British army admits brutalising Iraqi civilians

[Aidoneus]

British army admits brutalising Iraqi civilians
By Julie Hyland
5 September 2003

The British army has issued a public apology for brutally beating Iraqi civilians in the town of Majar al Kabir, 120 miles north of Basra.

According to the Daily Mirror newspaper, on August 23 soldiers from the 22nd Special Air Service (SAS) clubbed and kicked 11 Iraqis they falsely believed to have been involved in the killing of six British military police officers in the town on June 25.

The elite troops—which specialise in counterinsurgency operations and counterrevolutionary warfare—used stun grenades to swoop on three houses in the town, kicking in doors and lashing out with boots and rifle butts against the occupants. A woman was amongst those injured.

--snip--

Abdule Amer, a chemistry teacher, explained: “We didn’t offer any resistance. I asked one soldier ‘Do you speak English?’ But he kicked me in the face, giving me a black eye and nose bleed.”

The home of vegetable seller Choban Jasem was raided at the same time. His sister-in-law had begged the soldiers not to hurt her children and was struck over the head with a rifle butt in response.

--snip--

The 11 were handcuffed and removed to the headquarters of the King’s Own Scottish Borderers regiment, where they were beaten again. Only after 18 hours, when it had been established from photographs and a list of names that the wrong men had been arrested, were the group released.

--snip--

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2003/sep2003/apol-s05_prn.shtml

[bemildred]

1. If you can't find the right guys,

beat someody else up. Sigh. It's like an
eight year old that is mad at his ten year old
brother, so he goes and punches his six year old
sister. They should go looking for Blair.

[LeftistGorilla]

2. I think....

his boat is coming soon....

[eridani]

3. This is US foreign policy in a nutshell

Among the Kwakiutl it did not matter whether a relative had died in bed of disease, or by the hand of an enemy; in either case death was an affront to be wiped out by the death of another person. A chief's sister and her daughter had gone up to Victoria and because their boat had capsized they never came back. Immediately the tribe set up the war pole to announce their intention of wiping out the injury, and gathered a war party. They set out and found seven men and two children asleep and killed them. Then they felt good when they arrived at Sebaa in the evening.

From "Anthropology and the Abnormal" by Ruth Benedict.

Not all that abnormal, it would seem. It's a great capsule summary of Pres. Shitstain's foreign policy.