Phosphorus in Fallujah: Pentagon Responds

In response to an Italian TV channel’s documentary alleging phosphorus use by the US military against civilians in Fallujah, the Pentagon has admitted its use but denied using it against civilians:

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

“It was not used against civilians,” Venable said.
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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 authors added, in citing lessons for future urban battles, fire-support teams should have used another type of smoke bomb for screening missions in Fallujah “and saved our WP for lethal missions.”
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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 United States is a signatory.