By Richard Norton-Taylor, Michael Howard and Sam Jones
LONDON/SULAYMANIYA: The first British troops to arrive in southern Iraq in March 2003 may not have been sure what kind of reception awaited them, but they were left in no doubt as to how to treat the city’s residents. “When you go in and sort out an urban area, you are not out to break the china,” said Air Marshal Brian Burridge, the head of British forces.
Britain’s softly approach towards patrolling Iraq’s second-largest city seemed to set them apart from the more muscular, distant US approach. They swapped their helmets for soft berets to show locals that they were not simply an invading army. There were impromptu games of football between local youngsters and soldiers in T-shirts.
Much was made of the British soldiers’ experience. Many had served in Bosnia, Kosovo and Northern Ireland, and were more used to urban patrols than their US counterparts. But questions about the conduct of British soldiers — and their success in winning hearts and minds — will inevitably be asked following the potentially damaging and hugely embarrassing video which emerged in the News of the World on Sunday. Even so, violence flared in the Basra region in March 2004 when riots erupted over job shortages. Fourteen British soldiers were injured when hundreds of Iraqis threw stones and petrol bombs during the protests. In a standard tactic adopted in Northern Ireland and now used by Britain’s 8,500-strong force in Iraq, snatch squads were sent out to arrest the ringleaders. The video apparently shows British troops dragging four young protesters off a street and into an army compound after one such clash. They are then seen being viciously beaten by the soldiers. The MoD would not confirm the regiment involved, but 20 Armoured Brigade, based in Paderborn in Germany and which included the 1st Battalion the Light Infantry, was deployed in Basra at the time.
In the video, which the paper said was played at the troops’ base in Europe before being handed over by a whistleblower, the cameraman is heard laughing and saying: “Oh yes! Oh yes! You’re gonna get it. Yes, naughty little boys. You little ...., you little .... Die. Ha Ha.” Soldiers are shown beating the Iraqis, with one apparently kicking a young man in the genitals as he lay on the ground. A young Iraqi is apparently head-butted by a helmeted soldier and hit in the kidneys. The Iraqi cries: “No, please,” as the commentator says in a mocking, childlike, voice: “No, please, don’t hurt me.” The video also apparently shows an Iraqi corpse being kicked, and, as the man’s head is held up to the camera, a soldier sniggers: “He’s been a bad .....”
A military spokesman in Basra, Flight Lieutenant Chris Thomas, on Sunday reacted to the release of the tape by condemning “all acts of abuse and brutality” by British troops. “We hope that the good relations that the multinational forces have worked very hard to develop won’t be adversely affected by this material.” He added that the allegations related “to only a tiny number of the 80,000 personnel that have served in Iraq”.
A spokesman for Nadim al-Jaberi, the head of the al-Fadhila party, which has a strong presence in Basra, said last night they were “shocked but not surprised” by news of the video. He added: “Many of our supporters have reported ill treatment at the hands of some of the British forces. I don’t think they would behave that way in Britain. Why do we deserve it?”
The latest evidence is a further blow to an army deeply concerned over a reputation dented by cases involving the alleged abuse of Iraqis by soldiers. The Guardian reported in December that, in a briefing to senior army officers, Major General Bill Rollo, a former commanding officer in southern Iraq, warned of the damage being done to the service’s reputation in an era of unprecedented media and judicial scrutiny. British officers are increasingly concerned at the tasks — a combination of peacekeeping, policing, nation-building, and training Iraqi security forces — they are being asked to carry out in Iraq. Their difficulties are compounded by the infiltration of the Iraqi police and security forces by militia.
Operational demands on the army have led to cutting corners in training and exercises, military sources say. When asked about the video, Charles Heyman, a former army officer and author of the standard handbook on the British army, said: “You can’t send soldiers [to Iraq] without this happening on a regular basis, because they are not policemen.” Last year General Sir Mike Jackson, head of the army, launched an inquiry into whether pre-deployment training was adequate. Abuse allegations had damaged the army, he said, but a cover-up would be worse. —Dawn/The Guardian News Service
