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Eight or more civilians died in the custody of British troops in the weeks after the invasion of Iraq, despite frequent warnings by the army's most senior legal adviser there about unlawful treatment of detainees, an inquiry has heard.

Baha Mousa, a Basra hotel worker who died in British custody, 09/15/03. (photo: Liberty/PA)
Baha Mousa, a Basra hotel worker who died in British custody, 09/15/03. (photo: Liberty/PA)

 

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+2 # Andrew Preston 2010-03-16 22:44
He heard nothing, saw nothing..... So where did these soldiers learn about hooding..., and the use of cable ties, and the other bits of paraphanalia? They don't teach this in secondary schools.
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+3 # Steve Newcomb 2010-03-17 05:09
I'm reluctant to be harsh about British misbehavior, in view of the fact that the U.S. has yet to have its own no-holds-barred investigations, and we probably won't until regime change occurs here. I suspect U.S. imperial misbehavior was even worse, and at far larger scale. Americans saw on their TVs the frogmarching of hooded "terrorists" at Guantanamo, and few of us complained about it. There are still no American war criminals; that pretty much says it all. The American Empire is known everywhere as lawless and brutal. Our President, a Constitutional scholar, has decided reversed himself and now wants military commissions, instead of the court proceedings that the Constitution requires. So who's in charge? Not the President. Not the people. Not the courts. Not the legislature. "It's the military-industrial complex, stupid." Money is our god, and it is so vengeful, brutal, and frightening that few can resist it. It is our mortal enemy, and it is defeating us in every way.
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+1 # JillL 2010-03-17 05:37
How is it that Cpl. Payne was "cleared," I wonder? It makes me believe that these outcomes are determined prior to "trial." How absolutely disillusioning. I wouldn't show my face, today, if I were Cpl. Payne. It goes to show, once again, that the human race has little superiority, over animals. I suspect this is the usual fodder of "war" in the Middle East, today. Good God, why should that part of the world respect anything to do with the "coalition?" And we are paranoid about **terrorists?!**
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+2 # Harold Mencher 2010-03-17 07:11
What regime change? The only regime change we might very well see come November and in 2012 is a Republican takeover of this country. That will not bring to light the heinous crimes that the United States committed in the name of this phony war on terror, a pretense to further our grip on the world, empire building. It will only bury our crimes even deeper than they are now. The American people, because of their extreme naiveté, have cut their own throats. This country is quickly become a full-fledged dictatorship, whether the Democrats are in control or the Republicans. I would ask that people who voted Democratic in 2008 and who do not want to do so again come November or in 2012, not vote Republican, but vote the Green Party. Putting the Republicans back into power will only exacerbate the problem, not help it any.
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+1 # foxtrottango 2010-03-17 17:48
It could be that the UK has a judicial system while the US has a system that favors torture. With a conservative Judicial, penal, police and jury system, is it any surprise?

Americans (USA) talk about justice but don't practice it. There is too much money in it to administer "justice." In fact, Justice is for sale in the USA!

Hell, everyone knows that. Just look at the Supreme Court recently when they vote for corporates to run the government.
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