U.S. Army Publication Confirms United States Used Incendiary Weapons In Fallujah

The March edition of Field Artillery Magazine, a US Army Publication, reveals that the US Military did in fact use the Incendiary Weapon White Phosphorus in Fallujah, Iraq.

A second Publication, Infantry Magazine, also alleges that White Phosphorus was used near the Iraqi City of Irbil Newsroom sources tell 'Raw Story' that the New York Times held a story they were scheduled to run on the Weapon's use Thursday.

"WP [i,e., White Phosphorus Rounds] 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 'n' bake" missions at the Insurgents, using WP to flush them out and HE to take them out."

dailyKOS states: "there is no way you can use White Phosphorus like that without forming a deadly chemical cloud that kills everything within a tenth of a mile in all directions." Obviously, the effect of such deadly clouds weren't just psychological in nature.


According to the Toxic Disease Registry, "White Phosphorous is a Waxy Solid which burns easily and is used in Chemical Manufacturing and Smoke Munitions. Exposure to White Phosphorous may cause burns and irritation, liver, kidney, heart, lung, or bone damage, and death."

Wikipedia adds, "detonating a WP shell in a confined area (like firing into a building) will indeed cause an effect comparable to the use of lung agent poison gases for those inside who do not or can not flee, with the additional consequence of setting the room(s) alight. Death will occur from lung edema, phosphoric acid poisoning or the resulting shock, or burns"

Use of White Phosphorus is not banned by name in any International Treaty. However, the 1980 Convention on Conventional Weapons (Protocol III) prohibits the use of Incendiary Weapons against civilian populations or in areas that have high civilian populations. The United States is among several nations that are not signatories to the Convention.
Courtesy of:
http://rawstory.com/news/2005/U.S._Army_publication_confirms_United_States_1109.html

Fighting From A Distance:
"After pounding parts of the City for days, many marines say the recent combat escalated into more than they had planned for, but not more than they could handle.

"It's a war," said cpl. Nicholas Bogert, 22, of Morris, N.Y.

Bogert is a mortar team leader who directed his men to fire round after round of High Explosives and White Phosphorus Charges into the City Friday and Saturday, never knowing what the targets were or what damage the resulting explosions caused.

"We had all this SASO (security and stabilization operations) training back home," he said. "and then this turns into a real goddamned war."

Just as his team started to eat a breakfast of packaged rations Saturday, Bogert got a fire mission over the radio.

"Stand by!" he yelled, sending lance cpls. Jonathan Alexander and Jonathan Millikin scrambling to their feet.

"shake 'n' bake:"
Joking and rousting each other like boys just seconds before, the men were instantly all business. With fellow marines between them and their targets, a lot was at stake.

Bogert received coordinates of the target, plotted them on a map and called out the settings for the gun they call "sarah lee."

Millikin, 21, from Reno, Nev., and Alexander, 23, from Wetumpka, Ala, quickly made the adjustments. They are good at what they do.

"Gun up!" Millikin yelled when they finished a few seconds later, grabbing a White Phosphorus round from a nearby ammo can and holding it over the tube.

"Fire!" Bogert yelled, as Millikin dropped it.

The boom kicked dust around the pit as they ran through the drill again and again, sending a mixture of burning White Phosphrus and High Explosives they call "shake 'n' bake" into a cluster of buildings where Insurgents have been spotted all week.

They say they have never seen what they've hit, nor did they talk about it as they dusted off their breakfast and continued their hilarious routine of personal insults and name-calling.

Courtesy of:
http://dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/11/9/164137/436

To download the Field Artillery article in pdf format, kindly click on the link below:
http://sill-www.army.mil/FAMAG/Previous_Editions/05/mar-apr05/PAGE24-30.pdf