|
U.S.
admits using phosphorus as weapon in Iraq
By CTV News Staff
11/17/05 "CTV"
-- -- U.S. troops used white phosphorus as a weapon against
insurgents in the Iraqi city of Fallujah, a spokesman for the U.S.
military has admitted.
"It was used as an incendiary weapon against enemy combatants,"
spokesman Lt Col Barry Venable told the BBC.
U.S. officials had earlier insisted that the substance, which can
burn flesh down to the bone, had been used only sparingly to provide
smokescreens and illuminate battle scenes in Fallujah.
White phosphorus is highly flammable and ignites on contact with
oxygen. If the substance hits someone's body, it will continue
burning until deprived of oxygen.
Venable told the BBC that U.S. 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.
"White phosphorus is a conventional munition. It is not a chemical
weapon. They are not outlawed or illegal."
A spokesman at the U.K. Ministry of Defence told the BBC that the
use of white phosphorus was permitted in battle situations where
there were no civilians near a target area.
However Professor Paul Rodgers, of the University of Bradford's
department of peace studies, said white phosphorus could be
considered a chemical weapon if it was deliberately aimed at
civilians.
"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," he told the
BBC.
Italian documentary makers covering the battle for Fallujah have
claimed that an unknown number of Iraqi women and children died of
phosphorus burns during the assault.
When the documentary revealing the use of white phosphorus in Iraq
was broadcast in Italy on November 8 it sparked fury among Italian
anti-war protesters, who demonstrated outside the U.S. embassy in
Rome.
The U.S.-led offensive on Falluja destroyed many of the city's
buildings and displaced most of the population of 300,000.
Venable's comments could expose the United States to allegations
that it has been using chemical weapons in Iraq.
© 2005 Bell Globemedia Inc.
Translate
this page
(In accordance with Title 17
U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to
those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the
included information for research and educational purposes.
Information Clearing House has no affiliation whatsoever with the
originator of this article nor is Information Clearing House
endorsed or sponsored by the originator.) |
