The Italian journalist who launched the controversy over the
American
use of white phosphorus (WP) as a weapon of war in the Fallujah siege
has accused the Americans of hypocrisy.
Sigfrido Ranucci, who made the documentary for the RAI television
channel aired two weeks ago, said that a US intelligence assessment had
characterised WP after the first Gulf War as a "chemical weapon".
The assessment was published in a declassified report on the
American Department of Defence website. The file was headed: "Possible
use of phosphorous chemical weapons by Iraq in Kurdish areas along the
Iraqi-Turkish-Iranian borders."
In late February 1991, an intelligence source reported, during the
Iraqi crackdown on the Kurdish uprising that followed the coalition
victory against Iraq, "Iraqi forces loyal to President Saddam may have
possibly used white phosphorous chemical weapons against Kurdish rebels
and the populace in Erbil and Dohuk. The WP chemical was delivered by
artillery rounds and helicopter gunships."
According to the intelligence report, the "reports of possible WP
chemical weapon attacks spread quickly among the populace in Erbil and
Dohuk. As a result, hundreds of thousands of Kurds fled from these two
areas" across the border into Turkey.
"When Saddam used WP it was a chemical weapon," said Mr Ranucci,
"but when the Americans use it, it's a conventional weapon. The
injuries it inflicts, however, are just as terrible however you
describe it."
In the television documentary, eyewitnesses inside Fallujah during
the bombardment in November last year described the terror and agony
suffered by victims of the shells . Two former American soldiers who
fought at Fallujah told how they had been ordered to prepare for the
use of the weapons. The film and still photographs posted on the
website of the channel that made the film - rainews24.it - show the
strange corpses found after the city's destruction, many with their
skin apparently melted or caramelised so their features were
indistinguishable. Mr Ranucci said he had seen photographs of "more
than 100" of what he described as "anomalous corpses" in the city.
The US State Department and the Pentagon have shifted their position
repeatedly in the aftermath of the film's showing. After initially
saying that US forces do not use white phosphorus as a weapon, the
Pentagon now says that WP had been used against insurgents in Fallujah.
The use of WP against civilians as a weapon is prohibited.
Military analysts said that there remain questions about the
official US position regarding its observance of the 1980 conventional
weapons treaty which governs the use of WP as an incendiary weapon and
sets out clear guidelines about the protection of civilians.
Daryl Kimball, director of the Arms Control Association in
Washington, called for an independent investigation of the use of WP
during the Fallujah siege. "If it was used as an incendiary weapon,
clear restrictions apply," he said.
"Given that the US and UK went into Iraq on the ground that Saddam
Hussein had used chemical weapons against his own people, we need to
make sure that we are not violating the laws that we have subscribed
to," he added.
Yesterday Adam Mynott, a BBC correspondent in Nassiriya in April
2003, told Rai News 24 that he had seen WP apparently used as a weapon
against insurgents in that city.
The Italian journalist who launched the controversy over the
American
use of white phosphorus (WP) as a weapon of war in the Fallujah siege
has accused the Americans of hypocrisy.
Sigfrido Ranucci, who made the documentary for the RAI television
channel aired two weeks ago, said that a US intelligence assessment had
characterised WP after the first Gulf War as a "chemical weapon".
The assessment was published in a declassified report on the
American Department of Defence website. The file was headed: "Possible
use of phosphorous chemical weapons by Iraq in Kurdish areas along the
Iraqi-Turkish-Iranian borders."
In late February 1991, an intelligence source reported, during the
Iraqi crackdown on the Kurdish uprising that followed the coalition
victory against Iraq, "Iraqi forces loyal to President Saddam may have
possibly used white phosphorous chemical weapons against Kurdish rebels
and the populace in Erbil and Dohuk. The WP chemical was delivered by
artillery rounds and helicopter gunships."
According to the intelligence report, the "reports of possible WP
chemical weapon attacks spread quickly among the populace in Erbil and
Dohuk. As a result, hundreds of thousands of Kurds fled from these two
areas" across the border into Turkey.
"When Saddam used WP it was a chemical weapon," said Mr Ranucci,
"but when the Americans use it, it's a conventional weapon. The
injuries it inflicts, however, are just as terrible however you
describe it."
In the television documentary, eyewitnesses inside Fallujah during
the bombardment in November last year described the terror and agony
suffered by victims of the shells . Two former American soldiers who
fought at Fallujah told how they had been ordered to prepare for the
use of the weapons. The film and still photographs posted on the
website of the channel that made the film - rainews24.it - show the
strange corpses found after the city's destruction, many with their
skin apparently melted or caramelised so their features were
indistinguishable. Mr Ranucci said he had seen photographs of "more
than 100" of what he described as "anomalous corpses" in the city.
The US State Department and the Pentagon have shifted their position
repeatedly in the aftermath of the film's showing. After initially
saying that US forces do not use white phosphorus as a weapon, the
Pentagon now says that WP had been used against insurgents in Fallujah.
The use of WP against civilians as a weapon is prohibited.
Military analysts said that there remain questions about the
official US position regarding its observance of the 1980 conventional
weapons treaty which governs the use of WP as an incendiary weapon and
sets out clear guidelines about the protection of civilians.
Daryl Kimball, director of the Arms Control Association in
Washington, called for an independent investigation of the use of WP
during the Fallujah siege. "If it was used as an incendiary weapon,
clear restrictions apply," he said.
"Given that the US and UK went into Iraq on the ground that Saddam
Hussein had used chemical weapons against his own people, we need to
make sure that we are not violating the laws that we have subscribed
to," he added.
Yesterday Adam Mynott, a BBC correspondent in Nassiriya in April
2003, told Rai News 24 that he had seen WP apparently used as a weapon
against insurgents in that city.