Napin' Iraq

The US military has used firebombs - more or less, the equivalent of napalm - during the Iraq war.

"Marine Corps fighter pilots and commanders who have returned from the war zone have confirmed dropping dozens of incendiary bombs near bridges over the Saddam Canal and the Tigris River" during the military's drive on Baghdad in March and April, reports James W. Crawley of the San Diego Union-Tribune.

The military has made an extraordinary effort to distinguish these weapons from napalm, but the distinction is negligible.

In actuality, says James Alles, a commander of Marine Air Group 11 who oversaw one of the bombings, "The generals love napalm...It has a big psychological effect."

Indeed. Kilgore would be proud.