Chemical weapon use by US forces in Iraq confirmed

"I heard the order to pay attention because they were going to use white phosphorus on Fallujah. In military jargon it's known as Willy Pete ... Phosphorus burns bodies, in fact it melts the flesh all the way down to the bone ... I saw the burned bodies of women and children."

Jeff Englehart, a US marine who fought in Fallujah

The Pentagon has admitted US forces used white phosphorus during the assault last year on Fallujah. A Pentagon spokesman's comments last night appeared to contradict the US ambassador to London who said that American forces did not use white phosphorus as a weapon. The ambassador also, rather pathetically, tried to claim that napalm, aka Mk-77, was not used in the original invasion.

Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Barry Venable said that white phosphorus - which is normally used to lay smokescreens - was not covered by international conventions on chemical weapons.

But Professor Paul Rodgers of the University of Bradford department of peace studies said it would probably would fall into the category of chemical weapons if it was used directly against people.

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