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U.S. Forces Not Using Chemical Weapons in Tall Afar, Iraq

On September 11, 2005, Abu-Mus’ab al-Zarqawi, the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq, falsely accused U.S. forces of using “poisonous gases” in a battle in the Iraqi city of Tall Afar.  Zarqawi’s false accusation has been widely reported in world media.

On September 12, the Multi-National Force-Iraq issued an official statement denying Zarqawi’s claim.  It states: “All reports concerning the use of chemical weapons by U.S. forces in Tall Afar are false and without merit.  U.S. forces do not condone nor have we used chemical or biological warfare in Tall Afar.”

Zarqawi was employing a standard disinformation technique.  Chemical weapons are regarded as reprehensible and immoral because of the indiscriminate damage they cause.  Therefore, those who wish to discredit the United States find it useful to invent the false charge that the United States is using such weapons. 

The United States does not use chemical weapons, and has not deployed any chemical weapons to Iraq.  On November 12, 2004, in response to false claims that U.S. forces were using chemical weapons in Fallujah, Iraq, the Public Affairs office of the U.S. Secretary of Defense stated:

The United States categorically denies the use of chemical weapons at anytime in Iraq, which includes the ongoing Fallujah operation.  Furthermore, the United States does not under any circumstance support or condone the development, production, acquisition, transfer or use of chemical weapons by any country.  All chemical weapons currently possessed by the United States have been declared to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and are being destroyed in the United States in accordance with our obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention.

These facts are the same in September 2005 as they were in November 2004.