U.S. used white phosphorus in Iraq

Sydney Morning Herald, Nov 18 2005 The Pentagon has acknowledged using incendiary white phosphorus munitions in a 2004 counterinsurgency offensive in the Iraqi city of Falluja, but defended their use as legal. A Pentagon spokesman, Lieutenant-Colonel Barry Venable, said on Wednesday that the US military had not used the highly flammable weapons against civilians, contrary to an Italian state television report this month that said the weapons were used against men, women and children in Falluja who were burned to the bone.

"We categorically deny that claim," Colonel Venable said. "It's part of our conventional weapons inventory and we use it like we use any other conventional weapon," said another Pentagon spokesman, Bryan Whitman. Colonel Venable said white phosphorus was not outlawed or banned by any convention. However, a protocol to the 1980 Convention on Conventional Weapons forbids using incendiary weapons against civilians or against military targets amid concentrations of civilians. The US did not sign the protocol.

Reuters, Nov 16 2005 - The Pentagon on Wednesday acknowledged using incendiary white-phosphorus munitions in a 2004 'counterinsurgency' offensive in the Iraqi city of Falluja, but defended their use as legal. Army Lt. Col. Barry Venable, a Pentagon spokesman, said the U.S. military had not used the highly flammable weapons against civilians, contrary to an Italian state television report this month which said the weapons were used against men, women and children in Falluja who were burned to the bone. UK used white phosphorus in Iraq

BBC, 16 Nov 2005 - UK troops have used white phosphorus in Iraq - but only to create smokescreens, Defence Secretary John Reid has said. MPs are worried by the admission by US forces that they used the controversial substance in the Iraqi city of Falluja - something they had previously denied. US used white phosphorus in Iraq

BBC, Nov 2005 The Pentagon has confirmed that US troops used white phosphorus during last year's offensive in the northern Iraqi city of Falluja. The US earlier denied it had been used in Falluja.

Via Citizens for Legitimate Government