A stain on the army...

FORMER British judge William Cage said that the beating to death of an Iraqi civilian was a “very great stain on the British Army” when he announced the finding of his investigation. It was a deplorable and terrible episode which has been condemned by all but I think that the former judge should have made clear that this was an isolated incident and underlined the fact that almost all British soldiers serving in Iraq (at one stage there were almost 50'000 of them) acted properly and within the law. Indeed the beating and subsequent death of a civilian who was held captive by British soldiers is a stain on the reputation of their regiment but perhaps the judge went too far when he suggested that it was a stain on the reputation of the whole army. This just tarnishes the reputation of thousands of soldiers who served their country with distinction in very difficult conditions. The people who are at fault here, apart from those who were found guilty of the murder, are the Senior NCOs and officers of the Queen's Lancashire Regiment. They failed to properly ensure that prisoners were being treated well and inline with the law. The hearing criticised the Colonel of the Regiment and quite rightly so. This was a terrible and outrageous incident which can never happen again. The British army should take the appropriate action but at the same time they should defend all those thousands of soldiers who served with courage and distinction.