Post by Teddy Bear on Feb 24, 2008 20:06:41 GMT
The BBC, as we know, will go out of their way to avoid offending Islamic terrorists and militants, but when it comes to our own soldiers putting their lives on the line to fight this menace, the BBC will even invent stuff that vilifies them.
BBC claims of Iraqi murders condemned
By Thomas Harding, and Richard Alleyne
Last Updated: 2:03am GMT 22/02/2008
The Armed Forces minister yesterday condemned a BBC documentary that is set to include claims that UK troops tortured and murdered six Iraqi civilians, including a young boy.
Bob Ainsworth described the allegations said to be made by Panorama as unfounded. "People I meet on operations do genuinely see themselves as a force for good and to bandy around allegations without evidence is despicable," he said yesterday.
The documentary, due for broadcast next week, includes accusations that soldiers mutilated Iraqi insurgents' bodies after a battle. It also includes claims that they tortured detainees and covered up six murders in custody - among them that of a boy of 14.
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Commanders are convinced that the allegations are without foundation after lengthy investigations into the battle by both the Royal Military Police and Red Cross monitors. They point out that the most serious allegations have emerged only in recent months while all the Iraqis involved were interviewed in 2004 and 2005.
More than 200 people were questioned and there was "no evidence of mutilation of bodies and certainly no evidence" of a boy being killed. Last night the BBC said it would press ahead with the programme, insisting it would be a "fair and balanced account".
A spokesman said the programme had been condemned before anyone had seen it and that it was wrong to suggest that the corporation could not carry out its own investigation into the claims, which senior officers fear will be seized on across the Muslim world for propaganda purposes. They centre on the so-called Battle of Danny Boy in May 2004, when a large-scale ambush of UK forces close to the hotbed town of Majar-al-Kabir in southern Iraq turned into a three-hour battle in which at least 28 Iraqi gunmen were killed. According to the Army, its soldiers removed 20 bodies from the battlefield under fire, and took them to their nearby base, Camp Abu Naji, in the hope that the gunmen could be linked to other incidents.
Nine Iraqi gunmen were captured alive and taken to the camp.
The British say the bodies were "treated with respect", and that an Army chaplain was present.
By Thomas Harding, and Richard Alleyne
Last Updated: 2:03am GMT 22/02/2008
The Armed Forces minister yesterday condemned a BBC documentary that is set to include claims that UK troops tortured and murdered six Iraqi civilians, including a young boy.
Bob Ainsworth described the allegations said to be made by Panorama as unfounded. "People I meet on operations do genuinely see themselves as a force for good and to bandy around allegations without evidence is despicable," he said yesterday.
The documentary, due for broadcast next week, includes accusations that soldiers mutilated Iraqi insurgents' bodies after a battle. It also includes claims that they tortured detainees and covered up six murders in custody - among them that of a boy of 14.
advertisement
Commanders are convinced that the allegations are without foundation after lengthy investigations into the battle by both the Royal Military Police and Red Cross monitors. They point out that the most serious allegations have emerged only in recent months while all the Iraqis involved were interviewed in 2004 and 2005.
More than 200 people were questioned and there was "no evidence of mutilation of bodies and certainly no evidence" of a boy being killed. Last night the BBC said it would press ahead with the programme, insisting it would be a "fair and balanced account".
A spokesman said the programme had been condemned before anyone had seen it and that it was wrong to suggest that the corporation could not carry out its own investigation into the claims, which senior officers fear will be seized on across the Muslim world for propaganda purposes. They centre on the so-called Battle of Danny Boy in May 2004, when a large-scale ambush of UK forces close to the hotbed town of Majar-al-Kabir in southern Iraq turned into a three-hour battle in which at least 28 Iraqi gunmen were killed. According to the Army, its soldiers removed 20 bodies from the battlefield under fire, and took them to their nearby base, Camp Abu Naji, in the hope that the gunmen could be linked to other incidents.
Nine Iraqi gunmen were captured alive and taken to the camp.
The British say the bodies were "treated with respect", and that an Army chaplain was present.