Reuters Covers White Phosphorus Backwards

Well, it took long enough, but Reuters has finally brought the story of American use of the chemical weapon white phosphorus into some American news sources. Sources like the New York Times haven’t bothered to do any of their own writing on the subject, so they’re just copying what Reuters has written. The problem, now, is with what Reuters has written.

The headline of the Reuters article is, “US Defends Use of White Phosphorus”.

Here’s what I don’t understand: How can Reuters write an article about the American government’s defense of its use of white phosphorus before it writes about the actual revelations of the use of white phosphorus in the first place?

The main story is not that the Bush Administration is defending its use of white phosphorus as a weapon against the Iraqi city of Fallujah. The main story is that the Bush Administration authorized the use of explosives containing white phosphorus as a weapon against a city in which the Bush Administration knew that there were large numbers of civilians remaining in their homes.

What the Bush Administration did to the residents of Fallujah is morally equivalent to what Bush and his aides spent so much of 2002 and 2003 giving speeches about: How Saddam Hussein used chemical weapons against an Iraqi city.

When Reuters covers the Bush Administration’s defense first, it’s neglecting its first duty: To report on what the government lied about to start with. Any defense that the Bush Administration offers as justification for its use of white phosphorus as a weapon must now be regarded with deep suspicion. After all, for the last week, the Bush Administration has been denying that white phosphorus was used as a weapon at all.

The Bush Adminstration lied about its use of white phosphorus before, so there is no reason to presume that the Bush Administration isn’t lying about its use of white phosphorus now. Yet, the Reuters article on this story is completely lacking this context, granting credibility to the Bush Administration first.

If our representatives in Congress had any decency, they would have voted today to begin an independent investigation into the Bush Administration’s use of white phosphorus and other weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. After all, there are serious allegations that American forces have been using napalm in violation of the law as well as using white phosphorus as a weapon.

But no, the Congress has been too busy taking away reauthorizing the Patriot Act and taking away people’s right to habeas corpus. No investigations into any of the foul business going on in Iraq have been launched, and none will, as long as this Congress is in place.

As the strangely skewed coverage provided by Reuters shows, we can count on American journalists to lay down on the job as well.