War is Hell. Deal with it. On Jan 26, 5:25 am, "liberal mike532 !" <[email protected]> wrote: > “Fallujah: The Hidden Massacre” on the U.S. Use of Napalm-Like White > Phosphorus > Bombshttp://www.democracynow.org/2005/11/8/u_s_broadcast_exclusive_falluja... > Democracy Now! airs an exclusive excerpt of “Fallujah: The Hidden > Massacre,” featuring interviews with U.S. soldiers, Iraqi doctors and > international journalists on the U.S. attack on Fallujah. Produced by > Italian state broadcaster RAI TV, the documentary charges U.S. > warplanes illegally dropped white phosphorus incendiary bombs on > civilian populations, burning the skin off Iraqi victims. One U.S. > soldier charges this amounts to the U.S. using chemical weapons > against the Iraqi people. Today marks the one-year anniversary of the > U.S. assault on the Sunni city of Fallujah when U.S. and Iraqi > military forced out the town’s residents, bombed hospitals and > buildings, attacked whole neighborhoods, and denied entry to relief > workers. In a North American broadcast exclusive, we bring you an > excerpt from a new film that accuses the U.S. of using white > phosphorus as a weapon in the Fallujah attack. > > 10,000 buildings were destroyed, with thousands more seriously > damaged. At least 100,000 residents were permanently displaced, over > 70 U.S. soldiers were killed, and the Iraqi death toll is unknown. > Independent journalist Dahr Jamail was a one of the few un-embedded, > independent reporters in Iraq at the time. On our program, he first > reported U.S. troops were using chemical weapons in Iraq. > > Dahr Jamail, speaking on Democracy Now!, November 2004: > “I have interviewed many refugees over the last week coming out of > Fallujah at different times from different locations within the city. > The consistent stories that I have been getting have been refugees > describing phosphorus weapons, horribly burned bodies, fires that burn > on people when they touch these weapons, and they are unable to > extinguish the fires even after dumping large amounts of water on the > people. Many people are reporting cluster bombs, as well. And these > are coming from the camps that I have been to, different people who > have emerged from Fallujah anywhere from one week ago up to on through > up toward near the very beginning of the siege.” > Almost one year after these allegations came to light, a new > documentary claims to provide fresh evidence of the use of chemical > weapons in Fallujah. In the film, eyewitnesses and ex-US soldiers say > white phosphorus bombs were used in Fallujah. Rai says this amounts to > the illegal use of chemical weapons and says they were used > indiscriminately against civilian populations. > > In a North American broadcast exclusive, we bring you an excerpt from > the film. > > “Fallujah: The Hidden Massacre,” a documentary by Sigfrido Ranucci and > Maurizio Torrealta. Broadcast today on the Italian state television > network RAI. > AMY GOODMAN: This is Dahr Jamail speaking on Democracy Now! just under > a year ago. > > DAHR JAMAIL: I have interviewed many refugees over the last week > coming out of Fallujah, different times from different locations > within the city. The consistent stories that I’ve been getting have > been refugees describing phosphorus weapons, horribly burned bodies, > fires that burn on people when they touch these weapons. And they’re > unable to extinguish the fires even after dumping large amounts of > water on the people. Many people are reporting cluster bombs, as well. > And these are coming from different camps that I’ve been to, different > people who have emerged from Fallujah, anywhere from one week ago up to > —on through up towards near the very beginning of the siege. > > AMY GOODMAN: Independent journalist Dahr Jamail, appearing on > Democracy Now! November 28, 2004. Almost a year after these > allegations came to light a new documentary claims to provide fresh > evidence of the use of chemical weapons in Fallujah. The documentary > is called Fallujah: The Hidden Massacre. It premieres today on the > Italian television network, RAI . In the film, eyewitnesses and ex- > U.S. soldiers say white phosphorus bombs were used in Fallujah. RAI > says this amounts to the illegal use of chemical weapons and says they > were used indiscriminately and against civilian populations. > > In a North American broadcast exclusive, today we bring you an excerpt > from the film. We’ll then be joined by one of the filmmakers, one of > the soldiers involved in the Fallujah siege, and we’ll be joined by > the Pentagon in Baghdad. The Pentagon denies the allegations it used > chemical weapons in Iraq. First to the documentary, Fallujah: The > Hidden Massacre. It’s by Sigfrido Ranucci and Maurizio Torrealta, > broadcast today on RAI network. > > JEFF ENGLEHART: I was personally involved with escorting a commander > to Fallujah for Operation Phantom Fury. We were told going into > Fallujah, into the combat area, that every single person that was > walking, talking, breathing was an enemy combatant. As such, every > single person that was walking down the street or in a house was a > target. > > REPORTER: Is it true that you had orders to shoot even children of ten > years old? > > JEFF ENGLEHART: This is actually very interesting. When we first got > to Iraq, the army had a set standard for male combat ages. And I > believe when we first got there, it was like 18 years old was the > commonly perceived age of adulthood. So a male who was 18 years old to > 65 was technically capable of being an insurgent. By the time Fallujah > rolled around it was any male with an AK-47 or gun or whatever was a > military target. And I think that is true to a degree. I mean, if—and > it happened. There was many times where children as young as ten were > fighting. > > REPORTER: What will you tell your child about the battle of Fallujah? > > JEFF ENGLEHART: It seemed like just a massive killing of Arabs. It > looked like just a massive killing. > > NARRATOR: We weren’t able to see anything of this mass killing. > Information coming out of Fallujah is dangerous. The few who tried to > show it know something about that. Iraqi police arrested two > journalists from al-Arabiya last March, and their videocassettes were > confiscated. The freelance journalist Enzo Baldoni, who was killed in > Iraq, was working on Fallujah in the last few weeks, just like the Il > Manifesto journalist, Giuliana Sgrena, who was kidnapped carrying out > an inquiry into the refugees of the city. A suspicion arises as to > whether the story of exporting democracy to Fallujah was meant to be > told or not. > > REPORTER: Did you gather any particular information about Fallujah? > > GIULIANA SGRENA: [translated from Italian] Not only in Fallujah. I had > heard stories from the inhabitants about the use of certain weapons > like napalm in Baghdad during the battle at the airport in April 2003. > 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. I would have liked to interview those persons, but > unfortunately my kidnappers, who were said to be part of Fallujah’s > resistance, had forbidden me to tell what I have known about Fallujah > by kidnapping me. > > This world cannot have witnessed this. It cannot have witnessed it, > because it’s based on lies. The Americans have permitted only to > embedded journalists to go to Fallujah. Despite that, for example, the > image of the Marine that shoots the wounded and unarmed warrior inside > the Fallujah mosque has gone out. But exactly because this image has > gone out, we do not know how, and because it has circulated all over > the world, the embassy journalist that has reported it has been > immediately expelled from the embedded body. > > AMY GOODMAN: Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena. Sgrena drew > international headlines when she was kidnapped in Iraq only to have > U.S. soldiers fire on her vehicle after she was released, injuring her > and killing the Italian intelligence agent who had saved her. We are > now going to go to the excerpt of the RAI documentary where Specialist > Jeff Englehart speaks. We want to warn our TV viewers that some of the > scenes you are about to see are extremely graphic. > > REPORTER: Were any chemical weapons used in Fallujah? > > JEFF ENGLEHART: From the U.S. military, yeah, absolutely. White > phosphorus. Possibly napalm may or may not have been used; I do not > know. I do know that white phosphorus was used, which is definitely, > without a shadow of a doubt, a chemical weapon. > > REPORTER: Is he sure of it? > > JEFF ENGLEHART: Yes. It happened. > > REPORTER: How can he be certain? > > JEFF ENGLEHART: Well, it comes across radio as a general transmission. > When it happens like that, you hear it on the radio through—we have > speakers in our trucks—speakers and then the transmission goes to the > speakers, so it’s audible. And as they’d say, “In five [inaudible], > we’re going drop some Whiskey Pete.” “Roger. Commence bombing.” I > mean, it just comes across the radio, and like, when you hear “Whiskey > Pete,” that’s the military slang. > > NARRATOR: Contrary to what was said by the U.S. State Department, > white phosphorus was not used in the open field to illuminate enemy > troops. For this, tracer was used. A rain of fire shot from U.S. > helicopters on the city of Fallujah on the night of the 8th of > November. [inaudible] will show you in this exceptional documentary, > which proves that a chemical agent was used in a massive and > indiscriminate way in districts of Fallujah. In the days that > followed, U.S. satellite images showed Fallujah burned out and razed > to the ground. > > JEFF ENGLEHART: The gases from the warhead of the white phosphorus > will disperse in a cloud. And when it makes contact with skin, then > it’s absolutely irreversible damage, burning of flesh to the bone. It > doesn’t necessarily burn clothes, but it will burn the skin underneath > clothes. And this is why protective masks do not help, because it will > burn right through the mask, the rubber of the mask. It will manage to > get inside your face. If you breathe it, it will blister your throat > and your lungs until you suffocate, and then it will burn you from the > inside. It basically reacts to skin, oxygen and water. The only way to > stop the burning is with wet mud. But at that point, it’s just > impossible to stop. > > REPORTER: Have you seen the effects of these weapons? > > JEFF ENGLEHART: Yes. Burned. Burned bodies. I mean, it burned > children, and it burned women. White phosphorus kills > indiscriminately. It’s a cloud that will within, in most cases, 150 > meters of impact will disperse, and it will burn every human being or > animal. > > REPORTER: Some footage has shown violations inside mosques, black > crosses painted on the walls and on the Koran. Do you know anything > about this? > > JEFF ENGLEHART: I don’t doubt that American soldiers who are > frustrated after being involved in combat for a year would have any > problems with doing any kind of vandalism. I mean, it’s very common. > Indiscriminate vandalism was found—I mean, there was carvings in the > walls at Babylon, an ancient structure, a historical monument. It was > common for soldiers to carve, you know, “Hello, mom, I’m from Texas,” > on these walls. I just think there’s a certain lack of respect within > the American military ranks, especially when dealing with soldiers who > are frustrated. I personally did not witness any mosque vandalism. Our > brigade was good about keeping that very controlled. But I did hear > stories. Places such as Samarra, Baghdad, Mosul, mosques being > attacked, mosques being vandalized, the Koran being damaged. I think > it’s very common. > > REPORTER: Is it true that you waited for the results of elections, > confirmation of victory for Bush, before bombing Fallujah? > > JEFF ENGLEHART: I’m glad you brought this question up. That was > definitely the case. Even in the ranks, in the military ranks, we knew > it was going on. They told us that we were going to wait after the > election, the American election, before going into Fallujah. And we > had already set up the whole operation, like it was ready to go. And > we were waiting for two or three days for the election to be over > with. And then when the election was so close between Kerry and Bush, > it was always pissing off a lot of the high command, because they > wanted to hurry up and get in there and get it going. And they didn’t > want what happened in 2000 with Gore and Bush, the long drawn-out > process that lasted almost a week to find out who won. When Kerry > conceded, though, it was like within a matter of a day, it was going, > it was happening. That was definitely the case. We waited until after > the election. We were told directly from the Pentagon to wait until > after the election before going into Fallujah, and that’s exactly what > we did. > > NARRATOR: Alice Mahon was a Labour parliamentarian from 1987 until a > few months ago, until she decided to walk out on Westminster. Mrs. > Mahon had, since 2003, put forward several Parliamentary inquiries > demanding information from the Defense Ministry as to whether the > United States had used chemical weapons. And the ministry, after > several attempts to deny any knowledge, wrote back on the 13th of > June, 2005, with the following: “I regret to tell you that I am > sincerely sorry that this is not the truth, and that now we must > correct it. The U.S.A. destroyed their arsenal of napalm used in > Vietnam in 2001, but emerging from military reports from Marines in > service in 2003, it shows that MK-77 was used. The incendiary bomb > MK-77 does not have the same composition as napalm, but it has the > same destructive effect. The Pentagon has informed us that these > devices are not generally used in areas where civilians are present.” > > ALICE MAHON: I didn’t lose my seat. I deliberately stood down, because > I didn’t want to be part of a government that was conducting an > illegal and bloody war against people who had done us no harm > whatsoever. Well, I heard from the American military at the beginning > of the war, at the beginning of the bombardments of Iraq, there was an > admission by the American military that they had used a substance > similar to napalm when they first went into Iraq. I put the question > down. And as you can see, the reply was “No, they hadn’t.” My > government were not aware of it. Now, I’m afraid some of us do not > believe everything we’re told at the moment, and so I did pursue it, > even when I stood down from Parliament. And months later, we did get > an admission from the Ministry of Defense, from the minister himself, > that a similar substance to napalm had been used in the bombardments > of Iraq. > > REPORTER: The U.N. convention signed by the U.S. had banned napalm. Is > MK-77 very different? > > ALICE MAHON: No, it isn’t. It has exactly the same effect when it’s > fired at people. It burns them. It destroys things. It melts bodies. > It’s exactly the same effect. And what, of course—what is in a name if > it does this to people? I think the Americans are wrong to use it. I > think my government are wrong to help in the cover up of it being > used. But, of course, in this war we’ve seen the United Nations > Charter broken and defied over and over again. > > REPORTER: Why didn’t the United States ever sign the convention > abolishing these weapons? > > ALICE MAHON: Well, the United States, of course, do that. They go > around lecturing the rest of the world on their rights and > responsibilities and have taken note of what the U.N. said. Of course, > they had a lot to say to the Iraqi government about obeying United > Nations resolutions. They, themselves, think they are above it. > > REPORTER: This war started with the intention to look for weapons of > mass destruction. Is it not paradoxical that chemical weapons were in > the end used by the United States? > > ALICE MAHON: Absolutely. The hypocrisy is absolutely stinking. There > were no weapons of mass destruction. This was a broken-back dictator > who was a threat to no one. In my view, the Americans wanted to > control the oil in the region. I’m afraid there is no hiding place > from America and Britain in this war. The facts will come out, and > Bush and my prime minister will be exposed. > > AMY GOODMAN: Scenes from Fallujah: The Hidden Massacre from RAI TV in > Italy, the state broadcaster. Here to discuss the chemical weapons > allegations, we will be joined by the Pentagon, by the U.S. former > soldier who was making the allegations of white phosphorus used in > Fallujah. And we’ll also be joined by the Italian television producer > of the broadcast. > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum
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