Dahr Jamail was born and raised in Houston, Texas. After finding himself increasing politicised by the circumstances of Bush's first election, the response to 9/11 and the resulting invasion of Iraq, and most of all his perceived failure of the media to honestly report the stories, he decided to go to Iraq and report independently on what was really happening. His posts can be found on his website.

In today's post he reports on the US militaries strange activities in Fallujah. Large tracts of soil from the most heavily bombed areas are being scooped up and taken away, while high pressure hoses are used to wash down certain areas. Not unsurprisingly, Jamail speculates about the possibility of a range of unpleasant weapons being used in the area. Depleted uranium could be a possibility I guess. Jamail also suggests poison gas and napalm.

Poison gas would be unlikely to be used during the assault at least I would think. There would be too much risk of danger to US troops, who I don't recall being seen in gas masks during the attack. It could have been used before, I guess, although I don't think the military would risk exposure of using such weapons. The political risks would be too great, particularly with the links which would undoubtedly be drawn with Halabja.

The US have already had to admit using napalm in Iraq, so it would hardly be a surprise, although I am unsure whether they would need to wash away the evidence of such a substance.

Whatever has been used, it would seem that the US military are very keen to wipe away all traces of its use.

Jamail's articles present a unique (if not wholly objective) perspective on the conflict which is both enlightening and indicative of how new media is providing enriching alternative sources of information on today's world.

Jamail's position also puts him ahead of the more established media on some stories. I found an article on Aljazeera from 28th November quoting the same eyewitnesses as Jamail word-for-word on the use of napalm in Fallujah, and thought at first that Jamail had filched them from a major news source. Checking back I found that Jamail had quoted the sources in a post on 17th November. By fair means or foul, Aljazeera had lifted the quotes (without acknowledgment) straight off Jamail's site.