An Iraqi human rights team has gone to the city of Falluja to
investigate the use of white phosphorus as a weapon by US forces, a
minister has told the BBC.
Acting Human Rights Minister Narmin Uthman said her staff would examine the possible effects on civilians.
The US has now admitted using white phosphorus as a weapon in Falluja last year, after earlier denying it.
The substance can cause burning of the flesh but is not illegal and is not classified as a chemical weapon.
The BBC's Caroline Hawley in Baghdad says it will be some time before the human rights team reports back.
The US had previously said that white phosphorus had been used only to light up enemy positions.
BBC defence correspondent Paul Wood says having to retract its denial is a public relations disaster for the US.
In other developments in Iraq:
* Sunni parties demand an international inquiry into
the alleged abuse of more than 170 detainees by Iraqi forces in Baghdad.
* Three US soldiers are killed in a roadside bomb near Baghdad
* A car bomb kills a US marine in Karmah, 80km (50 miles) west of Baghdad.
A Pentagon spokesman, Lt Col Barry Venable, confirmed to the BBC the US
had used white phosphorus "as an incendiary weapon against enemy
combatants" - though not against civilians, he said.
He said earlier denials had been based on "poor information".
Washington is not a signatory to an international treaty restricting the use of the substance against civilians.
The US-led assault in November 2004 on Falluja - a stronghold of the
Sunni insurgency west of Baghdad - displaced most of the city's 300,000
population and left many of its buildings destroyed.
'Particularly nasty'
San Diego journalist Darrin Mortenson, who was embedded with US marines
during the assault on Falluja, told the BBC's Today radio programme he
had seen white phosphorous used "as an incendiary weapon" against
insurgents.
WHITE PHOSPHORUS
Spontaneously flammable chemical used for battlefield illumination
Contact with particles causes burning of skin and flesh
Use of incendiary weapons prohibited for attacking civilians (Protocol III of Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons)
Protocol III not signed by US
However, he "never saw anybody intentionally use any weapon against civilians", he said.
White phosphorus is highly flammable and ignites on contact with
oxygen. If the substance hits a person's body, it will burn until
deprived of oxygen.
Globalsecurity.org, a defence website, says: "Phosphorus burns on the
skin are deep and painful... These weapons are particularly nasty
because white phosphorus continues to burn until it disappears... it
could burn right down to the bone."
A spokesman at the UK Ministry of Defence said the use of white
phosphorus was permitted in battle in cases where there were no
civilians near the target area.
But Professor Paul Rodgers, of the University of Bradford's department
of peace studies, said white phosphorus could be considered a chemical
weapon if deliberately aimed at civilians.
He told PM: "It is not counted under the chemical weapons convention in
its normal use but, although it is a matter of legal niceties, it
probably does fall into the category of chemical weapons if it is used
for this kind of purpose directly against people."
An Italian documentary revealing the use of white phosphorus in Iraq
sparked fury among Italian anti-war protesters, who demonstrated
outside the US embassy in Rome earlier this month.
Iraq's human rights minister said the team was sent to Falluja after the documentary was broadcast on Rai TV in Italy.
Story from BBC NEWS:
There's a perception in this country that we were lied to about the
run-up to the war in Iraq. Maybe we were and maybe we weren't, but
there are a lot of people who think we were. And a half a trillion
dollars and 2,000 of our kids later, we're still there. We're mired in
a thing that has no visible end.
If it was necessary and if the threats were real, fine and dandy. But
if they lied to us, if there was some kind of intent to deceive, then
they ought to find out who did it and tear their fingernails out and
then get rid of them.
And it's not about being on, you know, one side of the political
spectrum or the other. It's about what's right and what's wrong and
what people who are entrusted to govern this country do with the power
we give them. If it's being abused, we damn well have a right to know,
and something should be done about it -- Wolf.
Administration Borrows more from Foreign Nations than Previous 42 Presidents Combined
Washington, D.C. - President George W. Bush and the current
Administration have now borrowed more money from foreign governments
and banks than the previous 42 U.S. presidents combined.
Throughout the first 224 years (1776-2000) of our nation's history, 42
U.S. presidents borrowed a combined $1.01 trillion from foreign
governments and financial institutions according to the U.S. Treasury
Department. In the past four years alone (2001-2005), the Bush
Administration has borrowed a staggering $1.05 trillion.
"The seriousness of this rapid and increasing financial vulnerability
of our country can hardly be overstated," said Rep. John Tanner (D-TN),
a leader of the Blue Dog Coalition and member of the House Ways and
Means Committee. "The financial mismanagement of our country by the
Bush Administration should be of concern to all Americans, regardless
of political persuasion."
The Blue Dogs have long expressed tremendous concern over mounting U.S.
debt and are particularly troubled by our growing dependence on foreign
governments to finance our debt. Earlier this year, the Coalition
offered a 12 Step Plan to cure our nation's addiction to deficit
spending. The Blue Dog plan required, among other things, that all
federal agencies pass clean audits, a balanced budget, and the
establishment of a rainy day fund to be used in the event of a natural
disaster.
"No American political leadership has ever willfully and deliberately
mortgaged our country to foreign interests in the manner we have
witnessed over the past four years," continued Rep. Tanner. "If this
recklessness is not stopped, I truly believe our economic freedom as
American citizens is in great jeopardy."
The Zogby organization, the only polling outfit to have posed the
question to date, found last June that 42 percent of Americans felt
Bush should be impeached if he lied about the war (a much larger
percentage believe he lied). That, of course, was before the mainstream
media began finally reporting, as a result of special prosecutor
Patrick Fitzgerald's investigation of Plamegate, on the disinformation
campaign for war against Iraq directed by Vice President Dick Cheney
and the White House Iraq Group. It was also before Bush himself was
found to have been in on the cover-up of the outing of Valerie Plame by
Cheney chief of staff I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby and presidential advisor
Karl Rove. It was also before the US death toll in Iraq topped 2000.
October 29th, 2005 2:34 pm
More than half the North Carolina military members surveyed in the
latest Elon University poll don't like the way President Bush is
handling his job and the war in Iraq.
The survey results were released today.
Of the 539 adults surveyed, nearly 53 percent of military
members said they strongly disapproved or disapproved of Bush's
handling of his job. And 56 percent of that same group said they
strongly disapproved or disapproved of his handling of the Iraq war.
Overall, slightly more than 53 percent of those surveyed did
not approve of Bush's job performance, while 57 percent didn't approve
of his handling of the Iraq war.
The telephone poll was conducted between Monday and Thursday
and has a margin of error for the entire sample of plus or minus
four-point-three percentage points.
October 29th, 2005 2:31 pm
By Nicole Winfield / Associated Press
Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi, one of President Bush's strongest
supporters over Iraq, says he tried repeatedly to dissuade the American
leader from going to war and was never convinced military force was the
best way to bring democracy.
Berlusconi is facing a tough re-election battle next year, and
his popularity has fallen in part because of Italians' continued
opposition to the war. Sluggish economic growth also has hurt him.
The premier made the comments in an interview with the private
television station La7 that is to be broadcast Monday, the same day
Berlusconi is to meet with Bush in Washington. Excerpts of the
interview were reported Saturday by the Apcom and ANSA news agencies.
"I was never convinced that war was the best system to bring
democracy to the country and to get rid of a bloody dictatorship,"
Berlusconi said of Saddam Hussein's Iraq. "I tried several times to
convince the American president to not go to war."
"I believed that military action should have been avoided," he was quoted as saying.
Statement from Cindy Sheehan on the Indictment and Resignation of Lewis 'Scooter' Libby October 28, 2005:
"While the indictment and resignation of Lewis 'Scooter' Libby is a welcome development but, the
responsibility for lying to the American people and targeting critics
and dissidents needs to go all the way up the chain of command. Scooter Libby was clearly one of the administration's attack dogs unleashed on opponents of this fraudulent war, but he serves higher masters.
This administration continues to wage a war based on lies, a war that
has taken the lives of 2,000 Americans, including my son, and the lives
of tens of thousands of innocent Iraqis. This indictment reinforces the
growing calls in this country and around the world to end the
occupation, bring our troops home and hold
those responsible accountable for their crimes. Let this serve as a
springboard to put the war on trial and bring our troops home now."