Freiheit und Wissen: U.S. Used WMD in Iraq

Freiheit und Wissen: U.S. Used WMD in Iraq: "Saturday, June 18, 2005 |

Consider the sorts of weapons that international law generally prohibits: unconventional weapons used to attack the civilian population of a country, either directly or indirectly by leaving behind hazardous remnants.

One example of such heinous weapons are those enriched with depleted uranium left over from either nuclear weapons or nuclear reactors. The U.S. has used D.U. enriched weapons for over a decade, in the first Gulf War, in Kosovo and the Balkans, in the U.S. war in Afghanistan, and again most recently in Iraq.

The problem with D.U. enriched weapons is that the depleted uranium spreads out over a wide area upon impact and then sinks to the ground as a heavy dust. The result has been devastating environmental damage. After the invasion, some hot spots in downtown Baghdad registered 1,000 to 2,000 times higher than normal background radiation levels.

At some locations in Iraq where the U.S. used D.U. weapons during the first Gulf War, doctors have identified a dramatic rise in both cancer and birth defects. In addition, many suspect that what is now known as “Gulf War Syndrome” is in fact the result of soldiers being expose to D.U. dust while serving in Iraq.

The effects of D.U. on a community can be long term. But other abhorrent weapons can affect a civilian population swiftly and immediately. For example, incendiary weapons such as white phosphorous ammunitions create a dense white smokescreen and burn intensely. When such ammunitions impact in close range to human targets, the burning particles will imbed in the skin. And burning white phosphorus cannot be extinguished simply by hosing it with water, but rather requires a complete smothering.

Such incendiaries have been prohibited by the 1980 Protocol III of the Geneva Convention – a protocol which the U.S. has refused to ratify to this day, despite general international agreement.

Reports from Iraq indicate that the U.S. has used white phosphorus in the current conflict. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the siege which flattened Fallujah in November 2004 involved the use of phosphorus weapons:
...
Between the D.U. enhanced weapons and the evidence of phosphorous ammunitions in Fallujah, it seems difficult to deny that the U.S. persists in using weapons that constitute criminal acts against humanity.

Yesterday we learned that the U.S. may have used – or may still be using – another United Nations banned horror: Napalm. According to The Independent, the U.S. used 30 MK77 firebombs – a new generation of incendiary weapons - during the initial Iraqi invasion between March 31 and April 2 2003.

Like white phosphorus ammunitions, napalm has a strategic role when used against civilian populations. Napalm not only produces a sticky burning gel that adheres to the skin as it burns through, leading to loss of blood pressure and eventually death in a short period of time, but it also releases clouds of carbon monoxide that can kill by asphyxiation. (Everyone will remember the Pulitzer Prize winning photograph of the naked girl in Vietnam, running down the road screaming as her skin burned with napalm.)
...
There remains little doubt that the U.S. has knowingly committed crimes against humanity in Iraq, crimes that they actively tried to keep from public knowledge.

D.U., white phosphorus, and the new generation of napalm all constitute weapons of mass destruction – weapons whose effects cannot be made precise, whose impact covers a wide area, and in the case of D.U., will remain for generations after the conflict is over.