Falluja and incendiary devices

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Well, the truth has come out.

"WASHINGTON -
Pentagon officials acknowledged Tuesday that U.S. troops used white phosphorous as a weapon against insurgent strongholds during the battle of Fallujah last November. But they denied an Italian television news report that the spontaneously flammable material was used against civilians."

More here

Whether or not it hit civilians, who knows. It does make one wonder if this might have been the case, however, as this resent confession seems to contradict their earlier reports of only using white phosphorous as a means of illumination. Accidents do happen, and I can see the American gov. covering up the situations that arose as a means of protecting their already bad image.

 

Well, yes, WP was used--AFAIK that was never denied. Why is the use of WP noteworthy and, apparently, deserving of criticism?

 

That's not exactly how it's being reported on the British news. The claim is that "officials" (these mysterious ones again, I really wish they'd be a little more precise) had always denied the use of WP as a weapon.

 

By the sounds of it, officials attached to the military made routine statements about not using chemical weapons etc. and then said they'd never use white phosphorous as a weapon, as one might say "nukes? Hell no! We didn't even use napalm!" Of course, they hadn't checked their facts thoroughly enough, and it came back to bite the army on the ass. WP isn't actually banned under any conventions anywhere, and the US Army's own regulations preclude its use against unidentified targets. In essence, it's a nothing story. WP is commonly used by the British Army, too, but mostly as an obscurant (the smoke cloud it puts out can hide a tank) rather than as ordinance. It seems to be more the case that the press have picked upon the throw-away comment by shady officials and blown it out of all proportion.

 

Perhaps they thought the insurgents needed a little illunimation....

I'm sure a 155mm willie pete round illuminated the stronghold well enough for the soldiers to see the enemy.

 

In fact it was confimed today by the Pentagon that they used such weapons in Iraq. I will post a link but it's in Polish. http://wiadomosci.wp.pl/kat,1356,wid,8092291,wiadomosc.html?P%5Bpage%5D=1

 

I think I've stated this before, but even with the highest tech weapon, you cannot ensure 100% surgical precision. As Snook pointed out, though, the U.S. is the only country in the world that actually makes a noticeable effort to reduce civilian casualties when attacking.

In any event, I'm not any more or less concerned about White Phosphorus weapons being used than I would be about any other weapon being used -- dead is dead. The real issue is whether or not the U.S. should be there in the first place. I still think it's better that the U.S. went in BEFORE Saddam got any WMD, but I would be lying if I said that I haven't lost about 90% of my respect or regard for Bush and his crooked cronies.