The Hidden Massacre at Fallujah
Upon a tip-off from Nevin, I took a look at this video. (Links at Nevin's site, click the pictures - downloads nicely on broadband.)
While there are a few inaccuracies in the voiceover - I assume it's translated from the Italian - the general message of the video holds true. It's simply incredible how few of the lessons of Vietnam have been learned - from the dangers of alienating the local population to the dangers of alienating your own people. Lessons both military and political.
It also makes some allegations which may go some way to explain the fate of a couple of Italian journalists, though this is of course pretty speculative.
Whether or not it is fair to describe napalm as a 'chemical weapon' or a 'Weapon of Mass Destruction' is debatable, but the point is that as weapons go it's a particularly nasty one. Moreover, when the enemy is an elusive and mobile guerrilla force sheltered by the local population, napalm is hardly going to be effective.
