Military Defends Use of White Phosphorus, as Pentagon Chief Hits 'NY Times'

By: Greg Mitchell With its use by the U.S. in Iraq as a weapon against insurgents drawing international attention, Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has endorsed the incendiary, white phosphorous. As he did, Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld took a shot at The New York Times, which came out for a ban on its use in Iraq in a Tuesday editorial.

White phosphorus (or "Willie Pete" as it's known to soldiers) is most commonly used by the military in the field to illuminate the sky at night, but has also been targeted directly against insurgents at times in Iraq (see Pressing Issue column at this site). The Pentagon at first denied this last month, and then admitted it was sometimes used as a "conventional" weapon against insurgents. Because of its napalm-like burning quality, this has caused protest abroad and now, with the Times editorial, at home.

At a press briefing this week, Pace and Rumsfeld were asked to respond to the Times editorial. Pace said, "A bullet goes through skin even faster than white phosphorus does." The transcript of that part of the briefing follows.

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Q: Mr. Secretary, in its lead editorial this morning, The New York Times takes issue with you and the Bush administration for the way the United States is waging this war, and particularly --

RUMSFELD: They have done that almost every day since it started. We're not going to hang our hats on that, a New York Times editorial! My goodness, Ivan! I'm stunned! (Laughter.)

Q: But in its final paragraph or so, it takes particular issue with the use of white phosphorus in urban areas. And based on what we have learned so far, have you banned the use of "Willy Pete" or are you considering banning it? Or will it continue to be used?

RUMSFELD: General Pace.

PACE: White phosphorus is a legitimate tool of the military. It is used for two primary purposes. One is to mark a location for strike by an aircraft, for example. The other is to be used -- because it does create white smoke -- to be used as a screening agent so that you can move your forces without being seen by the enemy.

It is not a chemical weapon, it is an incendiary, and it is well within the law of war to use those weapons as they are being used for marking and for screening.

Q: But you and I have both seen the results of "Willy Pete" in Vietnam. And when it's on the skin, it doesn't stop burning until it goes all the way through or runs out of oxygen. It's a pretty tough weapon. Do you want to use it in urban areas such as Fallujah?

PACE: No armed force in the world goes to greater effort than your armed force to protect civilians and to be very precise in the way we apply our power. A bullet goes through skin even faster than white phosphorus does. So I would rather have the proper instrument applied at the proper time as precisely as possible to get the job done in a way that kills as many of the bad guys as possible and does as little collateral damage as possible. That is just the nature of warfare.

RUMSFELD: Let's see if there's a New York Times editorial quoting General Pace tomorrow. Unlikely.