http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/armyvideo.shtml

News of the World:
Brutal British soldiers caught on video beating Iraqi boys
BBC: Blair promises Iraq 'abuse' probe

Hmm....it is hard to tell. I guess they have to do for their job. We need to discuss about it.

Originally Posted by Fox

Hmm....it is hard to tell. I guess they have to do for their job. We need to discuss about it.

Althought those guys are probably linked with radical groups but beating them and having fun doing it is not humane and is not the goal of the coalition forces and those are not there to beat the people.

But I guess we should wait until the official investigations end and then we'll be able to see if there is any thing fishy with this.

Riot control is never done with silk gloves and lace stockings - though I do react on what seems like partly uncontrolled usage of violence. Honestly nothing really shocks me anymore these days when it comes to such images - a signal of it being too common?

Move along here people. Nothing to see. Move along.

Althought those guys are probably linked with radical groups but beating them and having fun doing it is not humane and is not the goal of the coalition forces and those are not there to beat the people.

A general comment: Who says you can't enjoy bringing a little punishment down on bad guys? War isn't PC and it certainly isn't humane. It is survivial. You can't always get the point across with "soft hands."

A video specific comment: It looks to me like they're giving them a little old fashioned ass pounding. The Brits were taking fire, they could have killed them. Instead, they bring them back behind the wall and give them a little of the "what for." Works for me. It was more akin to an old fashioned "spanking" or neighborhood rough-up than a real "beating."

The only mistake I see here is that they taped it and let it get out to the public.

We don't send troops downthere to beat up kids. We send them over to arrest the insurgents and the criminal. Those images showed pure beat-for-fun.

Originally Posted by Italian Guy

We don't send troops downthere to beat up kids. We send them over to arrest the insurgents and the criminal. Those images showed pure beat-for-fun.

No offense, but that's really easy to say when you aren't there. Thinking outside of the box can and will save your life at times. It certainly saved those kids lives.

It's sure easy for me to say, yes. But I do not see how the British soldiers were protecting themselves, or gaining useful information, or doing anything good for their country or Iraq by kicking and beating up those unarmed and (by then) harmless Iraqis with sticks and boots. If they were guilty of some crime they should have been simply jailed.

Originally Posted by Italian Guy

It's sure easy for me to say, yes. But I do not see how the British soldiers were protecting themselves, or gaining useful information, or doing anything good for their country or Iraq by kicking and beating up those unarmed and (by then) harmless Iraqis with sticks and boots. If they were guilty of some crime they should have been simply jailed.

I didn't say the Brits were protecting themselves, I said they were giving out a little wall to wall instead of simply shooting them in the face.

What were they doing before (the Iraqis)? We don't really know, but if you go by what the Brit says, they were shooting at them. Now, if that was the case, they would have been in the clear to engage them and end their little rioting lives forever. As it stood, it looks as if they choose to give them a bit of old fashioned punishment. Everything would have been fine if they wouldn't have video taped it.

Nothing is "simple" over there.

That's just my .02 cents on the matter. Take it or leave it.

Listen PJ, what you're saying is far from meaningless IMO, and I'm not famous for my troops-bashing or "liberal" attitudes either.
I would just like to know whether this is within or beyond their ROE's.