Their Skin is So Melty

Remember when our government rushed us to war because Saddam Hussein was allegedly stockpiling chemical weapons. Well, it turns out that in our effort to "liberate" the Iraqis in Fallujah, we've actually been bombarding them with a chemical known as white phosphorus. This chemical quite literally burns the skin off of people. The Italian media, and trusty progressive blog Daily Kos have broken the story.

In a documentary to be broadcast by RAI, the Italian state broadcaster, this morning, a former American soldier who fought at Fallujah says: "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. Phosphorus explodes and forms a cloud. Anyone within a radius of 150 metres is done for."

I don't know what I'm more upset about...the cruel deaths of Iraqi civilians, or the hypocricy of the U.S. government that killed them. While the former is tragic and sad, the latter is galling to the point of blind rage.

And, as reported at AmericaBlog, the U.S. government's explanation for this conduct is transparent at best:

Phosphorus shells are not outlawed. U.S. forces have used them very sparingly in Fallujah, for illumination purposes. They were fired into the air to illuminate enemy positions at night, not at enemy fighters.

Yeah right, and last time I went camping I used a stick of dynamite as a flashlight. PUUUUHHHLEEEAAASSEEE!!!

I understand that war is ugly. But when we learn that our government has authorized the use of secret prisons and chemical weapons, it is America which truly appears ugly to the world.