by David Swanson, 12/28
The U.S. military used white phosphorous as a weapon in Fallujah,
and the U.S. military says such use is illegal. That’s one heck of a
fog fact (Larry Beinhart’s term for a fact that is neither secret nor
known). This fact has appeared in an article in the Guardian (UK) and
been circulated on the internet, but has just not interested the
corporate media in the United States.
It interests Congressman John Conyers, however. Last week, Conyers released a 273-page report
titled “The Constitution in Crisis; The Downing Street Minutes and
Deception, Manipulation, Torture, Retribution, and Coverups in the Iraq
War.” This 273-page report covers many war-related crimes, including
the use of white phosphorous.
On page 165, following discussion of other crimes against humanity,
the report states: “Finally, there is evidence that the U.S. Military
used an incendiary weapon in combat known as White Phosphorus, even
though the U.S. Battle Book states, ‘[i]t is against the Law of Land
Warfare to employ WP against personnel targets,’ and which would be in
contravention of the Geneva and Hague Conventions and the War Crimes
Act.”
That’s an impressive criminal feat, violating multiple U.S. laws and
international laws at one shot. But it may be a greater feat of
hypocrisy and irony. After all, this war was supposedly launched in
order to prevent the use of so-called weapons of mass destruction.
While that lie has been exposed, we now know that WMDs have been
wantonly employed in the course of this war by the so-called
liberators. That fact is not yet widely known within the United States.
The Battle Book
is published by the U.S. Command and General Staff College at Fort
Leavenworth, Kansas, and does indeed contain this sentence: “It is
against the law of land warfare to employ WP against personnel
targets.”
As George Monbiot makes clear in the Guardian,
a chemical weapon is illegal, according to the Chemical Weapons
Convention, regardless of whether the people targeted with it are
civilians.
“The Pentagon argues that white phosphorus burns people,” Monbiot
wrote, “rather than poisoning them, and is therefore covered only by
the protocol on incendiary weapons, which the U.S. has not signed. But
white phosphorus is both incendiary and toxic. The gas it produces
attacks the mucous membranes, the eyes and the lungs. As Peter Kaiser
of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons told the
BBC, ‘If … the toxic properties of white phosphorus, the caustic
properties, are specifically intended to be used as a weapon, that of
course is prohibited, because … any chemicals used against humans or
animals that cause harm or death through the toxic properties of the
chemical are considered chemical weapons.'”
Blogger Gabriele Zamparini found a declassified document
from the U.S. Department of Defense, dated April 1991, and titled
“Possible use of phosphorous chemical,” which makes clear that the U.S.
military understands white phosphorous to be a chemical weapon. “During
the brutal crackdown that followed the Kurdish uprising,” it alleges,
“Iraqi forces loyal to President Saddam (Hussein) may have possibly
used white phosphorous (WP) chemical weapons against Kurdish rebels and
the populace in Erbil … and Dohuk provinces, Iraq. The WP chemical
was delivered by artillery rounds and helicopter gunships. … These
reports of possible WP chemical weapon attacks spread quickly …
hundreds of thousands of Kurds fled from these two areas.”
Conyers’ report, on page 102, cites evidence that the United States used white phosphorous in Fallujah:
“Recent reports coming out of Iraq verify the use of a weapon called
white phosphorus (WP) in combat. An Italian state broadcaster, RAI,
recently reported that American forces used WP in Fallujah last year
against insurgents. According to a former American soldier who fought
in Fallujah, ‘I heard the order to pay attention because they were
going to use white phosphorus on Fallujah. In military jargon it’s
known as Willy Pete. . . . Phosphorus burns bodies, in fact it melts
the flesh all the way down to the bone . . . I saw the burned bodies of
women and children. Phosphorus explodes and forms a cloud. Anyone
within a radius of 150 metres is done for.'”
The RAI story reached British readers and perusers of the internet
via a November 8th article in the Independent by Peter Popham titled
“US Forces Used Chemical Weapons During Assault on City of Fallujah.”
It remains unclear when that information will reach consumers of U.S. television news.
***
David Swanson is the Washington Director of Democrats.com and of ImpeachPAC.org. He is co-founder of the AfterDowningStreet.org / CensureBush.org coalition, creator of MeetWithCindy.org, and a board member of Progressive Democrats of America. He has worked as a newspaper reporter and as a communications director, with jobs including Press Secretary for Dennis Kucinich’s 2004 presidential campaign, Media Coordinator for the International Labor Communications Association, and three years as Communications Coordinator for ACORN,
the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. Swanson
obtained a Master’s degree in philosophy from the University of
Virginia in 1997. His website is www.davidswanson.org.