Iraq - US Did Not Use Banned Weapons

If there was evidence of the US using banned weapons in Iraq, that news would be splashed on every news screen in the world. The rabid anti-American BBC would run that story continuously and have several reports on its web site.

So what happens when there is evidence to refute the conspiracy claims that the US used banned weapons in Iraq? The BBC bury the story on its Newswatch webpage.

The story begins...

There are several reports on the internet claiming that the United States used banned weapons in Iraq, especially during its assault on Falluja.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, these articles have been picked up on by some of the BBC's more web-savvy audiences.

Reports by whom and where? The BBC are clever enough not to tell us. And how web-savvy are the beebs audience to believe these conspiracy theories?

During the assault on Falluja, Paul Wood - one of our correspondents who was an "embed" with the US troops in Falluja - said that he saw no evidence of the use of such weapons.

He also said that there was never any reference made to them at the confidential pre-assault military briefings he attended.

Hey, if that doesn't convince you, the BBC quote Al Jazeera!

"It doesn't make sense to use mustard gas, nerve agents, other chemical agents or nuclear devices - to quote the Al Jazeera story - in such a small space also occupied by your own forces.

The article continues...

"But I repeat the point made by my editors, over many weeks of total access to the military operation, at all levels, we did not see banned weapons being used, deployed, or even discussed. We cannot therefore report their use.

No but you damn well could have reported on information like this months ago:

Paul believes that if the US military were going to use banned weapons, the troops would have to be briefed in advance. At the meetings he attended there was no such briefing.

Paul stresses that the point about these kinds of banned weapons is that they do not discriminate between friendly and enemy forces. That means you have to make sure your troops know and you have to make sure they have the necessary nuclear, chemical and biological (NBC) kit.

Paul said: "We would have seen the Americans in full NBC kit, much as they were when they fought their way up to Baghdad in March 2003. That is why I just don't think it plausible that these weapons were used."

The BBC are not the only ones guilty of sitting on this information.

Compellingly, Paul Wood has had meetings with the relevant specialists at Human Rights Watch, who have been very tough on the US military as regards abuses in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Paul asked them specifically about banned weapons in Falluja. They said they had heard the claims, had made some investigations, and had found no evidence that such weapons had been used.

Their pretty damn quick to report on the results of invetigations that are unfavorable to the US and quite silent when the investigations find in favor of the US.

And all of this is buried on a BBC webpage that few read. Can you say biased?
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