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Video Nasty

by | 13th, February 2006

‘LAST year’s news of what went on in initiation ceremonies at a military base in Taunton surprised few.

No excuses

What we heard and saw on video was all too believable. Indeed, it sounded like the sort of thing that many young Britons did for a laugh on holiday, and we agree that it was nothing to be proud of.

If the lads were prepared to strap foam mats to their arms and dance around like demented chicken as, naked and drunk, an NCO dressed as a schoolgirl encouraged them to kick each other in the head, what would they get up to when in a real battle zone?

Were they being toughened up to receive punishment or being given a crash course in how to dish it out?

Mindful of those images, we read news of the latest video of our servicemen behaving badly.

As the Times says, the majority of the 80,000 British servicemen and women who have served in Iraq have done so with “great courage, honour and distinction”. WE should remember that.

But it’s hard to see the good when you’re looking at the video of eight British soldiers assaulting four unarmed Iraqi youths, with a truly sadistic commentary provided by the man with the video.

(The Independent hears the lunatic with the camera shouting: ‘Oh yes! Oh yes! You’re gonna get it. Yes, naughty little boys. You little fuckers, you little fuckers. Die. Ha Ha.’)

The Times is right to say that the film will “give succour to every bigot and twisted fanatic prepared to overlook the freeing of the Iraqi people from Saddam Hussein’s tyranny”.

Indeed. The Independent says that film is “a propaganda gift for our enemies”. It will be cited by fanatics as an “indication of the Western world’s contempt for Muslim life”.

That’s the inevitable result of the News of the World’s decision to publish stills of the two-minute-long video it paid a whistleblower for.

What’s less clear is what will happen to the soldiers in the video, those boys “filled with testosterone and adrenaline” (Telegraph).

The Indy hears Brigadier Martin Rutledge, Adjutant General’s Chief of Staff, orate the Army’s response: ‘They are disturbing images. We condemn all acts of abuse and brutality and always treat any allegations of wrongdoing by our personnel extremely seriously.’

Quite right. Go for it. Throw the book at these wrongdoers who shame their colleagues and their country.

Rules are made to be followed. Rules are what the good soldier adheres to. As the Telegraph’s leader says: “Our Armed Forces are different from the Iraqi militias precisely because they are subject to rules. The day we forget this, we place our soldiers on the same level as the terrorists.”

There can be no extenuating circumstances. There are no valid reasons for British troops to engage in acts of such wanton savagery. Even if some aspects of their training might encourage it…’



Posted: 13th, February 2006 | In: Uncategorized Comment | TrackBack | Permalink