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ignited and the subsequent fireball sears the surrounding area while consuming the oxygen in this area. The lack of oxygen creates an enormous overpressure ... Personnel under the cloud are literally crushed to death. Outside the cloud area, the blast wave travels at some 3,000 metres per second ... As a result, a fuel-air explosive can have the effect of a tactical nuclear weapon without residual radiation ... Those personnel caught directly under the aerosol cloud will die from the flame or overpressure. For those on the periphery of the strike, the injuries can be severe. Burns, broken bones, contusions from flying debris and blindness may result. Further, the crushing injuries from the overpressure can create air embolism within blood vessels, concussions, multiple internal haemorrhages in the liver and spleen, collapsed lungs, rupture of the eardrums and displacement of the eyes from their sockets." It is hard to see how you could use these weapons in
Falluja without killing civilians.
188:(NIOSH) gives the following information about white phosphorus. It "spontaneously catches fire in air". Handling requires the most severe level of safety equipment because it is classified as a level 4 hazard, the highest level. When WP comes in contact with skin, it reacts to become phosphoric acid, and continues burning until neutralized. WP causes severe second and third degree burns upon contact with skin or eyes. WP smoke also causes eye and respiratory tract irritation. It not only reacts with skin, but dissolves fat and tissues beneath the skin. When it was used for producing matches, inhalation of the vapors caused a condition known as
236:. What is prohibited is the use of incendiary weapons against targets in close proximity to civilians or civilian property. The protocol specifically excludes weapons whose incendiary effect is secondary, such as smoke and tracer rounds. The United States is among the nations that are parties to the convention but did not sign Protocol III until 2009. In the 1990s, the U.S. government condemned Iraqi President Saddam Hussein for allegedly using "white phosphorus chemical weapons" against Kurdish rebels and residents of Irbil and Dohuk.
302:
and children also stayed behind, and a correspondent for the
Guardian estimated that between 30,000 and 50,000 civilians were still in the city when the assault took place. "The marines treated Falluja as if its only inhabitants were fighters. They levelled thousands of buildings, illegally denied access to the Iraqi Red Crescent and, according to the UN's special rapporteur, used 'hunger and deprivation of water as a weapon of war against the civilian population'."
353:
broadcast on the
Italian network RAI, called Falluja: the Hidden Massacre. It claimed that the corpses in the pictures it ran "showed strange injuries, some burnt to the bone, others with skin hanging from their flesh ... The faces have literally melted away, just like other parts of the body. The clothes are strangely intact." These assertions were supported by a human-rights advocate who, it said, possessed "a biology degree".
393:, showed that in the years following Operation Phantom Fury there had been a 4-fold increase in all cancers, including a 12-fold increases in childhood cancer in those aged 0–14. Nadim al-Hadid, spokesperson of Falluja Hospital declared: "In 2004 the Americans tested all kinds of chemicals and explosive devices on us: thermobaric weapons, white phosphorus, depleted uranium... we have all been laboratory mice for them".
360:...But buried in this hogwash is a grave revelation. An assault weapon the marines were using had been armed with warheads containing "about 35% thermobaric novel explosive (NE) and 65% standard high explosive". They deployed it "to cause the roof to collapse and crush the insurgents fortified inside interior rooms". It was used repeatedly: "The expenditure of explosives clearing houses was enormous."
252:"WP proved to be an effective and versatile munition. 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 . We fired "shake and bake" missions at the insurgents, using WP to flush them out and HE to take them out."
357:
bodies have been burnt". They had turned black and lost their skin "through decomposition". We don't yet know how these people died. But there is hard evidence that white phosphorus was deployed as a weapon against combatants in
Falluja. As this column revealed last Tuesday, US infantry officers confessed that they had used it to flush out insurgents.
367:"This looks to me like a convincing explanation of the damage done to Falluja, a city in which between 30,000 and 50,000 civilians might have been taking refuge. It could also explain the civilian casualties shown in the film. So the question has now widened: is there any crime the coalition forces have not committed in Iraq?"
305:
On
November 16, 2005 the Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Barry Venable said that "suggestions that U.S. forces targeted civilians with these weapons are simply wrong," but he had to admit to the Financial Times that "it would not be out of the realm of the possible" that civilians were also killed by the
256:
Graphic visual footage of the WP weapons being fired from helicopters into urban areas is displayed, as well as detailed footage of the remains of those killed by these weapons, including children and women. The filmmakers interview US ex-military support Marine and antiwar activist Jeff
Englehart of
363:
The marines can scarcely deny that they know what these weapons do. An article published in the
Gazette in 2000 details the effects of their use by the Russians in Grozny. Thermobaric, or "fuel-air" weapons, it says, form a cloud of volatile gases or finely powdered explosives. "This cloud is then
301:
The US military responded by stating that they gave civilians several days of advance warning of the assault and urged them to evacuate the city. This was done through loudspeakers and leaflets dropped by helicopter. However, men of "fighting age" were stopped from leaving the city, numerous women
284:
said that there were independent reports of civilians from
Fallujah suffering burn injuries. One resident said that US forces used "weird bombs that put up smoke like a mushroom cloud" and that he watched "pieces of these bombs explode into large fires that continued to burn on the skin even after
356:
I, too, possess a biology degree, and I am as well qualified to determine someone's cause of death as I am to perform open-heart surgery. So I asked Chris Milroy, professor of forensic pathology at the
University of Sheffield, to watch the film. He reported that "nothing indicates to me that the
352:
The media couldn't have made a bigger pig's ear of the white phosphorus story. So, before moving on to the new revelations from
Falluja, I would like to try to clear up the old ones. There is no hard evidence that white phosphorus was used against civilians. The claim was made in a documentary
297:
The film alleges that Iraqi civilians, including women and children, had died of burns caused by white phosphorus during the Fallujah offensive as part of its campaign. Englehart described WP as being dispersed in a cloud that "kills indiscriminately" within a large area, "every human being or
334:
Direct skin contact can lead to thermal burns and chemical burns. WP particles react with oxygen and can cause 2nd and 3rd degree thermal burns. The particles can also enter the body through the burns or other wounds and continue to damage tissues. Chemical burns result from several different
178:. These create smokescreens to mask movement from the enemy, or to mask his fire. WP burns fiercely and can set cloth, fuel, ammunition and other combustibles on fire, so it is also used as an incendiary weapon. WP use is legal for purposes such as illumination and obscuring smoke, and the
216:
Interviews with American ex-military personnel who were involved in the Fallujah offensive testify to the use of the weapons by the United States, while reporters who were stationed in Iraq discuss the American government's attempts to suppress the news by covert means.
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animal". Former US Army scout Garret Reppenhagen, also from Colorado, claimed that civilian deaths were common. He described an instance of killing civilians with "machine gun fire" as they were escaping in a car that was approaching him.
340:
Crucially, statement that white phosphorus had been used as an incendiary was not an admission that a chemical or otherwise illegal weapon had been deployed. Still less was it evidence that a massacre of civilians had taken place in
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White phosphorus (WP) is a chemical smoke-producing agent, reacting quickly and spontaneously with air and causing an instant bank of smoke. As a result, WP munitions are common, particularly as smoke grenades for
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The primary theme of the film is its assertion of a case for war crimes committed by the United States in its military offensive against Fallujah in Iraq. The film documents the use of weapons based on
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Cancer, Infant Mortality and Birth Sex-Ratio in Fallujah, Iraq 2005–2009, Chris Busby, Malak Hamdan, Entesar Ariabi, Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2010, 7(7), 2828-2837;
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compounds produced through WP reactions. These include phosphorus pentoxide which can react with the water in skin and produce corrosive phosphoric acids.
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289:, an unembedded reporter who collected the testimony of refugees from Fallujah, spoke to a doctor who had "treated people who had their skin melted".
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269:) by U.S. servicemembers, in built-up areas, and describes the Fallujah offensive as "just a massive killing of Arabs".
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330:(FAS) states that white phosphorus is still used by military powers around the world, even though it states:
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in 1980 for use against civilians and also for use against military targets in proximity to civilians.
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magazine has confirmed the use of WP (white phosphorus) in so-called "shake 'n bake" attacks:
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The use of white phosphorus, as a marker, smokescreen layer or as a weapon, is not banned by
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644:"The US Poured So Many Toxic Weapons On Fallujah In 2004 That Residents Still Pay The Price"
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who discusses the American use of white phosphorus, nicknamed "Whiskey Pete" (
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The film states that the use of napalm and similar agents was banned by the
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state television network on November 8, 2005. The film documents the use of
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Documenting evidence for the use of chemical devices by the US military.
563:"The fog of war: white phosphorus, Fallujah and some burning questions"
505:"The fog of war: white phosphorus, Fallujah and some burning questions"
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and other armored vehicles, or as part of the ammunition allotment for
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US forces 'used chemical weapons' during assault on city of Fallujah
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Protocol III of the 1980 Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons
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International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
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592:"Behind the phosphorus clouds are war crimes within war crimes"
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Paul Wood (The BBC's defence correspondent) 17 November 2005
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Incendiary weapons used against personnel and civilians
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does not list WP in its schedules of chemical weapons.
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abuses by American forces and their Iraqi counterparts.
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Buncombe, Andrew; Hughes, Solomon (15 November 2005).
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Buncombe, Andrew; Solomon Hughes (15 November 2005).
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National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
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389:In 2012 a study, released by the Switzerland-based
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142:against civilians committed by the United States.
318:is not considered a "chemical weapon" under the
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166:, loaded in defensive grenade dischargers on
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696:Chemical' rounds used against rebel fighters
440:. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
95:and Maurizio Torrealta which first aired on
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706:Britain dragged into white phosphorus row
272:Following pressure from former Labour MP
538:. UK Ministry of Defense. Archived from
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34:Sigfrido Ranucci and Maurizio Torrealta
1194:Documentary films alleging war crimes
631:https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph7072828
7:
1214:Works about Fallujah in the Iraq War
1199:Documentary films about the Iraq War
590:Monbiot, George (22 November 2005).
642:Kelley, Michael B (18 April 2012).
618:Heated debate over white phosphorus
467:, Federation of American Scientists
314:Critics of the film point out that
285:people dumped water on the burns".
129:Fallujah Offensive of November 2004
434:"White Phosphorus: Systemic Agent"
14:
685:US 'uses incendiary arms' in Iraq
328:Federation of American Scientists
205:and other substances similar to
747:Rai – Radiotelevisione italiana
620:BBC NewsWatch 17 November 2005.
134:The film's primary themes are:
1:
263:pre-NATO US phonetic alphabet
88:Fallujah, The Hidden Massacre
25:Fallujah, The Hidden Massacre
239:The March–April 2005 online
464:White Phosphorus Fact Sheet
320:Chemical Weapons Convention
180:Chemical Weapons Convention
1235:
1219:2005 in Italian television
1099:La musica che gira intorno
404:Sri Lanka's Killing Fields
107:, particularly the use of
1184:Italian documentary films
825:La notte della Repubblica
415:, a 2012 documentary film
407:, a 2011 documentary film
91:is a documentary film by
73:8 November 2005
1189:Italian television shows
138:Establishing a case for
117:United States of America
916:Quelli che... il Calcio
293:Indiscriminate violence
1209:2005 documentary films
1018:Unomattina in famiglia
384:
349:
337:
213:, by American forces.
947:Ti lascio una canzone
16:2005 documentary film
906:La Domenica Sportiva
412:Eyes and Ears of God
712:, November 16, 2005
701:, November 16, 2005
648:businessinsider.com
1129:Quelli della notte
798:(2005–10; 2012–14)
704:Philippe Naughton
691:, 8 November 2005
650:. Business Insider
483:treaties.unoda.org
306:white phosphorus.
246:2005-11-25 at the
148:Documenting other
49:Original languages
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381:November 22, 2005
324:incendiary weapon
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93:Sigfrido Ranucci
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652:. Retrieved
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1109:Al Paradise
1079:Domenica in
941:(1997–2016)
937:Milano-Roma
920:(1993–2021)
767:(1999–2015)
763:Melevisione
287:Dahr Jamail
274:Alice Mahon
265:for "WP" –
127:during the
111:containing
1204:2005 films
1178:Categories
1159:Studio Uno
1139:Senza Rete
1089:Fantastico
1008:Unomattina
960:Talk shows
845:Tagesschau
815:90º minuto
654:3 December
602:2 December
572:23 January
444:2 December
420:References
209:, such as
196:War crimes
190:phossy jaw
140:war crimes
77:2005-11-08
31:Created by
1163:(1961–66)
1153:(1966–70)
1149:Settevoci
1143:(1968–75)
1113:(1983–85)
1093:(1979–91)
1073:(1977–89)
1069:Discoring
1063:(1958–74)
1053:(1976–79)
982:(2006–11)
951:(2008–15)
829:(1989–90)
788:(1957–77)
784:Carosello
699:The Times
310:Criticism
172:artillery
978:AnnoZero
755:Children
397:See also
370:—
344:—
341:Falluja.
259:Colorado
244:Archived
164:infantry
121:Fallujah
1041:Variety
683:Staff.
616:Staff.
488:20 July
438:cdc.gov
322:but an
176:mortars
75: (
70:Release
62:Network
1133:(1985)
1123:(1956)
1103:(2021)
1032:(2010)
968:In ½ h
898:Sports
835:Report
776:Comedy
546:7 June
519:7 June
207:napalm
168:tanks
97:Italy
43:Italy
807:News
794:Glob
708:The
656:2022
604:2022
574:2020
548:2013
521:2013
490:2023
446:2022
125:Iraq
885:TGR
875:TG3
865:TG2
855:TG1
689:BBC
375:in
174:or
123:in
101:RAI
99:'s
65:RAI
1180::
687:,
676:,
646:.
594:.
582:^
565:.
507:.
481:.
454:^
436:.
131:.
739:e
732:t
725:v
658:.
606:.
576:.
550:.
523:.
492:.
448:.
79:)
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