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| Britain | ||
| British soldiers found guilty of abuse | ||
| 2005-02-24 | ||
Judge Advocate Michael Hunter said that the scandal had "undoubtedly tarnished the international reputation of the British army and to some extent the British nation too". He described the behaviour uncovered by the court martial as brutal, cruel and revolting, and said it had jeopardised the safety of soldiers in Iraq. The men were found guilty at a court martial in Germany of the mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners at the British Camp Breadbasket outside Basra two weeks after the conflict was declared over in May 2003. The abuse was captured in photographs which were published around the world. The defendants claim that they were being held up as "sacrificial lambs" for the failings of the military.
Lance Corporal Mark Cooley was found guilty of disgraceful conduct of a cruel kind after he drove the forklift truck with the bound Iraqi suspended from it. He was convicted of having brought the army into disrepute by posing for a picture in which he pretended to punch an Iraqi prisoner. Both men face a maximum two-year prison sentence and a dishonourable discharge. Their fellow soldier, Lance-Corporal Darren Larkin, 30, who pleaded guilty to assaulting an Iraqi man after he was photographed standing on his body, faces up to six months. It can now be reported for the first time that their colleague, Fusilier Gary Bartlam, 20, the soldier who sparked the abuse inquiry when he took his photographs to be developed, was sentenced to 18 months in youth custody last month and given a dishonourable discharge for being a "willing participant in this very brutal and very cruel act". | ||
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #1 Every society has its share of assholes. Unfortunately, you can't always tell in advance. It's good that this isn't swept under the rug. It's too bad for their mates, who will be tarred with a very broad brush in the MSM. |
| Posted by: Jackal 2005-02-24 8:19:28 AM |