[dan-o]

3 British Soldiers Court-Martialed on Charges of Iraq Prisoner Abuse Similar to U.S. Cases
By ALAN COWELL

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/20/international/europe/20britain.html?oref=login

LONDON, Jan. 19 - Since their forces joined the American-led invasion of Iraq almost two years ago, British commanders and politicians have liked to depict their troops as less combative, less abrasive and less trigger-happy in dealing with local populations than their American counterparts.

But that image dissolved Wednesday as lurid photographs and accusations of abuse strikingly similar to those that emerged last April in the United States filled the front pages of newspapers here, showing British soldiers apparently mistreating Iraqi prisoners in 2003. The photographs are part of the evidence against three soldiers facing a court-martial at a British base in Germany.

 

[mack]

Pppfffttt.

People bitch over 4 dudes playing dressup in a prison while they ignore racial cleansing in Sudan.

 

[Silver]

Pppfffttt.

People bitch over 4 dudes playing dressup in a prison while they ignore racial cleansing in Sudan.

We are supposed to be the good guys. That means we aren't supposed sexually abuse people for fun and profit. Just because worse stuff is happening in the world doesn't give us a hall pass to do whatever else we want up to that point.

 

[jaydee]

Yeah, they shouldn't be mistreating those poor unfortunate insurgents. That's immoral. They should just behead them on CNN. Excuse this comment if the prisoners were not actually insurgents; I could't access the link to read the story.

 

[TheInedibleHulk]

Pppfffttt.

People bitch over 4 dudes playing dressup in a prison while they ignore racial cleansing in Sudan.

Shouldnt we be doign something about both? Oh yeah thats right, we dont stand to benefit from helping innocent people in Sudan, F%#@ it.

 

[TheInedibleHulk]

Yeah, they shouldn't be mistreating those poor unfortunate insurgents. That's immoral. They should just behead them on CNN. Excuse this comment if the prisoners were not actually insurgents; I could't access the link to read the story.

The insurgents should be given the same treatment as any other POW is afforded under the geneva convention. Will our solgiers get proper treatment when captured? No they wont, but we still have a responsibility as a world power to take the higher road and not stoop to the level of oppresors and tyrants. Oh well, too late.

 

[jaydee]

The insurgents should be given the same treatment as any other POW is afforded under the geneva convention. Will our solgiers get proper treatment when captured? No they wont, but we still have a responsibility as a world power to take the higher road and not stoop to the level of oppresors and tyrants. Oh well, too late.

In my heart I know you're right. But the trouble with making rules, like the Geneva Convention, is that adhering to them only makes sense if all participants follow them. I don't support this war in any way, but I don't feel too upset when a captured member of a genocidal force is mistreated. My only worry would be that the prisoner may not actually be an insurgent, in which case this would be a horrible injustice. And I'm not really a fan of sexual and psychological abuse; I was being facetious, but not completely so, when I suggested rendering these psychopaths incapable of committing further atrocities by playing by their rulebook, i.e. separating their heads from their bodies.

 

[TheInedibleHulk]

In my heart I know you're right. But the trouble with making rules, like the Geneva Convention, is that adhering to them only makes sense if all participants follow them. I don't support this war in any way, but I don't feel too upset when a captured member of a genocidal force is mistreated. My only worry would be that the prisoner may not actually be an insurgent, in which case this would be a horrible injustice. And I'm not really a fan of sexual and psychological abuse; I was being facetious, but not completely so, when I suggested rendering these psychopaths incapable of committing further atrocities by playing by their rulebook, i.e. separating their heads from their bodies.

Why are you so sure that all insurgents are psychopaths and murderers? Their country was invaded and their government overthrown by a foreign superpower that supposedly has good intentions but has a bad history in your area. You suspect strongly that the only real reason for the invasion is for the financial gain of the US. Wouldnt you be pissed if some foreign country came and bombed the hell out of your country because they didnt like your leader or wanted your oil? Maybe one of those bombs landed on your parents house, or your girlfriends, wouldnt you be insurging as well? I know I would.

 

[jaydee]

Why are you so sure that all insurgents are psychopaths and murderers? Their country was invaded and their government overthrown by a foreign superpower that supposedly has good intentions but has a bad history in your area. You suspect strongly that the only real reason for the invasion is for the financial gain of the US. Wouldnt you be pissed if some foreign country came and bombed the hell out of your country because they didnt like your leader or wanted your oil? Maybe one of those bombs landed on your parents house, or your girlfriends, wouldnt you be insurging as well? I know I would.

I agree that there is no good reason for the US to be in Iraq. I'd be just as PO'd as the average Iraqi. But I wouldn't be bombing wedding parties and beheading innocent people in revenge. I'd be attacking the occupation forces. I don't think of these "insurgents" as the average Iraqi. I see a massive religious agenda, a jihad, that has been released by George Bush's misguided criminal invasion. And I see a political agenda, where the Sunni minority faction insurgents are motivated by the desire to continue to dominate and annihilate the Shiites, who form the majority of the population.

 

[TheInedibleHulk]

You make a solid point.

 

[fluff]

They weren't insurgents, they were looters.

 

[TheInedibleHulk]

Another solid point. Whoever they were, torture is still unacceptable for anyone in the US military. Even if they dont follow the rules, we still do.

 

[springfield1911]

Here's something else we can pay attention to and realize how history repeats itself, although in the past it was much more disgusting...and the nation who committed it all still shows its true colors whenever they can get a chance to

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4202629.stm

 

[Silver]

Here's something else we can pay attention to and realize how history repeats itself, although in the past it was much more disgusting...and the nation who committed it all still shows its true colors whenever they can get a chance to

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4202629.stm

Of course that disgusting nation seems to have done better than we did with slavery in this country. Or does your memory not go back that far?