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A shocking breakdown of military discipline is caught on video as eight burly British soldiers rain 42 kicks and blows on four puny young male Iraqi civilians, one of them a child. The victims' helpless cries for mercy and howls of pain and terror are ignored by groups of troops casually passing by. One man is heard to say: "In the f***ing head." The most senior soldier, thought to be a sergeant, does nothing to stop the brutality but instead delivers a vicious kick to one victim's genitals. The video's soundtrack features a disturbing commentary from the cameraman, an excited sentry who laughs, sneers, encourages and mocks as the outrage unfolds before him. Still images from the video, provided by a paid whistleblower and published in the News of the World, prove that the incident was far from being a unique atrocity perpetrated by the British forces in Iraq. In another location an Iraqi civilian is seen being forced to kneel alone behind a brick wall by three soldiers who kick him hard in the chest. A further episode sees a soldier display the corpse of a young Iraqi man, lift the victim's head and display it to the camera. The cameraman defiles the body by twice kicking the dead face, a grievous insult to Arabs who regard shoes as dirty. A soldier laughs: "He's been a bad motherf***er." But it is the casual savagery of the attack on the four young maleswhich forms the most devastating two minutes of the video. At first, groups of youths throw stones at the stronghold but they flee when lines of baton-wielding British soldiers emerge. A radio voice screeches targets for the troops: "Black top, blue bottoms -go on!" Some of the Britons return, dragging their captives in headlocks. The moment they get inside the perimeter wall, out of sight of the civilian population, the violence begins. The first victim, a boy no older than his early teens, is released from a headlock by a soldier still wearing his helmet who immediately head-butts him. The boy cries "No, please" and clings helplessly to the soldier's baton. Another soldier grabs the boy's neck and throws him to the ground. The first soldier brings his baton smashing down on to the child. A second, slightly built youth is repeatedly dealt heavy blows with the baton until he crumples. A third victim is battered to the ground with a baton and kicked repeatedly like a football. In a distressing image the prisoner is last seen unconscious with a dark patch, resembling blood, around his head. The cameraman shouts with delight when the captives are first brought into the compound. "Yes, yes, oh yes, you're going to get it," he says. "Yes, naughty little boys. Ha, ha, ha, ha. Phwoar. You little f***ers, you little f***ers. Die!" He mocks the captives' pleas for mercy, adopting a high-pitched voice to say: "No, please don't hurt me!" The News of the World published extracts from the video on its website yesterday, allowing millions of people to download the images. The newspaper studied the video for several days, taking pains to confirm that it was genuine after hoax Iraqi abuse photographs cost Piers Morgan his job as Editor of the Daily Mirror. Stuart Kuttner, the News of the World's managing editor, said: "We've made inquiries of the source, of people around the source, of experts, of the Ministry of Defence and beyond." One of the key mysteries is how such a film could exist and be shown to military personnel for two years without the obvious crimes depicted being reported to the authorities. Critics will question at what rank did the Army realise that prisoners were being beaten. The film was taken by one non-commissioned officer and shows abuse by another. Most of the soldiers attacking the youths are privates. THE REACTION 'Their (British troops) presence there, under a UN resolution, helping Iraqis is of fundamental importance, not just to the security in Iraq but to the security of Britain.' Tony Blair 'This is proof of the violations of human rights being committed by British troops.' Akil al-Bahadily, official from the Basra office of radical Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr 'The actions of a tiny minority must not be allowed to taint the reputation of the Forces.' Liam Fox, Shadow Secretary of State for Defence 'Britain has dramatically found itself in its own Abu Ghraib scandal.' Nigel Parry, writing for Chicago-based ElectronicIraq.net 'Even the suggestion of abuse weakens our position in Iraq and makes the need for a coherent exit strategy all the more urgent.' Michael Moore, Liberal Democrat defence spokesman 'We hope that the good relations that the multinational forces have worked very hard to develop won't be adversely affected by this material.' Flight Lieutentant Chris Thomas, British military spokesman in Basra 'We thank God that it comes from their own photography. Many consider the actions normal compared to what happens behind closed doors, which is greater' Muhannad al-Moussaoui, Basra resident 'The majority of these young British soldiers have a racist mentality. Going to Iraq and Afghanistan to kill non-Europeans is a dream come true' Zarah Kahn, Afghanistan, posted on www.aljazeera.com 'It will cause a lot of trouble in Iraq. It emphasises the whole point that the continued presence of British and American forces in Iraq are part of the problem, not the solution' Jeremy Corbyn, Labour MP 'Just as free speech is an important value (when it suits) to you in the West, so the right not to have one's head kicked in is an important value to people in the Middle East!' Shazad Aziz, posted on newsforums.bbc.co.uk 'First reaction, like everybody else, is a reaction of horror. If this is true, then sadly those squaddies are going to be dismissed, no question about it' Stephen Pound, Labour MP more from this section  • Interview: "Self-organisation: Counter economic strategies" book, Interviewer: Will Bradley, Sunday, October 15th, 2006  • Not the Full Picture: Israel’s Media Censorship, Interviewer: Jenka Soderberg, Free Speech Radio News, Tuesday, August 15th, 2006 • Massacre on a Beach in Gaza, Mike Whitney, Center for Research on Globalization, Friday, June 16th, 2006 |
      
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