White phosphorus use in Iraq

There are several cases in which white phosphorus (WP) has been used as an anti-personnel weapon in Iraq by Saddam Hussein and the United States. Although initially denied, its use was later confirmed by a United States general serving in Iraq. General Pace, then Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff denied allegations that the weapon was used against civilians, maintaining that it only targeted insurgents.cite web | title=BBC NEWS: US general defends phosphorus use | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4483690.stm | accessmonthday=December 13 | accessyear=2005 ]

Use by Saddam Hussein to quash rebellion

March 1988: According to an undated ANSA article quoted by an 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, [ [http://www.rainews24.rai.it/ran24/inchiesta/mk77.asp MK-77] ] but the use of napalm was commonly reported.

First major assault on Fallujah

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 white phosphorus was used as an incendiary weapon. Embedded with the 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, Mortenson described one marine, Cpl. Bogert, and his mortar team in action

econd 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 (WP) rounds that create a screen of fire that cannot be extinguished with water." [cite web
title=U.S. Forces Battle Into Heart of Fallujah
url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A35979-2004Nov9.html
accessmonthday=December 4
accessyear=2005 ] A Material Safety Data Sheet on white phosphorus [cite web
url = http://hazard.com/msds/mf/cards/file/0628.html
title =International Chemical Safety Cards,PHOSPHORUS (YELLOW),ICSC: 0628
author = International Programme on Chemical Safety & the Commission of the European Communitie] states that white(yellow) phosphorus fires are to be fought with "Water spray, wet sand."

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." [cite web | title=PAGE24-46 "Field Artillery" March-April 2005 | url=http://sill-www.army.mil/FAMAG/Previous_Editions/05/mar-apr05/PAGE24-30.pdf | accessmonthday=December 4 | accessyear=2005 |format=PDF]

"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 white phosphorus and MK-77 (modernized napalm). The documentary included numerous photographs of charred bodies, claiming they showed fatal wounds caused by white phosphorus. The documentary also includes footage of white phosphorus being fired from helicopters over Fallujah. It also quoted journalist Giuliana Sgrena, who had been in Fallujah, as a testimony. [cite web
title=INCHIESTA - IRAQ, THE HIDDEN MASSACRE - RAINEWS24
url=http://www.rainews24.rai.it/ran24/inchiesta/en/body.asp
accessmonthday=December 4
accessyear=2005 ]
Giuliana Sgrena quoted by the November 8, 2005 RAI documentary "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."

On November 15, 2005, Dept. of Defense spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Barry Venable confirmed to the BBC that white phosphorus 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." [cite web | title=Independent Online Edition | url=http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article327379.ece | accessmonthday=December 4 | accessyear=2005 ]

On November 22, 2005, An Iraqi investigation was launched into the application of white phosphorus by the United States throughout the attack on Fallujah - an inquiry that could reveal whether American forces breached a fundamental international weapons treaty. [cite web | title=The Big White Lie| url=http://news.independent.co.uk/world/politics/article327543.ece] [cite web | title=White Phosphorus In Iraq | url=http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?ItemID=9186]

On November 30, 2005, General Peter Pace justified use of white phosphorus, declaring that white phosphorus 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".

Insurgent usage in Iraq

Insurgents have utilized white phosphorus rounds in roadside bombs in at least one case. In early 2005, Iraqi National Guard (ING) members captured two men in the act of placing improvised explosive devices (IED). The men admitted to placing other devices leading the ING to uncover a 155 mm white phosphorus round with detonation cord. [ [http://www.defendamerica.mil/articles/jan2005/a010505wm3.html Iraqi, Coalition Forces Conduct Raids, Capture Insurgents] . January 5, 2005.]

External links

* [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/munitions/wp.htm Globalsecurity.org on WP] (including use during the Battle of Fallujah and during the December 1994 battle for Grozny during the First Chechen War)
*" [http://sill-www.army.mil/FAMAG/2005/MAR_APR_2005/PAGE24-30.pdf TF 2-2 IN FSE AAR: Indirect Fires in the Battle of Fallujah] " (PDF) "Field Artillery Magazine " (March-April 2005)
*cite news | title=Fallujah, The Hidden Massacre | date=November 8, 2005 | publisher=RAI | url=http://www.rainews24.rai.it/ran24/inchiesta/en/body.asp
*cite news | title=US 'uses incendiary arms' in Iraq | date=November 8, 2005 | publisher=BBC | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4417024.stm
* [http://usinfo.state.gov/media/Archive_Index/Illegal_Weapons_in_Fallujah.html December 9, 2004 U.S. Denial of Using Illegal Weapons in Fallujah AND November 10, 2005 note - following RAI doc - recognizing WP use for screening purposes and as a "potent psychological weapons" in "shake&bake" operations]
*cite news | title=The fog of war: white phosphorus, Fallujah and some burning questions (by Andrew Buncombe and Solomon Hughes)| date=November 15, 2005 | publisher=The Independent | url=http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article327094.ece
*cite news | title=US used white phosphorus in Iraq (Lt Col Barry Venable) | date=November 16, 2005 | publisher=BBC | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4440664.stm
*cite news | title=U.S. official admits phosphorus used as weapon in Iraq | date=November 16, 2005 | publisher=CBC | url=http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2005/11/16/phosphorus-fallujah051116.html
*cite news | title=Incendiary weapons: The big white lie | date=November 17, 2005 | publisher=The Independent | url=http://news.independent.co.uk/world/politics/article327543.ece
*cite news | title=US general defends phosphorus use | date=November 30, 2005 | publisher=BBC | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/low/world/americas/4483690.stm

Notes

ee also

*White phosphorus (weapon)
*Fallujah, The Hidden Massacre