Home > Exposed.. squad of British soldiers beat teenage Iraqis and shame their country

Exposed.. squad of British soldiers beat teenage Iraqis and shame their country

by Open-Publishing - Sunday 12 February 2006
17 comments

Edito Wars and conflicts International UK

Video - Alternate video

SHAMED BY 42 BRAINLESS BLOWS

By Robert Kellaway

TODAY we expose a rogue squad of British soldiers who savagely attacked a defenceless bunch of Iraqi teenagers -and with 42 brutal blows brought shame on our nation and its proud army.

The horrifying scenes on these pages will shock the world and ignite a huge military scandal.

They were captured on a secret home video - apparently filmed for "fun" by a corporal-and show at least eight of his hulking comrades cruelly:

DRAGGING four weedy rioters-all apparently in their early teens-off the street and behind the high walls of a secluded army compound,

BEATING them senseless with vicious blows from batons, boots and fists,

IGNORING their pitiful pleas for mercy, until the incident climaxes with what appears to be an NCO delivering a sickening full-force kick in the genitals of a cringeing lad pinned to the ground.

All the while the callous cameraman delivers a stomach-churning commentary urging his mates on, cackling with laughter and screaming: "Oh yes! Oh yes! You’re gonna get it. Yes, naughty little boys! You little f***ers, you little f***ers. DIE! Ha, ha!"

Insult

The video-later shown to the corporal’s pals at their home base in Europe-was exposed to the News of the World by a disgusted whistleblower.

He told us the unit and regiment involved but for security reasons we are not publishing the details.

Our informant said: "These Iraqis were just kids. Most haven’t even got shoes on.

"Those eight soldiers were pumped up and out of control. They’re an insult to the thousands of soldiers who have worked so hard in Iraq with courage and dignity for so long.

"They’re nothing but a gang of thugs, a disgrace to themselves, their regiment and country."

The cowardly beating is believed to have taken place in early 2004 amid a series of street riots in southern Iraq. Troops were involved in running battles with hundreds of screaming demonstrators armed with stones, sticks, shovels and home-made grenades.

The atmosphere and tension comes across vividly in the video, believed to have been shot from a rooftop within the troops’ HQ compound. The muzzle of an Army SA80 rifle laid on its side is visible in the foreground.

A DIY grenade lands and explodes inside the compound-blasting out shrapnel and a cloud of grey-white smoke. A fire blazes just outside the perimeter wall sending up a pall of black fumes as crowds of rioters chant abuse at the soldiers. Dozens of youths run towards the compound hurling stones, but suddenly turn on their heels-chased by a unit of squaddies in combat helmets with riot visors and desert camouflage. Some of the soldiers are wearing flak vests and are armed with batons and rifles.

A crackling radio message to the troops pinpoints a target: "Black top, blue bottoms! Black top, blue bottoms! GO!"

The camera then cuts to eight soldiers returning with four prisoners, gripped in headlocks. The squad march their captives to the compound gate and drag them inside-out of sight from the rioters outside. Then the horror begins.

PRISONER 1 is hauled in wearing a dark blue T-shirt, blue jeans and white trainers-the only victim not in bare feet.

His captor releases the headlock, stands him up and-with combat helmet on and visor down-lands a crushing head butt. He rips the youngster’s T-shirt over his head and smashes his right fist twice into his kidneys and once into his head.

In panic the terrified captive desperately clings to the lanyard of the soldier’s baton in an attempt to stop it being used on him.

His pitiful cries of "No! Please!" are clearly heard. But the mocking commentator merely puts on a childlike voice and mimics his Iraqi accent: "No, pleeese-don’t hurt me."

Another soldier grabs the lad by the neck and hurls him to the floor to be kicked and beaten again. The head-butt soldier then raises his baton and brings it crashing down on him.

PRISONER 2, in blue T-shirt and grey trousers, is marched in, gripped by the shoulder. His captor forces him to the ground and hits him about the body and legs with his baton.

As he unleashes ten blows the boy twists and squirms around the soldier’s ankles trying to save himself. A soldier in a floppy hat-not part of the snatch squad-looks on. He is clearly unsure of what to do but does not look alarmed or make any attempt to stop the beating.

Instead he helps fix plastic restraining ties on the lad’s wrists. Another burly soldier, in desert camouflage and webbing belt with water bottle attached, strides up and whacks the Iraqi’s backside with a baton. The prisoner’s feet jerk in agony before he appears to pass out, a dark patch that looks like blood around his head. Meanwhile PRISONER 3, in white T-shirt and jeans, is booted in the back and body six times by two soldiers.

As he struggles on the floor one squaddie grabs him by the shoulder, kicks him twice and cracks him about the legs and bare feet with his baton.

PRISONER 4, barefoot in light blue T-shirt with beige trousers, is beaten before being picked bodily off the ground like a sack of potatoes, dumped on his chest and held with his arms up his back by two of the squad.

One soldier, identified by our source as a sergeant, walks up behind him and kicks him hard between the legs from behind.

The boy’s body arches in pain and the soldier behind the camera is heard poking fun and groaning: "Oorrgghh!"

As another squad troop past and take no notice a soldier’s voice is heard to scream: "In the f***ing head!"

The beating sequence on the video, which appears to be a series of excerpts from the incident, takes up 60 seconds of the 3minute 12second tape. Our investigators counted 42 separate blows but there were probably many more not caught on camera.

The video also has two other shocking sequences. In one, the camera approaches an Iraqi corpse while a soldier draws back a blanket to display it as a sickening trophy.

Sniggers

The cameraman then commits an act considered the ultimate insult to an Iraqi-and kicks the dead man twice in the face, humiliating him in death. As the head of the man, aged in his 20s, is lifted to face the lens a soldier sniggers: "He’s been a bad mother****er."

Another scene shows an Iraqi man grabbed by three soldiers and forced to kneel behind a wall where he is kicked hard in the chest.

The video came to light following the unit’s return home. Our source was horrified when he saw it and vowed the tape MUST be made public to force the army to clamp down on the abuse of prisoners-and protect the reputations of more than 80,000 dedicated British troops-including 101 killed and 230 injured-who have served in Iraq since the start of the second Gulf war.

He told us: "I’m sure those Iraqis weren’t innocent little boys-I bet they’d all been slinging rocks and maybe even explosives. But that’s no excuse for a beating like that.

"The ringleader was supposed to be a senior sergeant. Instead of reeling the lads in and calming them down, he was in the thick of it, urging them on. He even kicked that boy straight in the b***s with two other soldiers twice the lad’s size holding him face down.

"That’s sick. You could understand some terrified 19-year-old private losing it. But that’s what NCOs are for-to lead and set an example."

Last night we handed our dossier of evidence to the Ministry of Defence. A Military Police investigation is now under way.

http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/sto...

Forum posts

  • This article elucidates one of the major disastrous consequences of war. Which is, that war empowers the worst elements in a society, regardless of the side. The human race attempts to improve its collective lot, and, in many cases has done so. Many of us are no longer cold in the winter and hot in the summer. Many of us have enough to eat - in fact, many of us have too much to eat. And hope is in sight for all to have the blessing of modern life. I truly believe that is so. That said, what shall we do with our cretins? I know all societies have them. But we really must arrange things so they have little or nothing to say. And certainly no power to act out their thuggery. This is the real challenge. It’s a challenge perhaps greater than any other challenge civilized man has faced. If we don’t do something about the world’s cretins, they will ultimately bring us all down.

    • Well said. Your comments go beyond ideology, religion and all the other "isms" that the brainless seize upon in order to inflict pain on each other. I just wonder how the situation can change as most people "in the know" are too scared by and / or satisfied with the current state of "Humanity."

  • It would appear that most if not all of the victims of this barbaric assualt are PRE Teenagers. These "boys" seem to be ten to twelve year old "rock throwers" who got caught up in a crowd of older people who could outrun the fully uniformed Brits.

    If that is so, does it make it any nicer that the victims are less than teenagers?

    http://johnmccarthy90066.tripod.com

  • what the hell is wrong with those soldiers, out there acting like little kids. they should be punished harshly and tried for war crimes.

  • From time to time, the soul of some justice and kind people stands up to show to the world the extent of abuses done by the invading forces in Iraq. While the whole world is astonished by such photos or videos, the British and USA governments take the opportunity to show to the world that they are sincere to the Iraqis and thus they call for investigation and will send the accused persons to a trial. Then after lengthy maneuvering, the court will end up with minor sentences that are too little for the committed crimes. This was the case for the very large number of abuses committed in Abu-Graib prison which ended with few months of imprisonments to few soldiers. The case for killing of the injured civilians in Falluja mosque, ended with no sentence !. The British troops in Iraq had committed many crimes for the last 3 years. The photos, published by the British newspaper ( the sun ) showing the British soldiers torturing some Iraqi detainees ended up with no trail !. If Mr. Blair is sincere in his call for a probe, then he should show what he has done regarding the former cases of abuses to the Iraqis. Here is another case in which he can prove if he is honest.

  • Take a good look at the ’treatment’ meted out aginst those youngsters. Today them, tomorrow it will be us.

    Or you think those soldiers, or para-militarised police will be gentler and kinder to us, domestic dissenters? Your first encounter with the ’law-enforcers’ will snap you out of that notion, I’m afraid.

    Tom,

  • It’s obvious by the body count of the US soldiers as compared to that of the Brit soldiers that the Brit’s are not even near the front lines of the war. Tony Blair decided it was in his best interest to keep his troops in Iraq but out of harms way when the insurgents beheaded their first Brit causing a public outrage in UK and again obviously scared the shit out of Tony Blair prompting him to cut the deal with Bush and keep the Brits in Iraq so long as they did not have to fight and die (like we Americans are doing). War by any name is not pretty nor is it benificial under the pretenses created for this invasion and occupation of Iraq. But I do believe that the Brits should be exposed for the cowardly sissy punks that they are. This video is a prime example. If these Brit soldiers want a real fight they should head deeper into the triange, Ramadi or Baghdad and fight against the insurgents and die along side the Americans. After all, we did save their ass in WW II. But as shown in this video they choose to be puppets of their master Blair and fight their side of the war against children who do not even posses weapons or pose threat. Bragging rights for a real soldier huh? The truest shame is that this footage will never make the major media. The brits should wear pink BDU’S.

    • Blame your brainless president for the mess that is Iraq today. It may interest you to know (or not) that 103 "sissy’ Brits are dead and countless hundreds injured conducting war on behalf of your country. That’s the USA - a nation that swaggers around the globe believing it has a God-given right to attack and plunder the resources of other countries and is quite prepared to do anything in order to achieve its own selfish aims. Get a life!

    • I’ve got a life.
      Feeding off of the ignorance of people like yourself.
      Your quite right.
      The brainless "president" of the USA is all to blame for everything that has happened in the turn of events which has left Iraq in quite the shambles.
      When a person peels back the vaneer of USA, they will see that in relativity we are in no better shape. OUR resources plundered, OUR people hungry and, again, OUR soldiers dying.
      And OUR "president" to blame for it all.
      He didn’t get a vote from me, not that it matters.
      And I do not want him in office, not that it matters.
      I am sorry for you that in your own mind you cannot differintiate the massive distinction between 101 and 2,310.
      That matters.
      It must be a terrible task for you to manage your money and pay your debts.

  • Fret not..I’m sure just as in the US...there will be an investigation. Give them some slack people! They’re SPREADING FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY!

    • ...and hatred and bigotry and greed and avarice and contempt and indescretion and disgust and arrogance and blatant criminality. It’s the New World Order.

  • yet another blatantly transparent attempt - fully sanctioned by the military intelligence - to cause anger and resentment amongst the already infuriated local populations - in the hope that it will spur more retaliations against their own troops - to further encourage more brutal acts of "suppression" of "insurgents". old tricks that the israeli army has been playing for decades.

  • There is no telling what unfilmed outrage the Muslim teenagers were committing before the soldiers began kicking their asses. I’m sure the soldiers were provoked, and in that case, I think a good ass beating is called for. Long live President Bush and the USA!!

    • Actually you pathetic citizen of a failing and collapsing empire, since it was the British soldiers themselves who made the video, I guess they might have had some footage of whatever the Iraqis did to attract their attention, if it was of any consequence.

      Can’t you tell trhe difference between a bunch of armed men beating up a few teenagers, and a war? In your world attacking weaker nations when they are starved and broken is war I guess.

      Others call it brutal aggression.

      How low can you go in trying to make excuses for brutality and war crimes.?

      You invaded the country illegally. You use banned weapons like Depleted Uranium, Napalm and other WMDs against civilian targets. You have an officiall policy of torture and secret arrests and concentration camps. How long can you kid even your own hubristic, arrogant, gutless cur selves that you are anything but a rogue nation of thieves pirates and ninnies.?

      As for long live any of your little dreams, they are all crashing as we speak.

      Good bloody riddance to.

      DEATH to all imperial corporatocracies, and their gutless mindless supporters.

      GUTLESS CURS!

      From an ex-ally in Australia.

    • Who’s making excuses?? No one ALLOWED us vote against this "war". In over 68 cities for many years now there’s been millions of people marching to try and be heard. Haven’t heard about it? No surprise...it hasn’t been covered by our press. But take a look all around the net, videos, pics...it’ll be an eyeopener, I guarantee it.

      Torture, our gov’t saying its okay to spy on us, eliminating our constitution, invading and occupying countries...you can’t believe for an instant we’re somehow loving all this insanity. A lot of people are scared witless, most are furious. Some, unfortunately, are oblivious.

      But please don’t think those people somehow speak for Americans.

      You think I look at those pictures from Abu Ghraib and REJOICE?! It makes me sick.
      You think I see the limbless, blind, disfigured returning soldiers and say COOL? I’m heartbroken.
      You think I do a dance watching them unload those flag draped coffins unloaded at Dover AFB? Not one of those brave souls is worth the spit of the people who sent them there.

      If you think we’re crying out for blood when so much blood, including our own, is being spilled there...then you truly do live in Oz.

    • To the ex-Ally in Australia....do you have any plans to join the Iraqi resistance and fight the British and American soldiers?

      I am not making excuses but I am giving a different view point. You have absolved the teenagers’ bad behavior because you only see them as weak. You choose to imagine that just out of the blue, the British soldiers just began beating them for no reason. Come on. Surely you can’t be that naive Mr. Ex-Ally. You have put filters on your eyes and mind, and they blind you to the fact that at least Great Britain and the USA are trying to install a better life for the Iraqi people. The Americans and the British are not the enemies here. It is the radical Islamic insurgents, the remnants of Saddam’s supporters, and vicious-minded liberals such as yourself who are the enemy of democracy. I can’t understand why people such as yourself love democracy, but you don’t want to give it to anyone else if there is a chance someone will die.

      Bless your heart....you truly believe that Iraq was a paradise before we invaded. Tell me did you ever protest in the streets after hearing that Saddam had gassed the Kurds? I bet you didn’t even give it a second thought. Did you protest in the streets after the Beslan school massacre? I doubt it. Nope, it is much easier to hate the USA because we are the only super power left and are at least trying to spread democracy in the world. Tell me do you favor Russia and China now with their OUTSTANDING human rights records?

      I believe that for the most part British and American soldiers are great people, and you see them as being the enemy for some reason. I think it is highly ironic that people such as yourself wish for the world to be a peaceful place, but you object to the use of force in order to try and get that peace.

      I’ll give you some reasons on why it was a good thing to invade Iraq and remove Saddam:
      1. Saddam’s lies and deception to the U.N. for 12 years since the 1st Gulf War pretty much proves the USA and the West should have seriously doubted his assertions that he didn’t have weapons of mass destruction. Could you make a list stating what evidence you have that Saddam was a regular upstanding man who never lied about weapons or anything else? Would you take his word for anything? We went in on the assumption he had them and under very bad intelligence that was given to not only the USA, but also to other countries in the coalition.

      Quote that makes a fine point:
      "That Saddam would not comply, but that doing this would simply create an open-ended process of delay, deception, obstruction, and diversion. That this would happen, and those arguing for giving "one last chance" for Saddam before they could support the use of force ("serious consequences") would remain with their position unchanged, still not supporting the necessary action, still blithely asserting that we keep doing what we’ve been doing for twelve years, hoping for a different result (which is, I remind you, one definition of insanity). That they would come back asking for what amounts to an unlimited succession of "last chances."

      See how debate and diplomacy and "giving peace a chance" are just signs of weakness in the mind of men such as Saddam?

      2. Isn’t the security of the world much better off when there are less Middle Eastern countries with dictators at the helm that promote terror instead of democracy? Remember that little invasion of Kuwait a few years back....?

      3. We are not over there blindly taking and taking without giving. We are giving the Iraqi people money to rebuild schools, to rebuild hospitals, and at least we are giving them a chance they never would have had to get rid of Saddam had he stayed in power. Remember they couldn’t "vote" him out of office. The slaughter you see on the news every evening of the poor Iraqis being killed are not being killed by us, but by the foreign insurgents! You must understand this. I think you believe that the USA and Great Britain are the ones who are doing it.

      How come you aren’t marching in the streets demanding an end to the suicide bombers who are killing the Iraqis, how come you aren’t supportive of the new Iraqi constitution that in theory will give them more rights than what they had under Saddam? How come the crimes committed by the insurgents against the Iraqi people don’t even get a thought from you, but a film of some deliquent teenagers getting taught some respect by the people they were more than likely harassing makes you so bitter and vicious? Have you ever been in a war zone? How would you react if people were trying to kill you every day and a group of teenage thugs starts throwing rocks at you and hurling verbal abuse? Would you just act like a liberal and smile and suggest that every problem can be handled by talking about it? How come the insurgents’ crimes make so little impression on you Mr. Ex-Ally, but the act of a few Western soldiers just gets you so angry.

      I would like to end this e-mail with a question to the haters of the USA...if we are such a bad people as you guys claim, how come you don’t insist that your own countries take the lead in world affairs and have the world be like you envision it?

    • The British are a nation of Pussies led by a Queen and her monkey boy son. The British could not win a war against the Vatican! Ever since we kicked their asses in the 1700s, they have sucked at war. Even the wimpy Ghandi kicked them out of India. Their troops need to beat up on children and civilians to feel strong, it only natural!
      Sincerely, Jaye