Will this scapegoat give the UK more cred?

news.bbc.co.uk...

I cannot help but feel this young soldier is a scapegoat. Whilst we don't yet know the full circumstances, Iraq in Aug 2003 is not the place to carry even a licenced weapon without the risk of geting shot??

I'm assuming the British forces will soon be asking armed people on the streets of Iraq...'excuse me old chap, but I notice you seem to carrying a gun. Do you have a license for that thing? Oh, and are..' BANG.....too late. Another British soldier is dead.

[edit on 7-9-2004 by Irma]

This is the kind of thing you get I guess when you try to get an army to act like a police force.. the guy was a trained solder in a war-zone. Minimal force shouldn't really come in to it. IMHO, in cases of self defense like this.


If the story is correct and the situation arose from the guy holding a gun, then sure.. maybe he didn't deserve to be shot, but neither does the guy who shot him deserve to be punished. At least he'll get a jury trial though if it comes to it, and they would most likely give him the benefit of the doubt..

Lee Clegg springs to mind.
Who will be taking the politicians, that authorised the murder of thousands of people some asleep in their beds when their roofs came falling in under the weight of precision weapons, to court. Thought not. Soldiers can be tried for mistakes that are inevitable, yet politicians are free to start wars that are avoidable.