Joho the Blog
An Entry from the Archives

I don't think the problem is anymore about how american are percived abroad, we all know how big is your country and there is plenty of good stuff coming from there.
the problem is to stop all this, period, whoever pay this guys salary could may be do something about it. there is a footage in this docu that can't be misinterpreted.
it's just a rain of fire into a whole city.

Gianluca, it's not an either/or. The "Also" that begins my last sentence was intended to indicate that.

By the way, which guy are you referring to? (I still haven't seen the documentary.)

good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I refer to the guys in charge, not to the soldiers of course. to those who take this kind of decisions.

I know is not an either/or, all I mean is that the the reason why people around the world are pointing finghers to U.S. citizens is not because they consider them bad, but only because they consider them the ones that can have a stronger voice in this. If this is understud at least, there would be less alienation between the u.s and the rest of the planet, and it would be a cooler place.

After viewing the "Fallujah ING" video I've been making DVD copies and disseminating. Everybody pass on at least one copy. The US stands accused of "Using chemical weapons against a civilian population." How's that again, Saddam? And there's no point getting pedantic and claiming white phosphorous (Whiskey Pete, aka Willy Pete) is an incendiary weapon. The impact on the human body is similar to napalm, it just doesn’t destroy the infrastructure. This case is being tried in the court of public opinion, not an international court of law. Imagine Police State UK is in lockdown, because if this video were to be aired on mainstream TV, the people would be demanding UK troops out of Iraq and the removal of Tony Blair as PM. But UK is only guilty by association, the real war criminal is the US. Pariah nation status beckons to the extent that US citizens in Europe are already claiming Canadian nationality, like Germans claimed to be Austrian immediately after the war. Everyone with half a brain realises that the ordinary citizen is no more responsible for the actions of their government than the man in the moon. Nice country, nice people, shame about the government can be applied pretty much universally. But when the truth comes out the Bush administration will be synonymous with war crimes, crimes against humanity and torture. So don’t do the crime if you can’t wear the slime.

The documentary looks to be very poor journalism indeed. All this nonsense about WP misses the big picture, as if war fighting would be OK if we just used the "proper" weapons. Bush might be crazy, and the reasons for invading Iraq are bogus, but the fact of the matter is that the US military is just a proxy army for a civil war. There were Iraqi's fighting on both sides in Fallujah. There is no way US military officers are ordering indiscriminate killings of civilians. To say so is to completely misunderstand the nature of the US Army.

Most of what is known about the effects of breathing white phosphorus is from studies of workers. Breathing white phosphorus for short periods may cause coughing and irritation of the throat and lungs. Eating or drinking small amounts of white phosphorus may cause liver, heart, or kidney damage, vomiting, stomach cramps, drowsiness, or death. We do not know what the effects are from eating or drinking very small amounts of white phosphorus- Skin contact with burning white phosphorus may burn skin or cause liver, heart, and kidney damage.
From a health site

White phosphorus is not used to hurt people it is what smoke Grenades or a grenade that reacts sorta like a Flash Bang grenade are made of. To acuse the Department of defense of using white phosphorus as a weapon is just stupid. I do however know that one tactic used in Fallujah was to use smoke grenades to smoke the enemy out of trenches and spider holes then use HE Grenades (not a product of White phosphorus) to kill them if thats what there taking about then some people are just stupid. To kill someone with white phosphorus you would Have to hit them directly and that most of the time wouldn't kill.
I mean come on Swat teams use this shit!!!

Brian. Did you actually see the documentary. I don't think the images leave much room for interpretation. If burning the skin and flesh to the bone is not lethal, then I don't know what is. Gianluca is right the problem is not that Europeans blame American citizens for all this, it is that they feel American citizens should act to make sure that all the information will be revealed. I also believe they should not accept this, just because the enemy is worse. For how can the US be a credible bringer of freedom and democracy if these kind of things keep popping up. Imagine that this is only the tip of the iceberg.

interesting to note that the pentagon has now admitted to using white phosphorous as an offensive weapon. How can an indiscriminate weapon such as white phosphorous be used without causing civilian deaths in a heavily populated urban environment? beats me. Face it, the war in iraq is costing the us government too much, its far easier to blanket bomb a combat zone with cheaper and more effective munitions than to waste time using precision HE rounds, after all the US did it in vietnam. Who said we were interested in promoting democracy? I thought we were after their oil...