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British Tabloids Battle it Out Whether Soldiers Abused Iraqi POW
Pictures of British soldiers made public by Britain's Daily Mirror showing soldiers abusing an Iraqi prisoner of war were faked, military experts told another British tabloid.
In an apparent war of the tabloids, the Sun newspaper reported (www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2004201720,00.html) that the uniform worn by soldiers in the photos does not appear to be genuine. Doubts were also raised over a variety of other issues, including the prisoner himself.
According to the Sun, one expert said: "I have no doubt these are staged." Military pundits listed twenty glaring mistakes or omissions in the pictures which they said pointed to them being faked or altered.
The images, which caused international outrage, appear to show a hooded Iraqi being kicked, urinated on and hit with a rifle butt.
However, one veteran expert told the Sun, "I am prepared to stake my reputation on my view that the whole thing is a set-up."
Detailed analysis, the Sun reported, concluded that the rifle in the picture was a replica of an outdated model, that the soldiers' kit was incorrect and that images had been altered.
Terry Foley, a former major in the British Army Intelligence Corps, told the Sun, "I am 110 per cent sure that the rifle in the picture is not a real British SA80. It's far too shiny and clean and the colour and tone of the metallic parts are different to the real thing, which might explain why these pictures are in black and white. A shadow has been added to the so-called drops of urine on the image and the wet patch of the hessian bag on the victim's head looks false."
Foley said he believed the rifle was a Japanese-made Soft Air replica of an original Mk I SA80 — not the modified version used in Iraq, the Sun reported..
Other areas of concern, the Sun reported, are that all the people in the pictures are very clean – showing no signs of the prolific Iraqi dust. The "victim" shows no signs of flinching or blood.
In addition, none of the soldiers is wearing a watch or any badges denoting their unit or ranks. One wears a floppy hat rather than the helmet and body armor that patrols must wear. Ammo pouches are empty and hanging open with straps undone. Pants are tucked into boots rather than secured with elastic to keep sand out.
The Sun reported that mounting evidence suggests the incident may have been faked by individuals wanting to impugn the British Army.
Former British Army intelligence officer Simon Treselyan told the Sun, "I have seen enough interrogations to know this is faked."
British Conservative Party Defense Spokesman Nicholas Soames said there was "clearly a question mark" over the photos' authenticity, the Sun reported.
The British Ministry of Defense told the Sun, "We are as keen as anyone to find out what lies behind this story."
However, the two soldiers who gave the controversial pictures to the Daily Mirror fired back, and insisted that they are real.
Known as Soldier A and Soldier B, Soldier B told the Mirror, (www.mirror.co.uk/news/allnews/tm_objectid=14205311&method=full&siteid=50143&headline=this-is-not-a-hoax--i-saw-it--i-was-there-name_page.html), "This happened, it is not a hoax and the Army knows a lot more has happened." Soldier A added, "I was there, I saw what happened."
Daily Mirror editor Piers Morgan defended publication of the photos, which sparked a worldwide outcry. He said, "There was clearly a small rogue element of soldiers who committed totally unacceptable acts against Iraqi civilians."
Morgan further said, "Acts which have made our battle to win the hearts and minds of this country's people so much more difficult. The Mirror makes no apology for exposing this outrageous and unlawful behavior, which has been common knowledge among disgusted British servicemen in Basra for many months. The vast majority of our troops in Iraq have done an outstandingly brave job in incredibly difficult circumstances and the Mirror will always support our soldiers unequivocally, even though we opposed the political decision to wage this war."
While the authenticity of these pictures is still being decided, one writer on an anti-Bush Yahoo group was convinced that pictures made widely available on the Internet "showing" soldiers apparently engaged in forced sexual relations with Iraqi women are staged.
She wrote (
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ihatebushfanclub/message/100470 ), "While other pictures shown have been proven authentic, the pictures of middle eastern women being raped by soldiers are from a US pay-for- porn website..they are NOT real. If they were I'd be right there saying it. They are not real. They are staged for the porn site ‘Uniform Domination.'"
The individual pleaded, "Please make sure this gets out...some of the pics released to media lately ARE real..some are staged for US porn companies of which there are dozens doing the 'Mid east girl/US Soldier' rape 'fantasy'...enough have died for lies....as sickening as it is in itself, please let people know the truth."
The site to which that individual referred appears to be hosted in Amsterdam. An e-mail to the site owner asking for comment was not immediately returned. Neither was an e-mail to the writer to the Yahoo group.