Pic That Proves QLR Took Photos Of Beaten Iraqis

[Tinoire]

May 8 2004


WORLD EXCLUSIVE

By Jan Disley


A SOLDIER has produced damning proof that British troopers took "trophy" photos of Iraqi prisoners being abused.

Soldier D photographed a colleague in the Queen's Lancashire Regiment snapping a bound captive with bloodied teeth in the back of an armoured personnel carrier.



Soldier with camera, top right, takes photograph of beaten Iraqi suspect

<snip>

"If you had pictures you could show them. While we were out there we were told to get rid of all of them. But if they'd done a proper search they'd have found CDs and all sorts of things.

<snip>

Three other soldiers have told the Mirror of torture by rogue members of the QLR. One, Soldier C, is giving Military Police full details, including names and ranks.

<snip>

It has been suggested details in the pictures - such as parts of the soldier's uniform, his rifle, hat and boot lacing - were not authentic. But Soldier D said: "I think the pictures are real. I totally believe them.

"Before last summer it was very common to wear floppy hats. As for how boots are laced, you lace them however you want.

<snip>

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/allnews/tm_objectid=14221088&method=full&siteid=50143&headline=pic-that-proves-qlr-took-photos-of-beaten-iraqis-name_page.html

[Rebel_with_a_cause]

1. Did I mention

that Tony's finished, too?

[Walt Starr]

2. A colleague from the U. K. told me

he expects Tony Blair to end up standing down.

[mike_c]

5. party at my house when the bastards begin to fall....

Blair gambled VERY badly when he yoked his office and Labour to Bush's fortunes. It's hard to imagine how he could have miscalculated so badly. He must have one hell of a golden parachute waiting for him....

[bobthedrummer]

3. Some of the pictures of tortured Iraqi's were used as screen savers

on military computers, that's how pervasive they are.

[Tinoire]

4. More details

Soldiers report British torture of Iraqi civilians


<snip>

Journalist Paul Byrne wrote, “The shocking pictures on this page were handed to us by one of the attackers and a colleague. We have agreed to protect their identities as they fear reprisals”.

The photos show a cowering figure with his hands tied behind his back clothed in just an Iraq soccer shirt and his underwear. The victim’s head is covered with a sandbag. The images show a soldier urinating on him and butting him in the groin with a rifle, and the victim being kicked in the head, having a rifle pressed against his head and having his neck stamped on. Another photo shows blood congealing at the bottom of the sandbag near the neck of the victim.

Byrne wrote, “After an EIGHT-HOUR ordeal, he was left barely conscious and close to death. Bleeding and vomiting and with a broken jaw and missing teeth, he was driven from a Basra camp and hurled off the truck. No one knows if he lived or died.”

<snip>

The allegations of Soldier A and Soldier B

<snip>

“You normally try to leave off the face until you’re in camp. If you pull up with black eyes and bleeding faces you could be in s**t. So its body shots—scaring him, saying ‘We’re going to kill you.’ A lot of them cry and p*** themselves. Because it was so hot we put him in the back of a four-tonner truck which has a canopy over it. That’s where the photos were taken. Lads were taking turns giving him a right going over, smashing him in the face with weapons and stamping on him. We had him for about eight hours. You could see blood coming out early from the first ‘digs.’ He was p****d on and there was spew.

“We took his mask off to give him some water and let him have a rest for 10 minutes. He could only speak a few words, pleading ‘No, mister.’ ‘No, mister.’ I did less than the others. But I joined in. Me and my mate calmed down. Then two lads come on and it starts again. He was missing teeth. All his mouth was bleeding and his nose was all over the place. He couldn’t talk, his jaw was out. He’s had a good few hours of a kicking. He was on his way to being killed. There’s only so much you can take.” The soldier told the Mirror that at this point an officer told them, “Get rid of him—I haven’t seen him.”

<snip>

The soldier claims that troops were then instructed by senior officials to destroy incriminating evidence. He said, “We got a warning, saying the Military Police had found a video of people throwing prisoners off a bridge. It wasn’t ‘Don’t do it’ or ‘Stop it.’ It was ‘Get rid of it.’”

<snip>

More here: http://www.wsws.org/articles/2004/may2004/tort-m08.shtml

[maddezmom]

6. dupe:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x541092

but everyone needs to read it....the troops were ordered to destroy photos. Sounds like a cover-up in progress to me.

[Tinoire]

7. Thanks, will post the 2nd part there too. n/t

[Moderator]

8. duplicate

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=541092&mesg_id=541092