The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #137528   Message #3165420
Posted By: Jim Carroll
05-Jun-11 - 07:39 AM
Thread Name: BS: obit: Osama Bin Laden ???
Subject: RE: BS: obit: Osama Bin Laden ???
Quickly:
"So far you have provided us with actual evidence that White Phosphorus was used on civilians,"

Iraq - Fallujah, The Hidden Massacre
Ex US soldier and anti-war activist Jeff Englehart talking about the use of white phosphorus against Iraqi civilians in Fallujah.
Creator
Sigfrido Ranucci and Maurizio Torrealta
Country
Italy
Language
Italian, English
Original channel
RAI
Release date
2005-11-08
Fallujah, The Hidden Massacre is a documentary film by Sigfrido Ranucci and Maurizio Torrealta which first aired on Italy's RAI state television network on November 8, 2005. The film documents the use of weapons that the documentary asserts are chemical weapons, particularly the use of incendiary bombs, and alleges indiscriminate use of violence against civilians and children by military forces of the United States of America in the city of Fallujah in Iraq during the Fallujah Offensive of November 2004.
The film's primary themes are:
Establishing a case for war crimes against civilians committed by the United States.
Documenting evidence for the use of chemical devices by the US military.
Documenting other human rights abuses by American forces and their Iraqi counterparts.
This article offers a synopsis of the material presented in the documentary.
White phosphorus
White phosphorus a highly efficient smoke producing agent, burning quickly and causing an instant bank of smoke. As a result, smoke producing White phosphorus munitions are common, particularly as smoke grenades for infantry, loaded in defensive grenade dischargers on tanks and other armored vehicles, or as part of the ammunition allotment for artillery or mortars. These create smokescreens to mask movement from the enemy, or to mask his fire. As an incendiary weapon, WP burns fiercely and can set cloth, fuel, ammunition and other combustibles on fire. White phosphorus use is legal for purposes such as illumination and obscuring smoke, and the Chemical Weapons Convention does not list WP in its schedules of chemical weapons.

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.[clarification needed] The film documents the use of weapons based on white phosphorus and other substances similar to napalm, such as Mark-77, by American forces.
Interviews with American ex-military personnel who claimed to have been involved in the Fallujah offensive back up the case for the use of weapons by the United States, while reporters who were stationed in Iraq discuss the American government's attempts to suppress the news by covert means.[clarification needed]
Incendiary weapons used against personnel and civilians
Hand of Iraqi woman said to have been incinerated by American weapons. An undamaged plastic misbah (Islamic prayer beads) gives rise to speculation, but also may have been placed as memorial item.
The film states that the use of napalm and similar agents was banned by the United Nations in 1980 for use against civilians and also for use against military targets in proximity to civilians.
White phosphorus, when used for screening or as a marker, is not banned by Protocol III of the 1980 Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons. But if used as a weapon in civilian areas, it would be prohibited. The protocol specifically excludes weapons whose incendiary effect is secondary, such as smoke grenades. This has been often read as excluding white phosphorus munitions from this protocol, as well. The United States is among the nations that are parties to the convention but have not signed Protocol III.[1]
The March–April 2005 online Field Artillery magazine has confirmed the use of WP (white phosphorus) in so-called "shake 'n bake" attacks, so the use of white phosphorus is substantiated by US Army sources only for screening and psychological effects: "WP proved to be an effective and versatile munition. We used it for screening missions at two breeches 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." [P.26]
Graphic visual footage of what are claimed to be WP weapons being fired from helicopters into urban areas is displayed, as well as detailed footage of the remains of those allegedly killed by these weapons, including children and women. The filmmakers interview ex US military soldier turned antiwar activist Jeff Englehart of Colorado who discusses the American use of white phosphorus, nicknamed "Willie Pete" (pre-NATO US phonetic alphabet for "WP" - White Phosphorus) by U.S. servicemembers, in built-up areas, and describes the Fallujah offensive as "just a massive killing of Arabs." However, Englehart was not in the Fallujah area at the time.
Following pressure from former Labour MP Alice Mahon, the British Ministry of Defence confirmed the use of MK77 by US forces during the initial invasion of Iraq [1].
[edit] Indiscriminate violence
The film alleges that the US military deliberately targeted Iraqi civilians and children during the Fallujah offensive as part of its campaign to exterminate opposition to its occupation. The film interviews former US Army scout Garret Reppenhagen, also from Colorado, who claims that civilian deaths were common and intentional. However this claim, like some other claims made in this documentary, is unsubstantiated due to the fact that those being interviewed had no part in the fighting in November 2004 in Fallujah.
The US military responded by stating that they gave civilians several days of advanced warning of the assault and urged them to evacuate the city. This was done through loudspeakers and leaflets dropped by helicopter.
"If I have made an inane remark, point it out."
Most of your remarks are inane, but you might start by explaining your theory that white phosphorus is harmless.
Lots more to chose from but The Burren and Poulnabrone beckon - bye for now.
Jim Carroll