COMPARING U.S. AND INTERNATIONAL NEWS. Part I.

These are summaries of all of my articles from foreign countries.

Aljazeera

The Pentagon admitted that American troops used white phosphorous in the battle of Fallujah, which took place in November of last year. The Pentagon then denied ever using the phosphorous against the citizens of Iraq.
Lieutenant Colonel Barry Venable stated that while the flammable material had been used to mark targets, it was never used against the civilians. He then directed the reports towards an article in a military magazine, which gave various testimonies about the effectiveness of using white phosphorous against the insurgents.
An Italian station aired a report that Americans had used the “Willy Pete’, or white phosphorous, against civilians. Apparently, white phosphorous will burn the skin of anyone within 150 meters of impact.
White phosphorous is a wax-like substance that smells a bit like garlic. Frequently, it causes second to third degree bones. It is possible for these burns to go all the way down to the bone.

India

On Tuesday, an Italian television news station reported that the United States used white phosphorous shells ``in a massive and indiscriminate way against civilians” in November of last year. This was said to have taken place in Fallujah.

According to the report, white phosphorous can burn clear down to the bone. The United States claims that the white phosphorous was used to illuminate enemy fighters, but the Italian station claims that it was instead used against civilians.

Jeff Englehart, a marine, was quoted as saying that he had viewed the charred bodies of women and children around the scenes of the white phosphorous impact.

In November of 2004, the US government denied that any outlawed chemical weapons had been used as an offensive tool.

UK

“The US used chemical weapons in Iraq - and then lied about it” is the title of this article.

The fact that the Italian station aired a documentary of the US using white phosphorous is not enough to prove anything. This is not enough evidence against the US. Unfortunately for America, there are other ways to prove this claim to be true.

There is an article in a magazine published by the US army that gives a statement by a member of the 2nd infantry. This quote gives proof that white phosphorous was definitely used against the insurgents of Fallujah.

Even though white phosphorous is not listed as a chemical weapon, it can easily become considered to be a weapon. WP can be used for military purposes, such as providing a smoke screen or illuminating a dark area. WP becomes a chemical weapon as soon as it is used against a person. If it comes in contact with anyone, it will burn until there is none left. This can leave the person with severe burns or eye damage. White phosphorous can be deadly.

The US has had similar problems considering the use of napalm. Napalm has been used in several missions, as well as a very similar substance called mark 77.

It is pointed out that a main reason for going into the war was because Saddam Hussein possessed biological and chemical weapons and that he might one day use them against another nation. Also, he had been using these weapons against his own people. So, why does nobody do anything about the fact that coalition forces are using these same weapons against the insurgents?

I particularly liked the last paragraph, which stated, “Saddam, facing a possible death sentence, is accused of mass murder, torture, false imprisonment and the use of chemical weapons. He is certainly guilty on all counts. So, it now seems, are those who overthrew him.”