Chemical hypocrisy

A US serviceman speaks out to confirm non-embedded reports from Falluja that the US military used banned chemical weapons against Iraqis, writes Nermeen Al-Mufti from Baghdad

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Before US troops began their offensive on Falluja in November-December 2004, the occupation authorities asked news networks to provide their correspondents with masks and special outfits to protect them from chemical weapons. By then and to date no Iraqi weapons of mass destruction were found. The request was considered "classified" information and it sent a message that the occupation forces may use non- conventional weapons against the city.

While this was happening, Falluja fighters posted Internet messages to journalists, saying they would be protected if they arrived to cover news in the city. Occupation forces reacted by stating that they cannot guarantee the safety of any journalist talking to "insurgents". As a result, the world saw the offensive from the eyes of those journalists embedded with US troops. Those journalists may have attempted to convey the truth, but their version of truth remained far from complete. No one, including the Iraqis, knew what happened to the hundreds of families who stayed in Falluja.

I went to Falluja with a Red Cross convoy after the fighting receded, hearing firsthand horrendous accounts from families who managed to survive by taking refuge in the only safe haven in town -- a home run by the Iraqi Red Crescent. I wrote my story and it was published in Al-Ahram Weekly, though what I wrote remained vulnerable to scepticism simply because I am Iraqi.

The few foreign journalists who managed to get into Falluja in 2004 said that US forces used chemical weapons there. Hundreds of photographs coming out showing bodies burned in a manner consistent with the use of chemical agents raised questions about US denials. Then a US trooper who participated in the attack spoke out. Marine serviceman Jeff Englehart told the Italian network RAI TV that US forces used lethal white phosphorus in Falluja. He said he saw the charred bodies of women and children, adding that white phosphorus burns flesh clean to the bones.

A year on, Falluja is calm, or nearly so. The city's entire population said "no" to the constitution in last month's referendum. Entry to the city is forbidden except to inhabitants. IDs are checked to ensure that non-inhabitants are kept away, although some international officials are allowed to get in. I had to speak by telephone to get reaction from those who were in Falluja during the onslaught. Mohamed Tarek Al-Daraji, who in 2004 founded a human rights centre in Falluja, said, "the firing was intense, and some of the shells exploded in bright colours upon detonation. We began to discover bodies with strange burn marks. We found bodies that were burned completely, but the clothes on the bodies remained intact."

Um Mustafa, who lost her boy in the attack, said that, "on the road to the Red Crescent home, we'd seen many charred bodies." Speaking on condition of anonymity, one of the Iraqis who was working in an international organisation and travelled to Falluja after the offensive, said, "it was clear that a non- conventional weapon was used. The bodies were buried without examination or autopsy, so the US use of chemical weapons remained unconfirmed. US troops are known to use lethal white phosphorus but they claim it's just for lighting."

In an earlier interview, Iraqi activist Rana Al-Ayoubi said she saw bodies that were fully or partially incinerated. She even photographed a charred body on which moss grew, for it was in a damp area. US forces not only used chemical weapons but used conventional weapons in a way that maximised psychological damage. According to Um Mustafa, "the attack was in Ramadan, and all communication, electricity and water were cut off. Once the offensive started, we could not leave Falluja, or even our homes. US forces bombed water tanks on the rooftops of residential buildings and for more than 14 days we had to ration our use of water, relying solely on whatever we had already stored in the house. In the few days preceding our arrival at the Red Crescent home, we were eating dry rice seeds, for we had no water to soak or cook them."

Since the Falluja offensive ended, US forces have carried out dozens of attacks on Iraqi towns. Eyewitnesses said that the Americans used chemical weapons in the recent attack on Talafar and bombed western Iraq with napalm. But we may have to wait for another year for another conscientious US soldier to speak out.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan visited Iraq recently. But neither did Rice offer an apology for using internationally banned weapons, nor did Annan denounce the US use of such weapons. Rice urged national "reconciliation" ahead of general elections, while Annan endorsed the Arab League call for a national accord conference in Cairo. Meanwhile, Iraqi forces are implementing the terrorism law that went into effect last week, and have already attacked Diyali, 70 kilometres northeast of Baghdad. US forces are using the same pretext they used in the offensive against Falluja. The attacks are portrayed as safety precautions necessary to pave the way for elections. Operation Steel Curtain is underway in Al-Huseiba and Al-Qaem.

The Iraqi Islamic Party and the Association of Muslim Scholars have denounced the targeting of cities with a dominant Sunni majority. The Islamic Party says the occupation forces want to exclude the Sunnis from elections and hamper their participation in political life. A member of the Islamic Party has recently been arrested as part of a clampdown on "terrorists". Mohamed Bashar Al-Feidi, spokesman for the Association of Muslim Scholars, said that "Iraqi forces arrest people on the basis of their IDs," suggesting that only Sunnis are being arrested.

People who travelled to Al-Suleimaniya say that graffiti denouncing certain Kurdish figures has appeared on walls in a sign of frustration with the performance of Prime Minister Ibrahim Al-Jaafari's government. Many accuse the government of corruption and theft and are angry at its apparent failure to improve security conditions in the country.