A spokesman for the Pentagon, U.S. Army Colonel Barry Venable, said U.S. forces in Iraq did not use the weapons against civilians. That contradicted a report on Italian state television that said the weapons were used against women and children in Al- Fallujah who were burned to the bone.
Venable absolutely rejected the Italian television report.
Another pentagon spokesman, Bryan Whitman, said incendiary white-phosphorus ammunition was part of the U.S. conventional weapons inventory and was used like any other conventional weapon.
Venable said white phosphorus is not outlawed or banned by any convention, al though a 1980 Convention on Conventional Weapons prohibits its use against civilians.
(Reuters)
16 November 2005 -- The Pentagon today admitted to using incendiary white-phosphorus ammunition in Iraq in 2004 during an offensive in the restive Sunni city of Al- Fallujah, but said use of the weapons was legal.
Editors' Picks
Top Trending
1
In Russia's War Economy, The Warning Lights Are Blinking
2Putin Says Russia Fired New Intermediate Missile At Ukraine After ICBM Accusations
3RFE/RL Reveals Chilling New Details Of Bucha Massacre As Ukraine Marks 1,000 Days Of War
4Steps Too Far As Moscow, Washington Cross 'Red Lines' Over Ukraine?
5Wider Europe Briefing: Georgia's Vanishing EU Dreams
6Ukraine Live Briefing: Kyiv Loses 40 Percent Of Land Held In Russia's Kursk Region, Says Military Source
7Dutch Deliver Final 2 F-16 Jets, As Germany, U.S. Set New Ukraine Aid Packages
8The Far-Right Firebrand Too Dangerous To Run For Romania's Presidency
9Russia Says Ukraine Used ATACMS Against Military Target In Bryansk
10Report: Senior North Korean General Wounded In Russia
RFE/RL has been declared an "undesirable organization" by the Russian government.
If you are in Russia or the Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine and hold a Russian passport or are a stateless person residing permanently in Russia or the Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine, please note that you could face fines or imprisonment for sharing, liking, commenting on, or saving our content, or for contacting us.
To find out more, click here.
