Good evening , welcome at MONITOR .

Until now, the Pentagon denied strictly any use of Napalm in the Iraq-war and repelled all suspicions made by US-journalists who were in Iraq with the US troops as embedded journalists . But this was a lie . As John Goetz and Georg Restle have found out now ."

Pictures from a war from more than 35 years ago . US combat-jets drop Napalm-bombs over Vietnamese villages , devastate an whole country and spread fear and dismay among the population .

Pictures from a war some months ago . The War-victims in Iraq do not know through which kind of weapons they were mutilated . But already since the beginning of this war there was a mean and heavy suspicion .

US-troops on their way to Baghdad . Journalists , who were at this time on the road with the US military, wrote then from really heartbraking scenes after US airraids at the Kuwaiti-Iraqi border: " It loooked more like a massacre than like after a combat-fight . Dead bodys lying around everywhere . They dropped some kind of explosives and Napalm. "

Napalm ? The same firebombs they used in the Vietnam-War ?

The US journalist James Crawley was on the ground with US troops as an embedded journalist . He too wanted to know , which kind of bombs exactly were dropped at this time .

James Crawley , US Military Journalist :

" I asked , what kind of bombs they've used , and they said laserbombs , satellite-guided bombs and Napalm." Napalm in the Iraq-War . The US Ministry of Defence rejected this announcements immediately : "We did not used Napalm in Iraq and we won't use it neither ."

Cockpit-pictures from an US combat-jet in Iraq . What exactly was dropped from the US-jets over Iraq ? Firebombs ? Napalm ?

We drive to San Diego , to the base of the US Marine Corps who were at service in Iraq . To us , the speaker confirmed the use of Napalm-firebombs .

Joseph Boehm , Colonel US Marine Corps :

" In the 30 wardays we used only 30 canisters . The marines used it on their way to Baghdad . Where it was exactly , I don't know . It is a lethal weapon and also a psychological weapon ."

These are the firebombs we're talking about : they are labeled MK 77 , an advanced and perfected version of the Napalm-bomb used in Vietnam . The US Military and armament-industry still uses the same name for it : MK 77(Napalm)

James Snyder , Physicians for Social Responsibility :

" There is absolutely no difference in the impact and use of MK 77 and Napalm . They're both made for the same purpose . The only difference lies in their fuel . But both are designed to kill as much humans as possible , attack bunkers and spread fire." We wanted to know from the Pentagon , if these MK 77 bombs were used in the Iraq-war .

A Pentagon-speaker told MONITOR :

" I can confirm , that MK 77 bombs were dropped at the Kuwaiti-Iraqi-border." And on the question , if the MK 77 bombs are indeed Napalm-firebombs , the speaker said : " MK 77 is called Napalm due to the fact , that their impact on targets resembles remarkable to the use of Napalm."

Therfore it is a fact : The US used in the Iraq-War the same weapons as they did in Vietnam : Napalm-bombs , one of the most horrible war-weapons of all times , with real heavy damages done especially to all surviving victims .

James Snyder , Physicians for Social Responsibility :

"I can't imagine myself a worse way of death . We all know nightmares from dying in fire . That's the way hell must look . I can't hardly imagine myself to witness an attack with such a weapon . Completely wrapped by a burning liquid and to burn to death."

Pictures from Vietnam . They lead finally to the international ban of such firebombs :

"It is under all circumstances prohibited and forbidden , to target and attack the civilian population , single civilians or any civil objects with incendiary firebombs."

Prof. Hans-Joachim Heintze , University Bochum :

"Napalm-Bombs are against the international law , they are banned by the Geneva-Conventions. They are banned because they work indiscriminately and without any distinction , they harm in the same way civilians and military targets , and they cause unnecessary sufferings and harm to the victims of these bombs."

But for the US Marines at San Diego , Napalm is just a weapon like all the others too .

Joseph Boehm , Colonel US marine Corps :

"This isn't that important to us . We don't think it's dangerous . To the effects I can't say much , because I haven't been attacked myself by such a weapon until now . I guess it's lethal , that's why we use it , but it's not more lethal than other weapons."

3 month ago , the Iraq-War was declared officially terminated . But to some of its truth we will have ourselves probably still to accustom."

Volker Happe : " The lies around the Iraq-war won't obviously take no end."

End of transcript and translation http://www.wdr.de/tv/monitor/beitragsuebersicht.phtml (here is the PDF-file-transcript from this MONITOR-Report in German language) http://www.wdr.de/tv/monitor/real.phtml ( RealVideo of the MONITOR-Report in German language)

http://www.aljazeera.com/cgi-bin/news_service/middle_east_full_story.asp?service_id=7216

U.S. used banned weapons in Fallujah Health ministry 3/3/2005 8:30:00 PM GMT

An official in Iraqs health ministry said that the U.S. used banned weapons in Fallujah

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Dr. Khalid ash-Shaykhli, an official at Iraqs health ministry, said that the U.S. military used internationally banned weapons during its deadly offensive in the city of Fallujah.

Dr. ash-Shaykhli was assigned by the ministry to assess the health conditions in Fallujah following the November assault there.

He said that researches, prepared by his medical team, prove that U.S. occupation forces used internationally prohibited substances, including mustard gas, nerve gas, and other burning chemicals in their attacks in the war-torn city.

The health official announced his findings at a news conference in the health ministry building in Baghdad.

The press conference was attended by more than 20 Iraqi and foreign media networks, including the Iraqi ash-Sharqiyah TV network, the Iraqi as-Sabah newspaper, the U.S. Washington Post and the Knight-Ridder service.

Dr. ash-Shaykhli started the conference by reporting the current health conditions of the Fallujah residents. He said that the city is still suffering from the effects of chemical substances and other types of weapons that cause serious diseases over the long term.

Asked whether limited nuclear weapons were also used by U.S. forces in Fallujah, Dr. ash-Shaykhli said; What I saw during our research in Fallujah leads me to me believe everything that has been said about that battle.

I absolutely do not exclude their use of nuclear and chemical substances, since all forms of nature were wiped out in that city. I can even say that we found dozens, if not hundreds, of stray dogs, cats, and birds that had perished as a result of those gasses.

Dr. ash-Shaykhli promised to send the findings of the researches to responsible bodies inside Iraq and abroad.

Fallujah residents said napalm gas was used

During the U.S. offensive, Fallujah residents reported that they saw melted bodies in the city, which suggests that U.S. forces used napalm gas, a poisonous cocktail of polystyrene and jet fuel that makes the human body melt.

In November, Labour MPs in the UK demanded Prime Minister Tony Blair to confront the Commons over the use of napalm gas in Fallujah.

Furious critics have also demanded that Blair threatens the U.S. to pullout British forces from Iraq unless the U.S. stops using the worlds deadliest weapon.

The United Nations banned the use of the napalm gas against civilians in 1980 after pictures of a naked wounded girl in Vietnam shocked the world.

The United States, which didn't endorse the convention, is the only nation in the world still using the deadly weapon.

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