So the UK government has come clean and confessed that they breached the right of Baha Mousa.

He was an innocent hotel worker brutally tortured and murdered by our brave boys in Iraq. There were 93 identifiable injuries to his body and he died of asphyxiation. To the government of Gordon Broon that is a mere breach of the man's human rights.

I would like to think that an independent Scotland would free us from association with this atrocity but I have a horrible suspicion that Scots soldiers had a hand, or boot, in it.

Are our soldiers like politicians? Absolved by any inquiry when they are demonstrably guilty.

They did not only breach his human rights, they brutally murdered him. For Brown to pass it off as a mere breach of human rights shows us his true moral compass that he constantly trumpets on about.

As despicable as this is I can't bring myself to judge the behaviour of a bunch of kids who have been sent into a nightmare situation. Politicians are the one's who should carry the can for this.

scunnert

Sorry. They may be young but they knew what they were doing was wrong and illegal. If they don't then they are not fit to serve.

But I agree that the politicians are the real guilty ones. It's just that they get away with - except possibly the bronzed one.

DavieDites wrote:
scunnert

Sorry. They may be young but they knew what they were doing was wrong and illegal. If they don't then they are not fit to serve.

But I agree that the politicians are the real guilty ones. It's just that they get away with - except possibly the bronzed one.


Yes I have to agree, they knew exactly what they were doing, and it is because of that reason that they were court martialed.

It is obvious that these seven men of the Queens Lancashire Regiment didn't have the adequate training and advice, and I'm not saying that in their defence, but one has to wonder where were the officers when all this was going on?

As it is the CO (Col Mandonca) had to take full responsibility of what was happening in his unit and therefore had no option other than to resign.
It was certainly not a good day for the military.

Never the less, four years have now elapsed since this repugnent event, and I feel that this incident shouldn't be used to tarnish the good reputation built up by the many men and women who are serving in that theatre of war, of whom I have the greatest admiration.

As many of you agree that the government has a lot to answer for, but do you actually feel responsible for incompetent government action?

Being British I must admit that I feel embarrassed, almost in a guilty way, that I am partly responsible for the misery that has been heaped upon the Iraqi nation......The latest report from Basra only exacerbates that feeling.

Jamrie you're right about the embarrassment part, definitely. I remember pre-Iraq, thinking, "No way will a British Government do this. It wouldn't. We wouldn't. We're British. We wouldn't illegally invade another country." I was so sure Blair would go to the brink and then pull back. I think I would actually have put money on that. I think I'm also still in shock that he went right ahead with it. I still can't believe he did it.

As for these soldiers, well, what can you say? There are many out there who are doing a very difficult job without indulging in such behaviour but this incident is truly shocking. There are many youngsters now who still head for the Armed Forces and who, if they were at home, would be out looking for a victim to beat up on a Saturday night for fun. They are thugs in civilian life and they won't turn into honourable soldiers just because they're in the army.

You're right too that we are all part of it. Not enough of us went out on the streets to say Blair was wrong. Not enough of us cared. Blair's lies, lies he was publicly exposed as having told in order to swing a vote for war, didn't lead to more calls for his immediate resignation. A Prime Minister lying to Parliament, interfering with intelligence, yet still he stayed. His Party wore it too, the Commons wore it, the media wore it and so did the majority of the people. The rest of us were just labelled by the fascist monster John Reid as "supporters of terrorism". (Is there a more arrogant, jumped up, obnoxious politician?) Add to that the fact that we tolerate the existence of the abomination that is Guantanamo Bay and there is clearly cause for concern. "Let's not call these guys POWs, let's call them illegal combatants and then they have no rights and we can lock em up for years and torture them." Again my shock that the UK was afraid to mention Guantanamo and all it stands for for fear of offending Bush was considerable. The Geneva Convention didn't matter, UN regulations didn't matter, our status as a member of the UN Security Council didn't matter either.

I do not know what sort of world we are living in any more and the fact that so many are willing to stay silent leaving just a minority to object and oppose such terrible things frightens me. We then get labelled as left wing loonies when in fact we're just asking for equality, for fairness and for justice. It doesn't seem like an insane agenda to me. Maybe if they listened to us we'd have a half decent world. It worries me that while we can always find people on sites like this who care there are so many out there who just don't. The apathy is terrifying!