ATS: IslamOnline: US Troops Reportedly Gassing Fallujah

Islam Online has reported the following.. According to reports US troops are using chemical weapons in the battle against insurgents in Fallujah. While western mainstream media has reported no such thing. The US military strongly denies using such weaponry and dismissed the report as nonsense. Islam Online is a very popular news source for Muslims all over the world, a world populated by as many as 1 billion Muslims and growing.




The Iraqi doctor in the above report also claims to have seen Iraqis from Fallujah "burnt beyond treatment by poisonous gases�

They also claim that there is a media blackout, "the banning of Al-Jazeera satellite channel and subjective embedded journalists played well into the hands of the US military".

�Therefore, US troops opted for using internationally banned weapons to soften the praiseworthy resistance of Fallujah people".

Could this be true?

Why even report such a thing?

It is all a matter of perception. When what Muslims see as their mainstream media report such a story as that above there are many who will accept it as the truth, despite the facts or logic.

In western culture our own mainstream media is known to be fair and balanced, and would never report anything lacking real evidence or truth to back it up... Would they?

In the Islamic world of more than a billion people they do not see the same media view of this world.

Other News From Islam Online:

US Targets Fallujah Critics

�Big� Humanitarian Disaster in Fallujah

Anti-US Attacks in Fallujah on Film

Resistance Rages to Lift Pressure Off Fallujah

This is the way the Islamic and Arab world see the news.

Is the news media on both sides Western/Christian and Islamic/Arab only making things worse, throwing fuel on the fires of anger and hatred that in the end will only create more division worldwide?

We live in the information age... And it seems those that provide the world information have a biased agenda that could help push this world into an all out war, if we are not already there.

Is any news from any media source to be trusted?

Welcome to the information age... But who do we believe?

Other Sources:

US Troops Reportedly Gassing Fallujah

Mysterious poison gas used in Fallujah, residents claim

[edit on 13-11-2004 by UM_Gazz]

The thing with gas is that A) it hinder our own troops, B) it would be impossible to hide the numbers of civilian casulties.

Is it possible that they have uses tear gas? It can burn in some instances. Maybe they are trying non lethal applications in Fallujah??

funny how the islamic papers can say anything and it is believed as the 'gospal'..so to speak, even if there is no proof...it would be vey dificult, to say the least, to hide 10,000 dead civilians in the town. also, if we were using gas...our troops would be running around in MOPP suits..that would be a bit much to hide..even for the AMERICAN govt...........

Common , am not saying US used chem weps . But we did it before with the depleted uranium. I am just saying that its very possible cuz our troops are having a very hard time there. They might need its help. and for the Chem suits, there are chemicals that disintegrate after a very short peroid of time. in hours.

the troops could be using CS and pepper spray.... to the 'fighters' it would seem like some type of deadly chem attack and they would report it as such and the world will believe them.

pepper spray will clear a room out and probably be something to use as long as your troops don't go into the sprayed areas right away...they would feel the effects too.
you could spray a building and pick off the enemy as they exited....

p.s. never heard of the disintegrating chem suite.....

I think that this is quite clearly propaganda to cover the fact that the muslim fighters of Iraq are both fallible and losing the battle. I base this strictly on a line in the article.

Quote:
"“They use chemical weapons out of despair and helplessness in the face of the steadfast and fierce resistance put up by Fallujah people, who drove US troops out of several districts, hoisting proudly Iraqi flags on them. Resistance has also managed to destroy and set fire to a large number of US tanks and vehicles."

I am sure that the US military is using teargas, which I suppose is "chemical warfare" - it is definitely not causing the deaths of people in Iraq or in protests around the world.

The article is clearly meant to sweep up anti-american feelings amongst those that will not stand up to America and at the same time to garner the support from the international community and explain why the resistance fighters have lost.

Remember propaganda is a great tool in any war.




[edit on 13-11-2004 by Mynaeris]

I agree with Mynaeris, clearly propaganda.

And besides, so what. CS or pepper spray or something like that would save alot of lives. I say use the Hell out of it!! Smoke those bas***** out

Glad to see ATSNN is propagating unsubstantiated and baseless news sources. I think this opens up a variety of possibilities, perhaps new subtopics on ATSNN, how about "U.S. Imperialism", "Western Baby Eating", and "Zionist Lackeys"?

Solidifying Al Jazeera journalistic credibility at the expense of ATSNN?

Not the "direction" I would envision... In my opinion.


[edit on 13/11/2004 by Mirthful Me]

Trying to find a "justification" to use some of Saddam's left over chem weapons in artillery shells maybe??

Originally posted by clearmind
the troops could be using CS and pepper spray....

to the 'fighters' it would seem like some type of deadly chem attack and they would report it as such and the world will believe them.

pepper spray will clear a room out and probably be something to use as long as your troops don't go into the sprayed areas right away...they would feel the effects too.
you could spray a building and pick off the enemy as they exited....

Not that I advocate the use of any chemical weapons one way or the other, I do understand your point... However we removed Saddam and among the reasons given was that he used chemical weapons on the people of Iraq... True or not, lethal or not... If the U.S. military uses any kind of chemical weapons in Iraq.. In the eyes of the Arab/Muslims we have become just as evil as the former leader of Iraq and his regime.

What ever happened to "winning the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people"?

I think you are right it is all propaganda... I have a hard time believing our military would use any chemical weapons.

But it is not as hard to convince the muslims of this world that the USA would use such weapons.. And that really bothers me.

We have in their eyes gone from a liberating force to "the great evil"

I am not sure there will ever be a way to erase this from the hearts and minds of the muslim world... and in the future that could prove to be a great source of pain to all of us.

Originally posted by Mirthful Me Solidifying Al Jazeera journalistic credibility at the expense of ATSNN?

Don't you think it's important to review and analyze what other sources are saying? The intent, as always, is to present what is published elsewhere as "news", then encourage our members to probe the realities of the article, and discover what truths can be found. In the case of this story, we can be reasonably certain the Islamic "news source" has some deep ulterior motives for either exaggerating the facts, or creating their own "facts" to inspire anti-western hate. This has been shown in the follow-up collaborative discussion... which is exactly the point of ATSNN... a community news review portal that simply doesn't let any story go unchallenged.

Right... and the marines are using mini-nukes too right? or is that tomorrow.

I even found an article that claimed the opposite, that the rebels in Fallujah had chemical weapons, and planned to use them on US troops.


The fact is, the Marines and Soldiers in Fallujah do not need messy chemical weapons to beat those guerillas into submission. It would make things way hard for the troops to advance and secure ground. Not to mention trying to cover that up. Most likely they have used CS (choking stimulant) gas to smoke the insurgents out of buildings. CS gas does what it indicates if it is in a high concentration such as inside of a room, it can cause rashes and severe irritation of the mucous membranes leading to choking and crying uncontrolably.

Even nerve, blister, and blood agents are not that serious unless you get a whole bunch on you or in you.

Reference

Reference

-Durandal

I agree that this report is merely intended to stir things up. Fallujah is almost completely secured and the insurgency/terrorists are desperate.

Take the number of casualties, for example. "Tens" of bodies? Is that 15? Or 20? It seems that a chemical attack would cause much greater deaths.

Mynaeris summed it up pretty well. Chalk this up to propaganda.

Originally posted by SkepticOverlord
Don't you think it's important to review and analyze what other sources are saying?

The intent, as always, is to present what is published elsewhere as "news", then encourage our members to probe the realities of the article, and discover what truths can be found. In the case of this story, we can be reasonably certain the Islamic "news source" has some deep ulterior motives for either exaggerating the facts, or creating their own "facts" to inspire anti-western hate. This has been shown in the follow-up collaborative discussion... which is exactly the point of ATSNN... a community news review portal that simply doesn't let any story go unchallenged.

Precisely my point SO, if the mantle of "journalism" is applied to a story like this, the borderline sources (such as Al Jazeera) become "Ivory Towers", and the credibility gained has to come at the expense of others. What other credible news or journalism outlet is giving a story like this legs? There are discussion vehicles here at ATS that can address a claim such as that made by IslamOnline.net, ones that will expose the veracity (or lack thereof) without inferring credibility (as making this a "news story" has). By considering any self styled "news source" as reviewable (and there are some �doosies� out there), the proverbial slippery slope awaits the "pitter patter" of ATS member's feet.

Originally posted by Mirthful Me
Glad to see ATSNN is propagating unsubstantiated and baseless news sources.

I think this opens up a variety of possibilities, perhaps new subtopics on ATSNN, how about "U.S. Imperialism", "Western Baby Eating", and "Zionist Lackeys"?

Perhaps you are missing the whole point for discussion here.. It is the media bias and agenda.

To open a dialog into this topic that most of us never see. We do not see this news as reported in the Muslim world because we do not wish to see things their way.

We need to understand that a large population of this world is muslim, though not all accept what is reported in the Islamic news media, a very large number do.

I think it is a good thing to bring this up in ATSNN so that we can see things as reported on "the other side"

Truth seems to depend on your perception, or the side you are on.. Not reality or facts.. This happens in all news media, however I have seen a trend in Islamic media that has me worried, If a large number of the muslims world accept the news as fact given them by the Islamic media they can use that propaganda to insite even a greater level of anger and hatred for the USA.

The future this could bring in continued and growing division will not serve humanity very well.

It seems on all sides that perhaps we are too quick to take anything reported in the media as fact.

That should bother everyone.

Originally posted by Mirthful Me
if the mantle of "journalism" is applied to a story like this, the borderline sources (such as Al Jazeera) become "Ivory Towers", and the credibility gained has to come at the expense of others. What other credible news or journalism outlet is giving a story like this legs? There are discussion vehicles here at ATS that can address a claim such as that made by IslamOnline.net, ones that will expose the veracity (or lack thereof) without inferring credibility (as making this a "news story" has). By considering any self styled "news source" as reviewable (and there are some �doosies� out there), the proverbial slippery slope awaits the "pitter patter" of ATS member's feet.

You do understand that this is posted in the ATS (Conspiracy) section of ATSNN not the News section don't you?

Gazz

Originally posted by Mirthful Me
Precisely my point SO, if the mantle of "journalism" is applied to a story like this, the borderline sources (such as Al Jazeera) become "Ivory Towers", and the credibility gained has to come at the expense of others.

MM,

While I hear what you are saying, Al Jazeera is a respected news sourse in the Arab world. They also provide a unique perspective of events from the Arab point of view. While we may not agree with Al Jazeera's take on world events, it goes a long way to understanding different points of view. How the actions of the the US is portrayed and percieved is critical in this day and age.

Also, ATSNN allows our members and readers to directly challange the conclutions of what is posted directly on the board. Articles will have to withstand the scrutiny of our membership which can be quite fierce.



[edit on 11/13/04 by FredT]

Originally posted by UM_Gazz
Perhaps you are missing the whole point for discussion here.. It is the media bias and agenda.

Probably not, the point of news, credible and accurate is to inform the public, the exposition of propaganda, is the same; the dissemination of propaganda under the banner of news... Is propaganda vindicated (think of North Korean "news" being substantiated by the Iranian or Cuban "press").

To open a dialog into this topic that most of us never see. We do not see this news as reported in the Muslim world because we do not wish to see things their way.

Maybe true in the past, but I think everyone is quite familiar with Al Jazeera, and some of the other "camcorder" outlets.

We need to understand that a large population of this world is muslim, though not all accept what is reported in the Islamic news media, a very large number do.

I think it is a good thing to bring this up in ATSNN so that we can see things as reported on "the other side"

Truth seems to depend on your perception, or the side you are on.. Not reality or facts.. This happens in all news media, however I have seen a trend in Islamic media that has me worried, If a large number of the muslims world accept the news as fact given them by the Islamic media they can use that propaganda to insite even a greater level of anger and hatred for the USA.

And presenting a story like this in the Western media dispels the propaganda, or might it bolster the credibility, giving cause for more Muslims to believe it?

The future this could bring in continued and growing division will not serve humanity very well.

It seems on all sides that perhaps we are too quick to take anything reported in the media as fact.

That should bother everyone.

I would think the divisions were well scribed before the media got involved; albeit there are those on each side who have exchanged the sword for the pen, and the death toll has risen mightily because of it.

Well,what else is there to say!!! To me this looks like the 21'st century's Vietnam....One would think that we learn from mistakes made in the past..it surely does'nt seem that way.What possible justification could there be to start gassing people,storm hospitals.. .
What's wrong with the world we ask....is'nt that a bit to hypocritical..We are all trying to dictate morallity and bring "Democracy" or rather IMPOSE IT !!! AT WhAT COST ??...i say..what an evolutionary progress...Impressive..
Ain't It !!!!

As a former member of the US Army Chemical Corp, I can tell you with 100% certainty that the US military is NOT using chem weapons. If we had launched a single round anywhere within Fallujah, every single troop would be in some level of MOPP gear. In all of the video from both the western and arab sources, you don't see a single soldier in chem suits. I remember back to the very first days of the war when they first started rolling into Iraq. The fear was that chem weapons would be used against us, so all the soldiers were in their chem suits, despite the heat.

2ndly, the US has not produced any new chemical munitions in about 40 years. All of the stockpiles of chemical munitions that they have are in such poor condition that they can not be shipped overseas for use in Iraq. The shells are corroding and falling apart. The US Army is currently in the process of destroying all of these weapons just outside of Gadsen, AL.

My take on this story is like that of another member here, it is propoganda, and a justification for them to eventually use chemical weapons themselves. I think they have a few of Saddam's old rockets and they will use them as a last ditch effort.

I started a similar thread on this a few days ago. I was looking for more then one source on it which I couldn't find then, so I posted it in the WOT forum.
Terrorists claim US using chemical weapons