US Lied to Britain over use of napalm in Iraq War

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US Lied to Britain over use of napalm in Iraq War News

 

 

US Lied to Britain over use of napalm in Iraq War

 

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Address:http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.jsp?story=647397

 

US lied to Britain over use of napalm in Iraq war

News Updates from Citizens for Legitimate Government

17 June 2005

 

 

 

US lied to Britain over use of napalm in Iraq war

By Colin Brown, Deputy Political Editor

 

17 June 2005

 

American officials lied to British ministers over the use of

" internationally reviled " napalm-type firebombs in Iraq.

 

Yesterday's disclosure led to calls by MPs for a full statement to the

Commons and opened ministers to allegations that they held back the

facts until after the general election.

 

Despite persistent rumours of injuries among Iraqis consistent with

the use of incendiary weapons such as napalm, Adam Ingram, the Defence

minister, assured Labour MPs in January that US forces had not used a

new generation of incendiary weapons, codenamed MK77, in Iraq.

 

But Mr Ingram admitted to the Labour MP Harry Cohen in a private

letter obtained by The Independent that he had inadvertently misled

Parliament because he had been misinformed by the US. " The US

confirmed to my officials that they had not used MK77s in Iraq at any

time and this was the basis of my response to you, " he told Mr Cohen.

" I regret to say that I have since discovered that this is not the

case and must now correct the position. "

 

Mr Ingram said 30 MK77 firebombs were used by the 1st Marine

Expeditionary Force in the invasion of Iraq between 31 March and 2

April 2003. They were used against military targets " away from

civilian targets " , he said. This avoids breaching the 1980 Convention

on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW), which permits their use only

against military targets.

 

Britain, which has no stockpiles of the weapons, ratified the

convention, but the US did not.

 

The confirmation that US officials misled British ministers led to new

questions last night about the value of the latest assurances by the

US. Mr Cohen said there were rumours that the firebombs were used in

the US assault on the insurgent stronghold in Fallujah last year,

claims denied by the US. He is tabling more questions seeking

assurances that the weapons were not used against civilians.

 

Mr Ingram did not explain why the US officials had misled him, but the

US and British governments were accused of a cover-up. The Iraq

Analysis Group, which campaigned against the war, said the US

authorities only admitted the use of the weapons after the evidence

from reporters had become irrefutable.

 

Mike Lewis, a spokesman for the group, said: " The US has used

internationally reviled weapons that the UK refuses to use, and has

then apparently lied to UK officials, showing how little weight the UK

carries in influencing American policy. "

 

He added: " Evidence that Mr Ingram had given false information to

Parliament was publicly available months ago. He has waited until

after the election to admit to it - a clear sign of the Government's

embarrassment that they are doing nothing to restrain their own

coalition partner in Iraq. "

 

The US State Department website admitted in the run-up to the election

that US forces had used MK77s in Iraq. Protests were made by MPs, but

it was only this week that Mr Ingram confirmed the reports were true.

 

Mike Moore, the Liberal Democrat defence spokes-man, said: " It is very

serious that this type of weapon was used in Iraq, but this shows the

US has not been completely open with the UK. We are supposed to have a

special relationship.

 

" It has also taken two months for the minister to clear this up. This

is welcome candour, but it will raise fresh questions about how open

the Government wished to be... before the election. "

 

The MK77 bombs, an evolution of the napalm used in Vietnam and Korea,

carry kerosene-based jet fuel and polystyrene so that, like napalm,

the gel sticks to structures and to its victims. The bombs lack

stabilising fins, making them far from precise.