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shake ‘n’ bake
We did know of war crimes in Fallujah, but there were only rudimentary reports from sources of unknown quality the MSM would not pickup on.
But now the U.S. armed forces describe themself how they did use white phosphorous as direct effect ammunition against people in Fallujah.
Steven D in a DKos diary finds this in the March edition of Field Artillery Magazine (PDF)
Indirect Fires in the Battle of Fallujah
b. White Phosphorous. WP proved to be an effective and versatile munition. We used it for screening missions at two breeches and, later in the fight, as a potent psychological weapon against the insurgents in trench lines and spider holes when we could not get effects on them with HE. We fired “shake and
bake” missions at the insurgents, using WP to flush them out and HE to take them out.
…
We used improved WP for screening missions when HC smoke would have been more effective and saved our WP for lethal missions.
Another report on mortar fire from an embedded reporter of the North County Times says
"Fire!" Bogert yelled, as Millikin dropped it.
The boom kicked dust around the pit as they ran through the drill again and again, sending a mixture of burning white phosphorus and high explosives they call "shake ‘n’ bake" into a cluster of buildings where insurgents have been spotted all week.
According to the Army Battle Book ST 100-3, 5-11. FIELD ARTILLERY AMMUNITION such usage is against U.S. and international law.
(4) Burster Type White phosphorus (WP M110A2) rounds burn with intense heat and emit dense white smoke. They may be used as the initial rounds in the smokescreen to rapidly create smoke or against material targets, such as Class V sites or logistic sites. It is against the law of land warfare to employ WP against personnel targets.
The use of such ammunition in this way is outlawed chemical warfare:
Under this [Chemical Weapons] Convention, any toxic chemical, regardless of its origin, is considered as a chemical weapon unless it is used for purposes that are not prohibited (an important legal definition, known as the General Purpose Criterion).
Chemical weapons are classified as weapons of mass destruction by the United Nations, and their production and stockpiling was outlawed by the Chemical Weapons Convention of 1993.
That convention was ratified by the United States in 1997.
… and at no point heard any talk of Shake ‘n Bake
You were in Arty, yet you’ve have never heard of ‘shake and bake’ ?
You have never executed training let alone combat fires where HE rounds are combined with White Phosphorus rounds to achieve the desired effect against ‘dug-in’ or ‘entrenched’ or alternately highly exposed targets ?
What was your MOS ?
“The munitions we brought to this fight were . . . llumination and white phosphorous (WP, M110 and M825), with point-detonating (PD), delay, time and variable-time (VT) fuzes.”
“WP proved to be an effective and versatile munition. We used it for screening missions at two breeches and, later in the fight, as a potent psychological weapon against the insurgents in trench lines and spider holes when we could not get effects on them with HE. We fired “shake and bake” missions at the insurgents, using WP to flush them out and HE to take them out.”
– according to Captain James T. Cobb, First Lieutenant Christopher A. LaCour, and Sergeant First Class William H. Hight, the authors of the article.
Ammo selection depends on commanders attack criteria. In english that means it depends on the situation at the time. … The Fisters like a combo for bunkers. HE/PD followed by WP/PD. They call it “shake and bake” link
On 6 April, USAF fighters stopped at least three mass attacks on the compounds with what would later be known to even the Vietnamese as “shake and bake,” a combination of conventional bombs, cluster bombs (CBU), and napalm…link
Fire Mission
10 rnds of Shake and bake with Candle light for dinner it’s their birthday
Translation
10 rnds He with Wp and illumination
Remember Indirect Fire is never Friendly. link
Negative, I still have my R.O.E
Thirty-six years later, NBC war correspondent Kevin Sites, embedded with the U.S. Marines in Fallujah, wrote in his November 10 blog: “The Marines are operating with liberal rules of engagement.”
Sites heard Staff Sgt. Sam Mortimer radio that “everything to the west is weapons free.” Weapons Free, explained Sites, “means the Marines can shoot whatever they see – it’s all considered hostile.” On November 13, Sites videotaped a U.S. Marine killing an unarmed, wounded Iraqi in a Fallujah mosque.
During the U.S. attack on Fallujah, dubbed “Operation Phantom Fury,” Associated Press photographer Bilal Hussein saw U.S. soldiers “open fire on the houses.” Hussein also reported seeing U.S. helicopters fire on and kill people, including a family of five, who tried to cross the river.
“A large number of people including children were killed by American snipers,” according to the Independent (U.K.). Civilians who remained in Fallujah “appeared to have been seen as complicit in the insurgency,” the Independent reported. “Men of military age were particularly vulnerable. But there are accounts of children as young as four, and women and old men being killed.”
Free fire zones, and indiscriminate killing of civilians, which constitute willful killing, are grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions. The U.S. War Crimes Act considers grave breaches of Geneva to be war crimes…
– Marjorie Cohn, a contributing editor to truthoout is a professor at Thomas Jefferson School of Law, executive vice president of the National Lawyers Guild, and the U.S. representative to the executive committee of the American Association of Jurists. Link
Care to explain the disparity between your ‘unsupported'(no references) ‘rosy’ declarative statements and the following reports & quotes ?
Inside Fallujah — again, a city the size of Miami — cars will be banned. Buses would be used to transport ID-marked, retina-scanned Fallujan citizens through the city.
Lieutenant Colonel Dave Bellon, of the First Regimental Combat Team, told the Globe that “You have to say ‘Here are the rules,’ and you are firm and fair. That radiates stability… We need to be the benevolent, dominant tribe.”
In the spirit of benevolency, the Marines have been discussing turning Fallujah into a giant work camp:
One idea that has stirred debate among Marine officers would require all men to work, for pay, in military-style battalions. Depending on their skills, they would be assigned jobs in construction, waterworks, or rubble-clearing platoons.
Some Marines don’t like the idea of using forced labor in Fallujah. Their objections aren’t moral, though. It’s not that they don’t like the idea of forced labor. It’s that they worry that the Fallujans, already hateful, couldn’t be “effectively coerced“:
When they heard of the proposal to require men to work, some Marines were skeptical that an angry public would work effectively if coerced. Others said the plan was based on US tactics that worked in postwar Germany. DiFrancisci said he would wait for more details. “There’s something to be said for a firm hand,” he said.
The occupation apparently has high hopes for these measures. They want to turn Fallujah into a “model city” that will serve as a guide for “pacifying” other Iraqi cities.
Regardless of FOs or not, you haven’t explained how it’s possible to know if there are trapped non-combatants, hiding for thier lives, in the targeted building or for that matter, city blocks … until after the bodies are collected ?
Posted by: Outraged | Nov 11 2005 18:38 utc | 52
Do you believe that Captain James T. Cobb, First Lieutenant Christopher A. LaCour and Sergeant First Class William H. Hight are lying when they authored “We fired “shake and bake” missions at the insurgents, using WP to flush them out and HE to take them out.”
I have no clue what the army was up to
Would it be easier to believe if the following humanitarian organisation signed a statement including: “While many ordinary people were able to escape Fallujah before the latest attack started, there are still many thousands of civilians here” …. “There is an urgent need for the protection of civilians living in this battle-ground. Children and women are too frightened to go about their every-day life – everything has ground to a halt. We need to see the international community take action to protect the civilian people who have been caught up in the middle of this conflict.”
They were given 2 months to clear out. You can only do so much. And I hope to God that they didn’t go outside.
You were in Arty, yet you’ve have never heard of ‘shake and bake’ ?
You have never executed training let alone combat fires where HE rounds are combined with White Phosphorus rounds to achieve the desired effect against ‘dug-in’ or ‘entrenched’ or alternately highly exposed targets ?
What was your MOS ?
I didn’t say I didn’t know what one was, I said I’d never heard one being called over the hooks.
As far as the forced labor issue goes, I don’t know when that’s dated. We used Iraqis on and off base. But I know they got paid.
Regardless of FOs or not, you haven’t explained how it’s possible to know if there are trapped non-combatants, hiding for thier lives, in the targeted building or for that matter, city blocks … until after the bodies are collected ?
Do you even know WHY rounds are dropped? My guess is that probably because either heavy enemy fire is coming from there, or you’re getting sniped. We had a limited supply of ammo. We didn’t know when the next batch was coming in. Now then, with a limited supply, if Haji runs in there where a family is, and then draws fire from Marines. My condolences, but, that house is probably coming down. There’s no point in clearing a house, and THEN firing artillery on it.
Don’t even show me that image of the kid with the white flag. That bears no meaning whatsoever when insurgents lure out American troops with it and then open fire.
Conversely, perhaps:
If you talk to an Iraqi insurgent, you will find that about one half of them joined because either the US or the other occupying forces have killed a friend or family member.
Should this even be considered?
that the armed forces of the empire are follwing the book religiously
I’ll be honest, you can’t. When rounds start coming downrange you cannot follow the book verbatim.
that the armed forces of the empire are follwing the book religiously, that no war crimes are occurring, that they are interrogating with kid gloves, that they do not massacre families of iraqis at checkoints,
Massacring families at checkpoints is just about laughable. Now you have to add to the stories you hear, well gee, maybe there was some omission to the story such as, not stopping, or appearing to charge a barricade. The watch officer or whoever is in charge doesn’t say “Hey, that car has a lot of people in there, lets shoot ’em”.
I was in/around Fallujah from Oct ’04 – Feb ’05. I was there.
The terms Al-Harbee(or Al-Habi), i can’t remember if the Iraqis put an r in it, and Ali Baba, were terms that the Iraqis used for the insurgents, not just something the troops came up with. Haji is something I’m sure the Americans came up with.
Debs is dead. I was there. You were not. I think that settles that argument. And even if you don’t believe me, whatever.
Marines, who put their lives on the line FOR YOU. You have the nerve to question those who took an oath to give up for their lives for the protection of your country? I know, that when I look back in my life and think of something that I did was worthwhile, I will be able to say that I served not just in the US Armed Forces, but in the United States Marines. I used to be a bleeding liberal like you, but then after joining the Marines and got out and saw the world, I now have at least SOME clue as to what’s going on. And on top of being a Marine, I can say that I was at one of the worst battles in a while. I served with some of the finest men. I consider myself a fairly intelligent person. I know it doesn’t mean much but so far being in service, I have only come across two people who scored higher on the ASVAB than I. I’m not just some dumb jarhead.
& on veterans day – what would you like to thank your fellow vets for – the illegal interventions in panama or grenada, the absolutely inhumane complicity in the massacres & misfeance in haiti, would you like to thank them for training latin american dictators, or would you like to thank them yet another illegal war in south east asia where more than 3million lost their lifes. erhaps you would like to thank them for the folly that was korea
You ignorant piece of shit. I know it doesn’t mean much to you, but this forward rambling is for my own sake. 7,000 motherfuckers died for your sorry ass at Iwo Jima ALONE. 20,000 died at the battle of Okinawa. and those are only two battles. How about you thank them for typing in the fucking english language. You ungrateful motherfucker. I bet it’s pretty easy to type all that crap from behind a computer screen and not when rounds are flying over your head. War isn’t perfect. I have no clue why we went to war with Iraq, that’s Bush. whatever. But to say that those in Iraq now are nothing but a bunch of no good killers? Military service SHOULD be mandatory, but of course it’s not going to happen, I don’t expect it to. It would just give citizens a better understanding of the world around them and a newfound sense of belonging in the country they live in. I think I’m done here.
I’ve typed this long enough, and it will just be lost in the endless sea of webforums.
Posted by: A United States Marine | Nov 11 2005 23:43 utc | 73
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