Italy: US forces in Iraq have used incendiary white phosphorus against civilians and a firebomb similar to napalm against military targets, Italian state-run TV broadcaster RAI reported yesterday.
A documentary showed images of bodies recovered after a November 2004 offensive by US troops on the town of Falluja, which it said proved the use of white phosphorus against men, women and children who were burned to the bone.
"I do know that white phosphorus was used," said Jeff Englehart in the RAI documentary, which identified him as a former soldier in the US 1st Infantry Division in Iraq.
The US military says white phosphorus is a conventional weapon and says it does not use any chemical arms. A US military spokesman in Baghdad said he did not recall white phosphorus being used in Falluja. "I do not recall the use of white phosphorus during the offensive operations in Falluja in the fall of 2004," Lt Col Steven Boylan said.
An incendiary device, white phosphorus is used by the military to conceal troop movements with smoke, mark targets or light up combat areas. The use of incendiary weapons against civilians has been banned by the Geneva Convention since 1980. The US did not sign the relevant protocol to the convention, a UN official said. In the documentary called Falluja: The Hidden Massacre, RAI also said US forces also used the Mark 77 firebomb, a weapon similar to napalm, on military targets in 2003. - (Reuters)