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US Admit to Using Chemical Weapons in Iraq

Pentagon defends the decision as not violating international law

Nicole Burton, News Editor

Last Wednesday, the Pentagon admitted to using the sub- stance known as white-phosphorous in Iraq—a chemical weapon that burns bodies down the bone.

The chemical first became known in initial reports stemming back to April 2004, when US forces led an assault on the Iraqi city of Fallujah. Since then, the weapon has been used on several occasions and has developed the slang term of “Whitey Pete” by US sol- diers who are familiar with using the substance on numer- ous occasions in their tours of duty.

Army Lt. Col. Barry Venable, a Pentagon spokesper- son, said that the highly toxic and flammable weapon had not been used against civilians, and was a weapon for “smoking out” areas of urban battleground.

“Categorically, we cannot deny the claim,” said

Venable. He insisted that white phosphorus is not out- lawed or banned under international law.

The United States is not signatory to a number of international protocols banning the use of chemical weapons, and so, therefore, is not susceptible to being held responsible for war crimes. This includes the 1980 Convention on Conventional Weapons, which forbids th use of incendiary weapons against civilians or against mi itary targets amid concentrations of civilians.

Just last week, an Italian documentary on the use of chemical weapons in Iraq by the US shows images of bodies that were recovered after the Fallujah offensive, which it said proved the use of white phosphorus agains civilians. Former US soldiers were interviewed for the film.

More Dirt in the Water of Kashechewan New reports show that the government of Canada knew all along

Nicole Burton, News Editor

The squalid conditions of drinking water on Indigenous reserves across Canada have existed for years, according to a report that came out last week.

In an embarrassing report, Johanne Gelinas, Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development revealed that the federal government has been well aware of Indigenous reserves’ Third World liv- ing conditions, including extreme poverty and the lack of potable water, for a long number of years.

Last month, the issue became public Canada-wide when E.coli was discovered in samples of the drinking water in Kashechewan, an indigenous community in northern Ontario. The entire community faced an emer- gency evacuation. More on this and the crisis of drinking water for indigenous reserves can be read in Volume 35 of the Other Press, also accessible online at: www.other- press.ca.

Further reports and investigation revealed that not

only was the community of Kashechewan the victim of dire living conditions, but a host of other indigenous communities and reserves are facing similar circum- stances. Despite the string of water problems across the country, government officials have responded to the reports by brushing them aside as being isolated incident This is in stark contrast, however, to new research that has revealed that over 30 percent of all reserves are unde boiling orders at any given time during the year.

In an annual report given in September, Gelinas has said repeatedly that the government is not acting to ensure that drinking water on indigenous reserves is actu ally drinkable.

In 2001, the Department of Indian Affairs found tha three-quarters of all indigenous reserves in Canada were using water from a source that was considered to be “at risk.” To date, there are still no laws or regulations gov- erning their water supply.

Harriet the Tortoise turns 175

Nicole Burton, News Editor An

inspiring ceremony to commemorate one of the world’s

oldest living animals was held last week, as Harriet the Tortoise has passed through another year. She is now the ripe-old age of 175.

Celebrated in her home in captivity at the Australia Zoo

north of Brisbane where she has lived for the last 17 years, the giant Galapagos turtle’s most prized gift was a pink hibis- cus flower cake.

Originally captured from the Galapagos Islands in 1835

by well-known British scientist and theoretician Charles

Darwin, her actual age has been confirmed by DNA testing. While she may not be the oldest of all of Earth’s animals,

she does hold the championship in the Guinness Book of

World Records for the world’s oldest chelonian (or reptile

with a shell of bony plates).

Conservationist and Australian nature-celebrity Steve Irwin said she could definitely become the world’s oldest ani; mal—she just needs a few more years. “I can’t see why she shouldn’t live till 200,” he said, trying not to temper the tor- toise’s ego.

In fact, Harriet doesn’t have too far to go before she is able the break the 188-year record set by another Galapagos tortoise, who, until its death, was a prized pet of the King of Tonga.

Irwin and other specialists and staff at the Australia Zoo have looked after the animal since 1987, prior to which she had been at the Fleay’s Fauna Sanctuary for 35 years.