrieved on December 4, 2005.
  11. ^ PAGE24-46 "Field Artillery" March-April 2005. Retrieved on December 4, 2005.
  12. ^ INCHIESTA - IRAQ, THE HIDDEN MASSACRE - RAINEWS24. Retrieved on December 4, 2005. Giuliana Sgrena quoted by November 8, 2005 RAI doc: "And then I had collected just before going to interview the city refugees testimonies from other inhabitants from Fallujah about the use of guns and white phosphorus. In particular, some women had tried to enter their homes, and they had found a certain dust spread all over the house. The Americans themselves had told them to clean the houses with detergents, because that dust was very dangerous. In fact, they had some effect on their bodies, leading some very strange things."
  13. ^ Independent Online Edition. Retrieved on December 4, 2005.
  14. ^ The Big White Lie.
  15. ^ White Phosphorus In Iraq.
  16. ^ Iraqi, Coalition Forces Conduct Raids, Capture Insurgents. January 5, 2005.

[edit] See also

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