Saddam's men filmed murder of two soldiers

The Times ^ | October 3, 2006 | Daniel McGrory

[MadIvan]

IRAQI officers loyal to Saddam Hussain filmed their cold-blooded murder of two British bomb disposal officers who were captured after a roadside ambush.

An inquest was told that Staff Sergeant Simon Cullingworth, 36, and Sapper Luke Allsopp, 24, thought that they were being taken to hospital for treatment, but instead they were moved to a compound run by Saddam’s military intelligence.

The harrowing ordeal lasted for hours until Iraqi agents killed the pair. The soldiers were buried in a shallow grave.

At the inquest yesterday the coroner, Andrew Walker, severely criticised army chiefs for failing to ensure that the soldiers avoided driving into alZubayr, which is known as a lawless town. Other British convoys had already been attacked there. Mr Walker said “The failure to adequately plan for and warn of the dangers was, in my view, a contributory factor to their deaths.”

Last night the Ministry of Defence denied that their commanders had been negligent, saying that members of the convoy had been given a detailed briefing of the risks they faced.

A spokesman said: “During operations, by the nature of the complex, dangerous and challenging environment in Iraq, no amount of preparation or familarisation will entirely diminish the level of risk.”

The deaths in March 2003 led to a public row when Tony Blair accused the Iraqis of executing the soldiers. The Army had told next of kin that the men had been killed instantly in combat.

Details revealed during the two-day inquest in Oxfordshire appear to suggest that Mr Blair was given an accurate version within hours of the killings. The coroner ruled that the men had been unlawfully killed.

# A British army medic was killed and another soldier was wounded in a mortar attack on their base in Basra in southern Iraq, the Ministry of Defence announced yesterday.

The member of the Royal Army Medical Corps was killed when insurgents in the city, dominated by radical Shia militias, fired 15 mortar rounds at the headquarters of the 1st Battalion, Light Infantry Battle Group in the Shatt al-Arab hotel in Basra late on Sunday.

The MoD said that it would not release the identity of the soldier until his family had been informed.

[MadIvan]

I hope Saddam sees their ghostly reflections when the gallows rope stretches his neck.

Regards, Ivan

[MadIvan]

Ping!

[calinative31]

But...but...that's against the Geneva Convention!

[MadIvan]

But...but...that's against the Geneva Convention!

Apparently if we violate the Geneva Convention, we'll somehow lose the battle for hearts and minds. An assertion to which I reply, "What minds?"

They were lost long ago!

Regards, Ivan

[MikeA]

So much for the McCain/Graham/Warner/Entire Democratic party idiocy that if we "just respect the Geneva Conventions with terrorist prisoners and POWs from rogue states, they'll respect it too" vomit.

I think we all thought it a joke when the above named fools indicated that terrorists will treat our prisoners with respect if we just apply the Geneva Conventions to their prisoners. Yeah, they'll offer them the choice between a wood saw or a machete in chopping off the heads of our prisoners. But this incident shows that even with state players from rogue regimes, that such animals have no interest in the niceties of the Geneva Conventions.

[dinasour]

Thanks for the ping.

Thanks for the perspective.

I don't often comment, but I always read.

[MadIvan]

So much for the McCain/Graham/Warner/Entire Democratic party idiocy that if we "just respect the Geneva Conventions with terrorist prisoners and POWs from rogue states, they'll respect it too" vomit.

They didn't really say that, did they?

Regards, Ivan

[MikeA]

In essence, yes.

[jazusamo]

AMEN! But hanging is too good for the butcher.

[MadIvan]

That's about as clever as Neville Chamberlain thinking that if he gave Hitler everything he wanted that he'd be a nice little dictator.

Regards, Ivan

[RacerX1128]

But...but...that's against the Geneva Convention!

Yes and there would be less violence in Iraq if Sadamn was still President!

[Bahbah]

If only you Brits had adhered to international law /s

[EricT.]

Good to see you posting on FR again Ivan.

[cgk]

Evil. Pure evil. Prayers continue for these brave soldiers' families & what they must endure the more we learn about these two heroes' final hours.

[SandRat]

Condolences to the families of our British Brothers in arms.

RAGE at the SCUM that did it! May they feel the same wrath and receive the same justice that the the Mahdi's forces in Khartoum got after the butchery of Pasha Gordon and his allies.

[DCPatriot]

The number of ghosts Saddam created is in the hundreds of thousands.

[VOA]

I hope Saddam sees their ghostly reflections when the gallows rope stretches his neck.

I hope for a botched hanging...and a minute of a kicking, screaming Saddam.

And a liesurely letting him safely down and trying it again to get it right.

[weegee]

Media Schadenfreude and Media Shenanigans PING

Did this war crime video lead the evening news last night?

4 articles on Foley on the front page of the New York Times? Same paper that had Abu Ghraib on the front page for a solid month???

[4yearlurker]

Show Saddam some film of his scumbag sons being shot to pieces and lying in the morgue sewed up like Christmas turkeys. Have the video showing 24/7 in his cell,since he likes videos so much.