British Troops Videoed Beating Iraqi Teens

It was maybe a little OTT, but as said above, no worse than you would get off the Police in a riot.

Look at the guys who use the batons, the're not even swinging them full wack, its just a slapping these boys got. Although the dude who got kicked in the balls must have been crying.

The chap filming it doesn't surprise me either, I know alot of soldiers (my dad used to be one) and if you threaten anyone in their unit, be it out on the town or the battlefield, the guys will always stick together. He did get carried away with his language mind, but not surprising.

I did wonder were the NCO was, but I think he is the one doing the crotch kicking. He is the biggest guy there and bearing in mind alot of squaddies are 18-20 year old lads led by a 30+ Sgt who is built like a tank, it must be him. If this goes to Court Martial, he will get a bollocking.

All in all, a bit brutal but no worse than a normal riot. At least we didn't open fire on the rioters. Would have done the same myself.

I saw the video today and I've got a sneaky feeling its faked. Its all part of an agenda to set Muslims against the west/the west against muslims, same as the Mohammad Cartoons in Europe. This will make any invasion or war with Iran or Syria more acceptabe to the general public.

What bothers me the most here is why on earth did it take two years to release this alleged footage?

Also why are the faces of the soldiers blacked out?

Why was the whistle blower not named?

Considering the fact that this story was released by a tabloid that had been known to release fakes before and given the fact that the faces have been covered up, I think that perhaps this is tabloid journalism at its worst, since it appears this could all be part of a set up to make it look as if they were British when perhaps they were not.

What other reason could they have for covering up the faces of the soldiers? I mean if we could see the faces we might find out it was insurgents who tried to look like British soldiers.

FYI "unofficially" of course US forces are authorized to carry slingshots with them while on gaurd duty. Mostly for the children like this who throw rocks at them. Many soldiers gaurding the fence have had to go to the hospital from getting hit with rocks. They are authorized to shoot back at the children whatever is thrown at them.

Chuck a rock at me, get that same rock square in the back as you run away.

It is called the Use of Force Ladder.

BBC

Tony Blair has said claims of abuse by soldiers "will be investigated" after images that appeared to show UK troops beating Iraqi youths were published.

The News of the World has published pictures from a video the newspaper says was shot in southern Iraq in 2004.

Mr Blair said the overwhelming majority of UK troops in Iraq behave properly and do a "great job for our country and for the wider world".

The Ministry of Defence has launched an investigation into the video images.

A military spokesman in Iraq condemned "all acts of abuse and brutality" by British troops, saying the allegations related to a "tiny number" of soldiers.

Continued...

Too little too late, but at least they are putting on a show.

A better one than America showed when the prison abuse photos first turned up.

When our troops get caught, they get beheaded.

I saw some innacuracies in the video too, may be my bad but, they had plastic shields?? do troops really carry these? also not all the soldiers had bulletproof vests on, suggesting a staged hoax? Also, the video kept skipping, and flitting about as though it was edited.

If someone could clear this up for me. Thanks

Arrowhead/

Originally posted by Arrowhead


I saw some innacuracies in the video too, may be my bad but, they had plastic shields?? do troops really carry these? also not all the soldiers had bulletproof vests on, suggesting a staged hoax? Also, the video kept skipping, and flitting about as though it was edited.

If someone could clear this up for me. Thanks

Arrowhead/

Good catch I missed the plastic shields. Something I doubt armed troops would be carring unless of course they were doing riot control.

Originally posted by Arrowhead
When our troops get caught, they get beheaded.

I saw some innacuracies in the video too, may be my bad but, they had plastic shields?? do troops really carry these? also not all the soldiers had bulletproof vests on, suggesting a staged hoax? Also, the video kept skipping, and flitting about as though it was edited.

If someone could clear this up for me. Thanks

Arrowhead/

The shields appear to be standard issue. Shatter-proof plastic types, usual fare for riot gear.

And not all of our squaddies wear body armour. Even if they are issued, they don't have to wear it.

Originally posted by ArchAngel

Too little too late, but at least they are putting on a show.

I would not say that until the fat lady sings. It has yet to be determined that the tape is in fact what it is claimed to be.

I think trying to explain this away as a fake is a bit lame. The equipment, the surroundings and the behaviour of the men looks like British soldiers to me. I stand by my comments earlier, however.

Thanks for clearing that up. Upon watching again ive noticed that the voice is heavily edited, if you listen carefully, it seems to skip when he laughs and go "die" and also other parts as if to exaggerate the narration. I think it is a clever hoax.

Comments?

Arrowhead

Originally posted by Arrowhead
Thanks for clearing that up. Upon watching again ive noticed that the voice is heavily edited, if you listen carefully, it seems to skip when he laughs and go "die" and also other parts as if to exaggerate the narration. I think it is a clever hoax.

Comments?

Arrowhead

The tape has been edited, thats for certain, but remember, this is the tape released by the News of the World, so editing is likely. It would be best to see the original.

I'm not at all sure that this video isn't a fake in fact I would almost be willing to bet it is. However, in the event that it is proven to be accurate I believe that we should take in consideration the stress that those men have been under. I'm not saying that beating an unarmed person regardless of sex or age is right but can you honestly say you won't respond that way when attacked yourself or you've seen your friends killed or wounded? I can't therefore I won't judge these men harshly or come to think of it all.

Originally posted by gallopinghordes
I'm not at all sure that this video isn't a fake in fact I would almost be willing to bet it is. However, in the event that it is proven to be accurate I believe that we should take in consideration the stress that those men have been under. I'm not saying that beating an unarmed person regardless of sex or age is right but can you honestly say you won't respond that way when attacked yourself or you've seen your friends killed or wounded? I can't therefore I won't judge these men harshly or come to think of it all.

Exactly what I said earlier in the thread. The buggers would have got the same if I was there.

But to be honest, from watching the tape and knowing what I know about the army, this would have taken an entire battalion of men to fake. There is a riot at the beginning with a thousand or so Iraqis chucking rocks and grenades!

The video is real, that is for sure, but you have to put it into context. That is why the NoTW has edited it. By removing or changing parts of the video, they can make it appear worse than it is and take the situation completley out of context.



[edit on 12/2/06 by stumason]

Originally posted by pieman
good to see the british army hasn't lost it's traditions, grab some unarmed civilians and fight them four to one, making sure you throw in a few good kicks once they go down. a cowardly show.

the camera man certainly got a nice kick out of it, didn't he. makes me wonder why the camera was shaking.

This is so totally false I felt I had to address it. Pieman I have had the pleasure of working with the British military I have always found them to be professional and quite frankly a delight to work with. They are a very brave group of men and women we are lucky to have them as allies.

Originally posted by stumason

Originally posted by Arrowhead
Thanks for clearing that up. Upon watching again ive noticed that the voice is heavily edited, if you listen carefully, it seems to skip when he laughs and go "die" and also other parts as if to exaggerate the narration. I think it is a clever hoax.

Comments?

Arrowhead

The tape has been edited, thats for certain, but remember, this is the tape released by the News of the World, so editing is likely. It would be best to see the original.

What is your view on this ordeal? I personally think that being submersed in an environment where there is no or limited sexual, physical anger relief, things like this are more likely to happen no matter how much training or discipline is available. At the end of the day, these guys had the chance to run, but decided to throw stones and give cheek to guys with gunz a little too close. Its their own fault. If i were being taunted and stoned, i dish a beating of my own. That is of course, if it isnt a hoax.

[edit on 12-2-2006 by Arrowhead]

I think it was perfectly acceptable. As I said earlier, it is no worse than what you would get if you rioted in London. The police would tear gas you then beat your arse.

I would have kicked the little buggers myself if they had been chucking rocks and grenades at me.

EDIT: They should thank their lucky stars we don't behave like American troops and just open fire. I for one would prefer a good kicking to getting shot.

[edit on 12/2/06 by stumason]

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[edit on 12-2-2006 by DontTreadOnMe]

Yeah, i couldnt agree more. Dont forget that when we get caught, we dont get treated NEARLY as well. This isnt portrayed very well in the media, although nowadays not much is. Our poor guys get hellishly tortured.

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[edit on 12-2-2006 by DontTreadOnMe]

Originally posted by stumason
By removing or changing parts of the video, they can make it appear worse than it is and take the situation completley out of context.

In other words according to what you are saying, if they have in fact edited the tape, they are making portions of it to look as something other then what it was, which in essence means they are faking portions of it. Or am I missing something here?

Hmmm, I see the paradox in what I said, I shall try to elaborate.

The incident no doubt happened, what I did say was that editing has taken place, that is clear. There a breaks in between different shots, indicating that some footage has been cut.

The editing makes it appear worse than it is by placing the situation out of context of what actually happened. This video has appeared on the news even more ediited than the one we link to here and only shows the end portion, not the riot at the beggining.

The soldiers didn't just grab some random kids off the street, these guys were throwing rocks and god knows what else at the men.

The men grabbed them and dragged them away from the crowd. Some light beasting took place, but it wasn't that bad.

It was a riot. As stated above, I would expect the same treatment off the Metropolitan Police if I did this in London. In fact, in the UK, tear gas, rubber bullets, riot police with batons, police on horses and water cannon would have been deployed.

[edit on 12/2/06 by stumason]

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[edit on 12-2-2006 by DontTreadOnMe]