White phosphorus use in Iraq
Encyclopedia
There have been several cases in which white phosphorus
(WP) has been used or has been claimed to have been used as an anti-personnel weapon
in Iraq
by the Saddam Hussein
regime and the United States military. The use of white phosphorus is notable because of its incendiary properties, which can inflict severe burns.
Although initially denied, its use by the US was later confirmed by a United States Army
general serving in Iraq. General Pace, then Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
denied allegations that the weapon was used against civilians, maintaining that it was only targeted on insurgents.
article quoted by an RAI
documentary, white phosphorus was used by Saddam Hussein
during the Halabja poison gas attack
: (transl.) "On the morning of March 16, 1988, the Iraqi aerial forces bombed several times the city with a chemical cocktail of nerve agents: yperite, tabun
, VX
, napalm
and white phosphorus." WP use had not been previously mentioned in other reports on Halabja
, but the use of napalm
was commonly reported.
after the fall of Saddam Hussein
's government, Darrin Mortenson of the North County Times
in California reported that white phosphorus was used as an incendiary weapon. Embedded with the 2nd Battalion
, 1st Marine Regiment, Mortenson described one Marine, Cpl. Bogert, and his mortar team in action
(the second major assault on Fallujah), Washington Post reporters embedded with Task Force 2-2, Regimental Combat Team 7, wrote on November 9, 2004 that "Some artillery guns fired white phosphorus (WP) rounds that create a screen of fire that cannot be extinguished with water."
A Material Safety Data Sheet on white phosphorus
states that white(yellow) phosphorus fires are to be fought with "Water spray, wet sand."
This claim was also confirmed by members of the US military itself in the March–April 2005 issue of Field Artillery
, a journal published by the US Department of Defense. The article, titled "TF 2-2 in FSE AAR: Indirect Fires in the Battle for Fallujah":
Fallujah, The Hidden Massacre
, a documentary film by Sigfrido Ranucci diffused on Italy's RaiNews24 on November 8, 2005, claimed that the U.S. military killed civilians in Fallujah using white phosphorus and MK-77
(modernized napalm
). The documentary included numerous photographs of charred bodies, claiming they showed fatal wounds caused by white phosphorus. The documentary also includes footage which purported to be of white phosphorus being fired from helicopters over Fallujah. It also quoted journalist Giuliana Sgrena
, who had been in Fallujah, as a testimony.
Giuliana Sgrena
quoted by the November 8, 2005 RAI documentary "And then I had collected just before going to interview the city refugees testimonies from other inhabitants from Fallujah about the use of guns and white phosphorus. In particular, some women had tried to enter their homes, and they had found a certain dust spread all over the house. The Americans themselves had told them to clean the houses with detergents, because that dust was very dangerous. In fact, they had some effect on their bodies, leading some very strange things."
On November 15, 2005, Dept. of Defense spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Barry Venable confirmed to the BBC
that white phosphorus had been used as an incendiary antipersonnel weapon in Fallujah:
On November 22, 2005, An Iraqi investigation was launched into the application of white phosphorus by the United States throughout the attack on Fallujah - an inquiry that could reveal whether American forces breached a fundamental international weapons treaty.
On November 30, 2005, General Peter Pace
justified use of white phosphorus, declaring that white phosphorus munitions were a "legitimate tool of the military", used to illuminate targets and create smokescreens, adding: "It is not a chemical weapon. It is an incendiary. And it is well within the law of war to use those weapons as they're being used, for marking and for screening". Peter Pace then made the point that conventional weapons can be more dangerous than non-conventional weapons: "A bullet goes through skin even faster than white phosphorus does".
However, regardless of whether or not a country or territory has signed or agreed to abide by protocol III of the CCCW, the use of white phosphorus as an incendury weapon against military targets that are not in close proximity to civilians or civilian property is completly legal.
A "US Intelligence" document from 1991 states in its summary "IRAQ HAS POSSIBLY EMPLOYED PHOSPHORUS CHEMICAL WEAPONS AGAINST THE KURDISH POPULATION IN AREAS ALONG THE IRAQI-TURKISH-IRANIAN BORDERS." but the actual declassified document
contains the words "WARNING: (U) THIS IS AN INFORMATION REPORT, NOT FINALLY EVALUATED INTELLIGENCE." By "information report", the document states it is not a reviewed product of the intelligence community.
The US Army Battle Book - Field Manual 100-3, published in 1999 by the US Army Command and General Staff College at Ft Leavenworth, KS, stating in Section III (Fire Support) paragraph section 5-11 para b subpara iii that "It is against the law of land warfare to employ WP against personnel targets." On the other hand, according to the field manual on the Rules of Land Warfare, "The use of weapons which employ fire, such as tracer ammunition, flamethrowers, napalm and other incendiary agents, against targets requiring their use is not violative of international law.">
White phosphorus (weapon)
White phosphorus is a material made from a common allotrope of the chemical element phosphorus that is used in smoke, tracer, illumination and incendiary munitions. Other common names include WP, and the slang term "Willie Pete," which is dated from its use in Vietnam, and is still sometimes used...
(WP) has been used or has been claimed to have been used as an anti-personnel weapon
Anti-personnel weapon
An anti-personnel weapon is one primarily used to incapacitate people, as opposed to attacking structures or vehicles.The development of defensive fortification and combat vehicles gave rise to weapons designed specifically to attack them, and thus a need to distinguish between those systems and...
in Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
by the Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003...
regime and the United States military. The use of white phosphorus is notable because of its incendiary properties, which can inflict severe burns.
Although initially denied, its use by the US was later confirmed by a United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
general serving in Iraq. General Pace, then Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is by law the highest ranking military officer in the United States Armed Forces, and is the principal military adviser to the President of the United States, the National Security Council, the Homeland Security Council and the Secretary of Defense...
denied allegations that the weapon was used against civilians, maintaining that it was only targeted on insurgents.
Use by Saddam Hussein to quash rebellion
March 1988: According to an undated ANSAANSA (news agency)
ANSA , is the leading wire service in Italy, and one of the leaders among world news agencies. ANSA is a not-for-profit cooperative, whose members and owners are 36 leading news organizations in Italy. Its mission is the distribution of fair and objective news reporting.-History:ANSA was founded on...
article quoted by an RAI
RAI
RAI — Radiotelevisione italiana S.p.A. known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane, is the Italian state owned public service broadcaster controlled by the Ministry of Economic Development. Rai is the biggest television company in Italy...
documentary, white phosphorus was used by Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003...
during the Halabja poison gas attack
Halabja poison gas attack
The Halabja poison gas attack , also known as Halabja massacre or Bloody Friday, was a genocidal massacre against the Kurdish people that took place on March 16, 1988, during the closing days of the Iran–Iraq War, when chemical weapons were used by the Iraqi government forces in the Kurdish town of...
: (transl.) "On the morning of March 16, 1988, the Iraqi aerial forces bombed several times the city with a chemical cocktail of nerve agents: yperite, tabun
Tabun (nerve agent)
Tabun or GA is an extremely toxic chemical substance. It is a clear, colorless, and tasteless liquid with a faint fruity odor. It is classified as a nerve agent because it fatally interferes with normal functioning of the mammalian nervous system...
, VX
VX (nerve agent)
VX, IUPAC name O-ethyl S-[2-ethyl] methylphosphonothioate, is an extremely toxic substance whose only application is in chemical warfare as a nerve agent. As a chemical weapon, it is classified as a weapon of mass destruction by the United Nations in UN Resolution 687...
, napalm
Napalm
Napalm is a thickening/gelling agent generally mixed with gasoline or a similar fuel for use in an incendiary device, primarily as an anti-personnel weapon...
and white phosphorus." WP use had not been previously mentioned in other reports on Halabja
Halabja
Halabja , is a Kurdish town in Northern Iraq, located about north-east of Baghdad and 8–10 miles from the Iranian border....
, but the use of napalm
Napalm
Napalm is a thickening/gelling agent generally mixed with gasoline or a similar fuel for use in an incendiary device, primarily as an anti-personnel weapon...
was commonly reported.
First major assault on Fallujah
In April 2004, during the first major U.S. assault on FallujahFallujah
Fallujah is a city in the Iraqi province of Al Anbar, located roughly west of Baghdad on the Euphrates. Fallujah dates from Babylonian times and was host to important Jewish academies for many centuries....
after the fall of Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003...
's government, Darrin Mortenson of the North County Times
North County Times
The North County Times is a local newspaper in north San Diego County, California owned by Lee Enterprises. It is headquartered in Escondido. The current publisher is Peter York....
in California reported that white phosphorus was used as an incendiary weapon. Embedded with the 2nd Battalion
2nd Battalion 1st Marines
2nd Battalion, 1st Marines is an infantry battalion in the United States Marine Corps based out of Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California. Nicknamed "The Professionals," the battalion consists of approximately 1000 Marines and Sailors...
, 1st Marine Regiment, Mortenson described one Marine, Cpl. Bogert, and his mortar team in action
Second major assault on Fallujah
In November 2004, during Operation Phantom FuryOperation Phantom Fury
The Second Battle of Fallujah was a joint U.S., Iraqi, and British offensive in November and December 2004, considered the highest point of conflict in Fallujah during the Iraq War. It was led by the U.S...
(the second major assault on Fallujah), Washington Post reporters embedded with Task Force 2-2, Regimental Combat Team 7, wrote on November 9, 2004 that "Some artillery guns fired white phosphorus (WP) rounds that create a screen of fire that cannot be extinguished with water."
A Material Safety Data Sheet on white phosphorus
states that white(yellow) phosphorus fires are to be fought with "Water spray, wet sand."
This claim was also confirmed by members of the US military itself in the March–April 2005 issue of Field Artillery
Field Artillery (magazine)
Field Artillery is a discontinued bimonthly magazine on the subject of field artillery, published from 1911 to 2007. It was published by the US Field Artillery Association, Fort Sill, Oklahoma and was an official publication of the United States Army Field Artillery Corps. Its intended...
, a journal published by the US Department of Defense. The article, titled "TF 2-2 in FSE AAR: Indirect Fires in the Battle for Fallujah":
- "WP proved to be an effective and versatile munition. We used it for screening missions at two breaches 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 and bake' missions at the insurgents, using WP to flush them out and HE to take them out."
Fallujah, The Hidden Massacre
Fallujah, The Hidden Massacre
-War crimes:The primary theme of the film is its assertion of a case for war crimes committed by the United States in its military offensive against Fallujah in Iraq...
, a documentary film by Sigfrido Ranucci diffused on Italy's RaiNews24 on November 8, 2005, claimed that the U.S. military killed civilians in Fallujah using white phosphorus and MK-77
Mark 77 bomb
The Mark 77 bomb is a US 750-lb air-dropped incendiary bomb carrying of a fuel gel mix which is the direct successor to napalm.The MK-77 is the primary incendiary weapon currently in use by the United States military...
(modernized napalm
Napalm
Napalm is a thickening/gelling agent generally mixed with gasoline or a similar fuel for use in an incendiary device, primarily as an anti-personnel weapon...
). The documentary included numerous photographs of charred bodies, claiming they showed fatal wounds caused by white phosphorus. The documentary also includes footage which purported to be of white phosphorus being fired from helicopters over Fallujah. It also quoted journalist Giuliana Sgrena
Giuliana Sgrena
Giuliana Sgrena is an Italian journalist who works for the Italian communist newspaper Il Manifesto and the German weekly Die Zeit. While working in Iraq, she was kidnapped by insurgents on February 4, 2005. After her release on March 4, 2005, Sgrena and the two Italian intelligence officers who...
, who had been in Fallujah, as a testimony.
Giuliana Sgrena
Giuliana Sgrena
Giuliana Sgrena is an Italian journalist who works for the Italian communist newspaper Il Manifesto and the German weekly Die Zeit. While working in Iraq, she was kidnapped by insurgents on February 4, 2005. After her release on March 4, 2005, Sgrena and the two Italian intelligence officers who...
quoted by the November 8, 2005 RAI documentary "And then I had collected just before going to interview the city refugees testimonies from other inhabitants from Fallujah about the use of guns and white phosphorus. In particular, some women had tried to enter their homes, and they had found a certain dust spread all over the house. The Americans themselves had told them to clean the houses with detergents, because that dust was very dangerous. In fact, they had some effect on their bodies, leading some very strange things."
On November 15, 2005, Dept. of Defense spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Barry Venable confirmed to the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
that white phosphorus had been used as an incendiary antipersonnel weapon in Fallujah:
- "Yes, it was used as an incendiary weapon against enemy combatants. When you have enemy forces that are in covered positions that your high explosive artillery rounds are not having an impact on and you wish to get them out of those positions, one technique is to fire a white phosphorus round into the position because the combined effects of the fire and smoke - and in some case the terror brought about by the explosion on the ground - will drive them out of the holes so that you can kill them with high explosives."
On November 22, 2005, An Iraqi investigation was launched into the application of white phosphorus by the United States throughout the attack on Fallujah - an inquiry that could reveal whether American forces breached a fundamental international weapons treaty.
On November 30, 2005, General Peter Pace
Peter Pace
Peter Pace is a retired United States Marine Corps general who served as the 16th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the first Marine appointed to the United States' highest-ranking military office. Appointed by President George W. Bush, Pace succeeded U.S. Air Force General Richard Myers on...
justified use of white phosphorus, declaring that white phosphorus munitions were a "legitimate tool of the military", used to illuminate targets and create smokescreens, adding: "It is not a chemical weapon. It is an incendiary. And it is well within the law of war to use those weapons as they're being used, for marking and for screening". Peter Pace then made the point that conventional weapons can be more dangerous than non-conventional weapons: "A bullet goes through skin even faster than white phosphorus does".
Insurgent usage in Iraq
Insurgents have utilized white phosphorus rounds in roadside bombs in at least one case. In early 2005, Iraqi National Guard (ING) members captured two men in the act of placing improvised explosive devices (IED). The men admitted to placing other devices leading the ING to uncover a 155 mm white phosphorus round with detonation cord.Legality
The use of white phosphorus as an obscurant is legal. Article 1 of Protocol III of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons defines an incendiary weapon as 'any weapon or munition which is primarily designed to set fire to objects or to cause burn injury to persons through the action of flame, heat, or combination thereof, produced by a chemical reaction of a substance delivered on the target'. The same protocol also prohibits the use of incendiary weapons against civilians (already forbidden by the Geneva Conventions) or against military targets in close proximity to civilians or civilian property. This protocol is only binding upon those who have signed it; the United States, has not signed or agreed to Protocol III.However, regardless of whether or not a country or territory has signed or agreed to abide by protocol III of the CCCW, the use of white phosphorus as an incendury weapon against military targets that are not in close proximity to civilians or civilian property is completly legal.
A "US Intelligence" document from 1991 states in its summary "IRAQ HAS POSSIBLY EMPLOYED PHOSPHORUS CHEMICAL WEAPONS AGAINST THE KURDISH POPULATION IN AREAS ALONG THE IRAQI-TURKISH-IRANIAN BORDERS." but the actual declassified document
contains the words "WARNING: (U) THIS IS AN INFORMATION REPORT, NOT FINALLY EVALUATED INTELLIGENCE." By "information report", the document states it is not a reviewed product of the intelligence community.
The US Army Battle Book - Field Manual 100-3, published in 1999 by the US Army Command and General Staff College at Ft Leavenworth, KS, stating in Section III (Fire Support) paragraph section 5-11 para b subpara iii that "It is against the law of land warfare to employ WP against personnel targets." On the other hand, according to the field manual on the Rules of Land Warfare, "The use of weapons which employ fire, such as tracer ammunition, flamethrowers, napalm and other incendiary agents, against targets requiring their use is not violative of international law.">
External links
- Globalsecurity.org on WP (including use during the Battle of FallujahOperation Phantom FuryThe Second Battle of Fallujah was a joint U.S., Iraqi, and British offensive in November and December 2004, considered the highest point of conflict in Fallujah during the Iraq War. It was led by the U.S...
and during the December 1994 battle for GroznyGroznyGrozny is the capital city of the Chechen Republic, Russia. The city lies on the Sunzha River. According to the preliminary results of the 2010 Census, the city had a population of 271,596; up from 210,720 recorded in the 2002 Census. but still only about two-thirds of 399,688 recorded in the 1989...
during the First Chechen WarFirst Chechen WarThe First Chechen War, also known as the War in Chechnya, was a conflict between the Russian Federation and the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, fought from December 1994 to August 1996...
) - TF 2-2 IN FSE AAR: Indirect Fires in the Battle of Fallujah (PDF) Field Artillery Magazine (March–April 2005)
- December 9, 2004 U.S. Denial of Using Illegal Weapons in Fallujah AND November 10, 2005 note - following RAI doc - recognizing WP use for screening purposes and as a "potent psychological weapons" in "shake&bake" operations
See also
- White phosphorus (weapon)White phosphorus (weapon)White phosphorus is a material made from a common allotrope of the chemical element phosphorus that is used in smoke, tracer, illumination and incendiary munitions. Other common names include WP, and the slang term "Willie Pete," which is dated from its use in Vietnam, and is still sometimes used...
- Fallujah, The Hidden MassacreFallujah, The Hidden Massacre-War crimes:The primary theme of the film is its assertion of a case for war crimes committed by the United States in its military offensive against Fallujah in Iraq...