USA used white phosphorous chemical weapons in assault on Fallujah

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http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10064711/

Military says incendiary powder used against Iraqi insurgents in Fallujah

WASHINGTON - Pentagon officials say white phosphorus was used as a weapon against insurgent strongholds during the battle of Fallujah last November, but deny an Italian television news report that it was used against civilians.

Lt. Col. Barry Venable, a Pentagon spokesman, said Tuesday that while white phosphorus is most frequently used to mark targets or obscure a position, it was used at times in Fallujah as an incendiary weapon against enemy combatants.

White phosphorus is a colorless-to-yellow translucent wax-like substance with a pungent, garlic-like smell. The form used by the military ignites once it is exposed to oxygen, producing such heat that it bursts into a yellow flame and produces a dense white smoke. It can cause painful burn injuries to exposed human flesh.

[be10dwn]

I guess the word allegedly escapes your vocab...guilty until proven innocent of course

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It can cause painful burn injuries to exposed human flesh.

This is a huge understatement. Actually white phosphorous is "a wax-like metal that combusts spontaneously when exposed to oxygen and burns through skin all the way to the bone. In Vietnam, where it was regularly used alongside Napalm, it was known as Willie Pete."

I have pictures, but I'm not even going to post them, you guys can grab them if you can handle it.

It's really something that we invade a country on a supposed moral high ground because of WMD's and chemical weapons and the only chemical weapons end up being ours.

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I guess the word allegedly escapes your vocab...guilty until proven innocent of course

I dont' know what this means be10dwn.  It's not like if there is any question about this? Did you read the article? The PENTAGON (ALONG WITH THE BRITS) finally ADMITTED to using chemical weapons in Iraq.

Sorry if i misunderstood your point though, so feel free to clear up what you meant.

Oh, the point isn't if they used it against civilians or not, the point was rather if they used it at all as a weapon.  They finally admitted doing so.

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What is white phosphorus?

White phosphorus is a solid, waxy man-made chemical which ignites spontaneously at about 30C and produces an intense heat, bright light and thick pillars of smoke.

 
The US military says it used white phosphorus to flush out insurgents

It continues to burn until deprived of oxygen and, if extinguished with water, can later reignite if the particles dry out and are exposed again to the air.

Also known by the military as WP or Willy Pete, white phosphorus is used in munitions, to mark enemy targets and to produce smoke for concealing troop movements.

It can also be used as an incendiary device to firebomb enemy positions.

What are its effects?

If particles of ignited white phosphorus land on a person's skin, they can continue to burn right through flesh to the bone. Toxic phosphoric acid can also be released into wounds, risking phosphorus poisoning.

Skin burns must be immersed in water or covered with wet cloths to prevent re-combustion until the particles can be removed.

Exposure to white phosphorus smoke in the air can also cause liver, kidney, heart, lung or bone damage and even death.

A former US soldier who served in Iraq says breathing in smoke close to a shell caused the throat and lungs to blister until the victim suffocated, with the phosphorus continuing to burn them from the inside.

Long-term exposure to lesser concentrations over several months or years may lead to a condition called "phossy jaw", where mouth wounds are caused that fail to heal and the jawbone eventually breaks down.

How did the US use it?

The US initially denied reports it had used white phosphorus as a weapon in Falluja in November 2004, saying it had been used only for illumination and laying smokescreens.

However, the Pentagon has now confirmed the substance was used as an "incendiary weapon" during the assault.

It was deployed as a conventional - rather than chemical - munition, the military said, and its principal use was as a smokescreen and to mark enemy targets.

However, the US has now admitted its forces also used white phosphorus rounds to a lesser extent to flush enemy forces out of covered positions, allowing them to be targeted with high explosives.

The US military denies using the chemical against civilians and stresses its deployment is not illegal.

Some have claimed the use of white phosphorus contravenes the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention. This bans the use of any "toxic chemical" weapons which causes "death, harm or temporary incapacitation to humans or animals through their chemical action on life processes".
Washington's initial denial of the use of white phosphorus as a weapon against enemy forces and subsequent retraction have been seen as damaging to its public image

[be10dwn]

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why not complain about depleted uranium instead?

oh right, because this article that came out today is about WP.

depleted uranium is some nasty stuff also! 

[be10dwn]

oh and hey, what about the stuff, SWat, that tracers use, thats stuff's no good either!


War is nasty.  War is vile.  why imagine it is otherwise

[be10dwn]

yes, but DU is especially bad because it sticks around forever afterwards. 

i'm also particularly concerned about it getting our own guys sick, you understand. 

what the hell is so bad about tracers?  don't they just have magnesium? 

i dont know i was jsia...DU is bad...gulf war syndrom maybe? hmmm

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why not complain about depleted uranium instead?

oh right, because this article that came out today is about WP.

Cause they finally admitted it.  I posted about this before in another thread, but it was finally confirmed today.

True, war is f*cked up be10dwn, no doubt, but there are reasons why chemical warfare is especially messed up and why the chemical weapons conventions were passed.  And yeah, DU can end up affecting your kids kids..

[be10dwn]

Cause they finally admitted it.  I posted about this before in another thread, but it was finally confirmed today.

True, war is f*cked up be10dwn, no doubt, but there are reasons why chemical warfare is especially messed up and why the chemical weapons conventions were passed.  And yeah, DU can end up affecting your kids kids..

dude, you missed my qualifier AGAIN! 

oh right, because this article that came out today is about WP.

i don't know if i'd count WP as a chemical weapon.  i mean, it does serve a legitimate purpose on the battlefield.  kind of grayish area, i think. 

its not whats it called cyclon B...damn I sorta remember my SABC