Think Progress catches the US government in yet another blatant lie:
Exclusive: Classified Pentagon Document Described White Phosphorus As ?Chemical Weapon?
To downplay the political impact of revelations that U.S. forces used deadly white phosphorus rounds against Iraqi insurgents in Falluja last year, Pentagon officials have insisted that phosphorus munitions are legal since they aren?t technically ?chemical weapons.?
The media have helped them. For instance, the New York Times ran a piece today on the phosphorus controversy. On at least three occasions, the Times emphasizes that the phosphorus rounds are ?incendiary muntions? that have been ?incorrectly called chemical weapons.?
But the distinction is a minor one, and arguably political in nature. A formerly classified 1995 Pentagon intelligence document titled ?Possible Use of Phosphorous Chemical? describes the use of white phosphorus by Saddam Hussein on Kurdish fighters:
IRAQ HAS POSSIBLY EMPLOYED PHOSPHOROUS CHEMICAL WEAPONS AGAINST THE KURDISH POPULATION IN AREAS ALONG THE IRAQI-TURKISH-IRANIAN BORDERS. [?]
IN LATE FEBRUARY 1991, FOLLOWING THE COALITION FORCES? OVERWHELMING VICTORY OVER IRAQ, KURDISH REBELS STEPPED UP THEIR STRUGGLE AGAINST IRAQI FORCES IN NORTHERN IRAQ. DURING THE BRUTAL CRACKDOWN THAT FOLLOWED THE KURDISH UPRISING, IRAQI FORCES LOYAL TO PRESIDENT SADDAM ((HUSSEIN)) MAY HAVE POSSIBLY USED WHITE PHOSPHOROUS (WP) CHEMICAL WEAPONS AGAINST KURDISH REBELS AND THE POPULACE IN ERBIL (GEOCOORD:3412N/04401E) (VICINITY OF IRANIAN BORDER) AND DOHUK (GEOCOORD:3652N/04301E) (VICINITY OF IRAQI BORDER) PROVINCES, IRAQ.
In other words, the Pentagon does refer to white phosphorus rounds as chemical weapons ? at least if they?re used by our enemies.
The real point here goes beyond the Pentagon?s legalistic parsings. The use of white phosphorus against enemy fighters is a ?terribly ill-conceived method,? demonstrating an Army interested ?only in the immediate tactical gain and its felicitous shake and bake fun.? And the dishonest efforts by Bush administration officials to deny and downplay that use only further undermines U.S. credibility abroad.
To paraphrase President Bush, this isn?t a question about what is legal, it?s about what is right.
UPDATE: George Monbiot in The Guardian gives credit for this story where it’s due:
Last night the blogger Gabriele Zamparini* found a declassified document from the US department of defence, dated April 1991, and titled “Possible use of phosphorus chemical”. “During the brutal crackdown that followed the Kurdish uprising,” it alleges, “Iraqi forces loyal to President Saddam may have possibly used white phosphorus (WP) chemical weapons against Kurdish rebels and the populace in Erbil … and Dohuk provinces, Iraq. The WP chemical was delivered by artillery rounds and helicopter gunships … These reports of possible WP chemical weapon attacks spread quickly … hundreds of thousands of Kurds fled from these two areas.” The Pentagon is in no doubt, in other words, that white phosphorus is an illegal chemical weapon.
*An Italian-born former law student, Gabriele Zamparini moved to the States in 1998 where he worked as an Italian teacher and freelance journalist.
