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Incendiary material used, admits U.S.

But white phosphorous was not used against civilians in Fallujah, says Pentagon

WASHINGTON: Pentagon officials have acknowledged that U.S. troops used white phosphorous as a weapon against militant strongholds during the battle of Fallujah last November.

At the same time, they denied an Italian television news report that the spontaneously flammable material had been used against civilians.

Lt. Col. Barry Venable, a Pentagon spokesman, said while white phosphorous is used most frequently to mark targets or obscure positions, it was used at times in Fallujah as an incendiary weapon against enemy combatants.

``It was not used against civilians.''

The spokesman referred reporters to an article in the March-April 2005 edition of the Army's Field Artillery magazine, an official publication, in which veterans of the Fallujah fight spelled out their use of white phosphorous and other weapons. The authors used the shorthand ``WP'' in referring to white phosphorous.

Psychological weapon

``WP proved to be an effective and versatile munition,'' the authors wrote. ``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 [high explosive]'' munitions. We fired `shake and bake' missions at the insurgents, using WP to flush them out and HE to take them out.''

The battle for Fallujah was the most intense and deadly fight of the war, after the fall of Baghdad in April 2003. The city, about 35 miles west of Baghdad on the Euphrates River, was a critical militant stronghold. The authors of the ``after action'' report said they encountered few civilians in their area of operations.

Italian communists held a sit-in on Monday in front of the U.S. Embassy in Rome to protest the reported use of white phosphorous. Italy's state-run RAI24 news television aired a documentary last week that alleged the United States used white phosphorous shells in a ``massive and indiscriminate way'' against civilians during the Fallujah offensive.

Initially denied

The State Department initially denied that U.S. troops had used white phosphorous against enemy forces. ``They were fired into the air to illuminate enemy positions at night, not at enemy fighters,'' a department Web site said.

The department later said the statement had been incorrect.

``There is a great deal of misinformation feeding on itself about U.S. forces allegedly using `outlawed' weapons in Fallujah,'' the department said. ``The facts are that U.S. forces are not using any illegal weapons in Fallujah or anywhere else in Iraq.''

Lt. Col. Venable said white phosphorous shells are a standard weapon used by field artillery units and are not banned by any international weapons convention to which the U.S. is a signatory.

White phosphorous is a colorless-to-yellow translucent wax-like substance with a pungent, garlic-like smell. — AP

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