Lie of the Day--US Air Force General.:
"Some Iraq Deaths Staged."

by-Laura Sukhtian
November 20 2005
Associated Press

Dubai, United Arab Emirates (Nov. 20)--A Top US Air Force General said Sunday that reports of civilian casualties in Iraq as a result of american military action were exaggerated.

"I would tell you first off I don't believe most of it and I am very much aware that some of that has been staged," said Lt. Gen. Walter E. Buchanan III, Commander of the 9th US Air Force and US Central Command Air Forces.

There are no official figures on civilian casualties in Iraq. A US military spokesman told Associated Press last month that as many as 30,000 Iraqis may have died during the War, which began with the US Invasion in March 2003.

Buchanan also said that the United States had no evidence that Syria was Involved in the Infiltration of Insurgents in Iraq.

Buchanon also disputed reports that the US military was using White Phosphorous against civilians in Iraq.

"It is purely used as a marking round, not as a weapon. It marks the target so it becomes very clear," he said.

Pentagon officials acknowledged Tuesday that US troops used White Phosphorous as a weapon against Insurgent strongholds during the battle for Fallujah in 2004.

Asked if it was possible civilians had been killed by White Phosphorus, he replied:
"It would not be out of the realm of the possible." said Lieutenant-Colonel Barry Venable, a Pentagon Spokesman (Financial Times of London)

http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20051120135109990001