Soldiers Quit Army in Protest After Acquittal on Boy's Death
Richard Norton-Taylor
Friday June 9, 2006The Guardian
Two soldiers cleared this week of the manslaughter of a 15-year-old Iraqi in Basra in May 2003 are to leave the army in protest at their treatment.
Martin McGing and Joseph McCleary of the Irish Guards and a third soldier - Colour Sergeant Carle Selman now of the Scots Guards - were acquitted at a court martial of killing the teenager. Ahmed Jabar Karheem drowned after allegedly being forced into a canal to "teach him a lesson" for suspected looting.
During the hearing Lieutenant Colonel Nicholas Mercer, the army's senior legal officer for the invasion, told the military court in Colchester: "There was a total failure to plan for the occupation. There was only enough time to prepare for war, never mind the occupation."
Guardsman McCleary, of Bootle, said yesterday: "We were told to put the looters in the canal. I was the lowest rank, and we were always told we weren't paid to think. We just followed orders.
I don't know why the army went ahead with the prosecution ... We were scapegoats."
Guardsman McGing, of Oldbury, West Midlands, said he was bitter at being "hung out to dry" by the army.
Lord Goldsmith yesterday defended the decision to prosecute the soldiers, who waited three years for their acquittal this week. He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that "it was quite right to bring the case because there was sufficient and credible evidence of wrongdoing".
He added: "That was a decision of the independent army prosecuting authority ... If in the light of the view of these very experienced lawyers and prosecutors a decision had been taken not to prosecute, I think I would be sitting here equally trying to explain how it comes about that we hadn't actually put it to a court to make the decision."
However, he agreed that three years had been a long time for the case to come to court. The armed forces bill now going through parliament is designed to speed up and improve the military legal system.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Defence said there was no evidence British soldiers in Maysan province had killed an Iraqi child on Wednesday as they fired baton rounds at a crowd stoning them. According to local reports, a 13-year-old boy was hit and killed by British troops.
The soldiers were clearing an area around an improvised explosive device just south of Amara in south-east Iraq. More than 100 Iraqis gathered at the scene and started hurling stones at the troops. "Hospitals local to Amara have been contacted and they have not admitted any bodies or children recently," the MoD said.
Link Here
Friday June 9, 2006The Guardian
Two soldiers cleared this week of the manslaughter of a 15-year-old Iraqi in Basra in May 2003 are to leave the army in protest at their treatment.
Martin McGing and Joseph McCleary of the Irish Guards and a third soldier - Colour Sergeant Carle Selman now of the Scots Guards - were acquitted at a court martial of killing the teenager. Ahmed Jabar Karheem drowned after allegedly being forced into a canal to "teach him a lesson" for suspected looting.
During the hearing Lieutenant Colonel Nicholas Mercer, the army's senior legal officer for the invasion, told the military court in Colchester: "There was a total failure to plan for the occupation. There was only enough time to prepare for war, never mind the occupation."
Guardsman McCleary, of Bootle, said yesterday: "We were told to put the looters in the canal. I was the lowest rank, and we were always told we weren't paid to think. We just followed orders.
I don't know why the army went ahead with the prosecution ... We were scapegoats."
Guardsman McGing, of Oldbury, West Midlands, said he was bitter at being "hung out to dry" by the army.
Lord Goldsmith yesterday defended the decision to prosecute the soldiers, who waited three years for their acquittal this week. He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that "it was quite right to bring the case because there was sufficient and credible evidence of wrongdoing".
He added: "That was a decision of the independent army prosecuting authority ... If in the light of the view of these very experienced lawyers and prosecutors a decision had been taken not to prosecute, I think I would be sitting here equally trying to explain how it comes about that we hadn't actually put it to a court to make the decision."
However, he agreed that three years had been a long time for the case to come to court. The armed forces bill now going through parliament is designed to speed up and improve the military legal system.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Defence said there was no evidence British soldiers in Maysan province had killed an Iraqi child on Wednesday as they fired baton rounds at a crowd stoning them. According to local reports, a 13-year-old boy was hit and killed by British troops.
The soldiers were clearing an area around an improvised explosive device just south of Amara in south-east Iraq. More than 100 Iraqis gathered at the scene and started hurling stones at the troops. "Hospitals local to Amara have been contacted and they have not admitted any bodies or children recently," the MoD said.
Link Here
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