boomer

See http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/mid...st/4262336.stm

I think that our response was way over the top, and has done a lot of harm. Looks like we are just digging ourselves a bigger hole

mb

GC8

British soldiers arrested and brutalised whilst on duty by Iraqi police....? They deserved all that they got and the extremist Sunni militia was lucky not to come under fire too!

Puff The Magic Wagon!

iTrader: (2)

We weren't there so not in a position to comment. It *may* be that the local forces thought that the *detainees* were in danger due to their being British & reacted accordingly.

boomer

...or alternatively, two people dressed in civilian clothes and an a civilian vehicle start shooting at Iraqi patrols, so they are arrested and the judicial process begins. Meanwhile the brits destroy a jail, allowing 150 other prisoners to escape, kill two other civilians and make Iraqis wonder about the meaning of the word "democracy"!

A massive ****-up

mb

GC8

That certainly isnt the spin that the BBC are putting on it James. Theyve just shown pictures of the squaddies bloodied and bound. We should leave this country to sort themselves out. Whilst obviously Human Beings, they fall a long way short of being 'human beings' in my estimation.

boomer

A couple more reports at:

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_1542466.html and
http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0...196214,00.html

don't look good either.

mb

PG

Idoubt it has looked good for a while now but the news is quiet of late with no hurricanes ect so now they can turn the spotlight back on Iraq.
You only get to see what they want you to see !

r32

The Iraq interior ministry had agreed that the two soldiers should be released, but the local police refused to do that. The local police is infiltrated with a high number of insurgents. The two soldiers would have been beaten to death ............they had already been moved to a private home and would not have been seen again.
as they disappear into the underground
You think rescuing them was over the top ......... what planet you on?

Bear in mind that at no fault of their own these guys are fighting for a free Iraq, risking their lives every day, and you think a beating to death is OK?

StickyMicky

trying to get my head around it.....
so we go in, kick sum **** and help iraq knock out all the scum that is running the place, help them put in a new police force, which is full of scum, and things end back up at square one ??

if i am honest im thinking "nuke em all"

Leslie

Can't comment without knowing all the facts.

How can Britain and America leave having caused the mess in the first place by an illegal attack against international law?

Les

Redkop

So what would you have suggested they do?

davegtt

Exactly, we've destroyed a country top to bottom, apparently for their own good, its become our responsibility to get the country back on its feet again.

Casualties of war and all that. Got to remember the majority of people in Iraq are not causing problem, theyre probably happy Saddam has been took out and the country is almost free to do as it pleases without any fear hanging over their heads. But there are still extremeists out there and it needs to be delt with IMO

Petem95

This is it exactly - they had to get them out asap, and the British Army commanders acted exactly as they shouldve done IMO.

Agree that we should just get out Iraq ASAP and leave them to it.

Apparition

Think we all ought to get out of there as soon as poss. As it was said yesterday, this is fast turning into the UK's Vietnam. Its a no win situation. Why add to the pointless deaths of more of our soldiers? Sadam is out , let's leave them to it now. Might sound hard and callous, but I honestly cannot see how else this is going to be resovled.
I still stand by my belief in the idea that a crack squad should have gone in, taken out Sadam, and got out again, end of.
Yve

wez_sti

would of only been a matter of time before we had a ken bigley situaition with the soldiers being paraded on Al Jazeerer (sp?)

followed by some ridiculous demands lasting a week or so then the recorded beheadings of said soldiers.

unclebuck

So hundreds getting killed or injured on a daily basis by suicide bombers attract no comment but a couple of Brits get into a scrape and it's "not looking good in Iraq".

FFS the place is a zoo. We should never have gone there in the first place. How Blair got re-elected and is still Prime Minister is beyond me. This'll still be going on long after he's put his feet up in comfortable retirement.

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

Almost word for word what I said to wifey this morning., (although I did mention something about his having nicked our pension funds to fund it, and will retire with a £million or so). She'a Blairite, which says it all for me

Alcazar

Leslie

If Saddam had been assassninated which is also illegal, and was not the reason that Iraq was attacked anyway, despite what they tell us, then there would have been a civil war for power in the country and another despot would have taken over, who might even have been worse than Saddam.

This is what is likely to happen now of course since we poked our noses in where we should not have done.

Les

soldierscooby

As a person who can comment on things like Iraq and Aghanistan i think the british soldiers yesterday showed remarkable restraint in the face of being cooked alive in a metal box. Warriors, that they were in , are not "bulletproof" as was proven yesterday and they could of quite easily turned and driven over the Iraqis that were trying to kill them. They had chain gun and cannon to their disposal and didnt use either. And before people say it was all "over the top" the way we went in, when you get the shout that there are british soldiers arrested and maybe given over to the same people that cut peoples heads off with small knifes, if you have ever watched a video on this you will understand that you will do anything to stop it happening to a fellow soldier. I can bet they wouldnt of known at that time the soldiers being held were special forces and only they were british soldiers and maybe someone they knew. After being in Afghanistan and the number of times you come to heavy traffic, and not having the luxury of a Warrior, you suddenly are aware that you are seriously ****ed if someone wants to take you out! The Americans just drive down the roads at 100mph knocking people over ( i saw it twice, fatalities in both!). If it was the Americans in yesterdays incident they probably would of launched air strikes and tanks into the building...so before people comment about yesterdays events..we didnt ask to be there...we would rather watch our kids play in the garden not driving in metal coffins with ungrateful civvies trying to burn them alive!! RANT OVER!

Taff107

I tell you something, I would've driven that Warrior through those Iraqiis rather than get out of it. Perhaps even let off a few rounds with the Rarden for good measure....... Soldier, don't get wound up by some of the people on here. There are a lot of armchair warriors who have an opinion...................

On Telic 1, myself and another guy got in similar, serious 'mob' situation which really wasn't funny to say the least......

Leslie

It is true that the soldiers showed great restraint in their actions and up to now their general attitude has gained them general repect from the Iraqis. It is obvious that the problems have come from insurgents who have joined the Iraqi police. It was a mistake to disband the police force in common with the rest of the inept behaviour with respect to the aftermath of war displayed by the politicians who started it all.

Taff107, I think it is unfair to criticise the opinions of some of the posters on this thread purely it appears because they were not in the military.

Les

Taff107

I didn't base my opinion on only this thread. It is obvious that the majority of people form their opinion frm what they see / hear through the media. I know exactly how much the press sensationalise / contort events.

Oh really..........How do you think they should have responded? Would you feel the same if it was your *** handcuffed and being moved around by these idiots who have absolutely no respect for life?..........something tells me you would be more than happy with the response.

So that is exactly what happened then. Do you honestly think that it is as simple as that?
Do you really think that the special forces have anything to gain in finding police and taking a couple of shots at them?

marky1

I think you'll find one of the problems is that fanatics have recently been posing as policemen in basra. Earlier in the week a journalist was "arrested" by policement who later turned out to be radical fundamentalists and executed him. I think British Forces have since been told not to stop at iraqi police road blocks, hence why the initial problem occured.

Oh and in my opinion, regardless of whether it is wrong or right to be there i would say it is right to go to almost any lengths to rescue servicemen of my country who are in trouble. And yes those guys in their tanks showed enormous restraint, would have been so easy just to put the foot down and run over them all for a swift exit)