Shocking Tally of Iraq Civilian Causalities
#37
eppie,Nov 11 2005, 10:07 AM Wrote:Yes I know it is like that. The US did not sign that treaty.
But I'm curious to know if they showed the RAI-report also in the US.
It looked all very convincing what they had to say. And I don't consider the RAI as an anti war in Iraq medium.
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eppie

FWIW, the Washington Post picked up on the story and got a comment from the DoD.

Washington Post November 16, 2005 Pg. 16
U.S. Used Phosphorous Munitions In Fallujah

The U.S. military confirmed yesterday that it used artillery rounds containing white phosphorus against insurgents during the assault on Fallujah last November, but said it did not use the highly flammable agent against civilians as claimed in an Italian television report.

Lt. Col. Barry Venable, a Pentagon spokesman, said U.S. forces in Fallujah "employed white phosphorus . . . as an incendiary weapon against enemy combatants," but said that "suggestions that U.S. forces targeted civilians with these weapons are simply wrong."

Defense officials acknowledged that they could not rule out the possibility that the phosphorous munitions accidentally hit civilians during the Fallujah offensive, which involved the heaviest U.S. combat since the March 2003 invasion of Iraq.

U.S. troops who took part in the Fallujah battle recounted in detail their use of white phosphorus -- most commonly employed to obscure troops during an assault or to mark targets -- as an effective weapon for routing out insurgents from "trench lines and spider holes," according to an article written by three of the soldiers and published in the March-April 2005 issue of Field Artillery magazine.

Venable said munitions containing white phosphorus are not illegal and are considered conventional, not chemical, weapons.

-- Ann Scott Tyson


I am pretty sure that the officer is correctly citing the international protocols on weapons that the US is a party to. I think I'll quote General Patton and remark that most "gentlemen of the press" know less about war than they know about fornication. The intent to sensationalize a "fact" is not a new phenomenon.

"Remember the Maine." ;) 1898

"German Soldiers Bayonetting Nuns and babies in strollers in Belgium!" :o 1914

Occhi
Cry 'Havoc' and let slip the Men 'O War!
In War, the outcome is never final. --Carl von Clausewitz--
Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum
John 11:35 - consider why.
In Memory of Pete
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Messages In This Thread
Shocking Tally of Iraq Civilian Causalities - by Occhidiangela - 11-16-2005, 02:39 PM
Shocking Tally of Iraq Civilian Causalities - by Guest - 11-19-2005, 05:09 PM
Shocking Tally of Iraq Civilian Causalities - by Guest - 11-19-2005, 07:37 PM

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