British soldier fired for stabbing Afghan boy (for no reason)

[Turborama]

Source: The Guardian

A British soldier has been dismissed from the army after stabbing a 10-year-old Afghan boy in his kidneys with a bayonet for no reason.

Grenadier Guardsman Daniel Crook was suffering from a hangover after a heavy vodka drinking session when he bayoneted the boy, who was running an errand. He could not explain why he carried out the attack.

After being traced by the Guardian, the boy's father said the attack had left his impoverished family bitter and financially burdened. More than 18 months after the attack, his son is still unable to go to school. He said British forces were "in Afghanistan to build the country and remove insurgents, not to stab a child".

The unpublicised conviction of Crook is the latest in a series of prosecutions mounted against British military personnel accused of causing civilian casualties in Afghanistan.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/dec/02/british-soldier-stabbed-afghan-boy

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Much more at the link.

[xchrom]

1. why isn't he in jail?

:mad: & the british government should be compensationg that family.

[Turborama]

2. It explains later in the article that he was jailed for 18 months

I agree with your comment about compensation, but maybe he could be made to pay it himself by the British Gov. deducting it from his future pension, if he's still entitled to it.

[xchrom]

4. i should have said that i saw that -- i'm just a little struck that you stab a child

in the kidneys and only get 18 mos.

[Angleae]

3. He served to 18 months for a court-martial conviction.

[JohnyCanuck]

5. A "generous" $800 was awarded in compensation.

From The Guardian article in the OP:

Shah Zada, a shopkeeper and farmworker, says he cannot understand why his son was attacked and has received no apology from the British forces. Although he credits Nato troops for expelling the Taliban from his village, the attack has soured his opinion of western forces. "Of course foreigners are the enemies of Afghans – otherwise he wouldn't do that to innocent child who was just going by on his bike." On the question of compensation, he said: "We asked for $40,000 but they only gave us $800."

[xchrom]

6. it's outrageous.

if that soldier had done that while in a western country the outcome would have been very different.

[AlecBGreen]

7. apparently Afghan children aren't worth as much as a British child

:grr:

[Stella_Artois]

8. Really ?

If he'd have done that at home he'd have been tried by a civilian court, been discharged from the army and sentenced to a maximum of 5 years (assuming the charge was GBH, section 20)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grievous_bodily_harm

So he'd have been out in 2.5 years. No guarantee he'd get that much though.

Is that very different ? I think you were just being outraged.

[Ichingcarpenter]

9. Did you all see the video of US troops beating to death a sheep with a baseball bat

in front of a 12 year old?

Each hit was greeted with..... 'man that's gotta hurt' or something in the same vein.

A boy goads the sheep in and is just as amused as the army clobbering it. Sheep are sacrificed for the holy festival of Eid which occured on November 6th, symbolically to represent a sacrifice made by Abraham of a ram when the angels told him that he had fulfilled the dream ordering him to sacrifice his young son, at which he laid down the knife and sacrificed the animal instead. Clobbering it is not sanctioned.




http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=4c2_1320671022