How not to treat a soldier

[Sirius]

This is proof that there was no support by Labour for those in our armed forces. This should never have gone as far as this

Last week, Sgt Leader, 34, along with 45 Commando colleague Captain Jody Wheelhouse, was thrown out of the Royal Marines for hitting a suspected Taliban bomber with a wellington boot. Mohammed Ekhlas had earlier been detained by Marines who spotted four men ‘digging in’ a roadside bomb near a British base in Helmand province.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...#ixzz0nTBKYCe0

http://www.londonwired.co.uk/article...d-Royal-Marine

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/ar...stminster.html



By the way i don't give a hoot about if this is a good paper or not so don't start your crap about that, I am more interested in the soldier and his story.

[Stutz]

What a story. Bring the boys home and let them sort out the election result, I'm sure most of them have their opinions.

[Sirius]

Originally Posted by Stutz

What a story. Bring the boys home and let them sort out the election result, I'm sure most of them have their opinions.

more here

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/8622171.stm

---------- Post added at 22:56 ---------- Previous post was at 22:52 ----------



more here

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/8622171.stm


It joins a list of problems that Labour could of and should of fixed

The Gurkha's
Soldiers having to buy there own kit
No helicopters
No training before deployment for the TA
Snatch land rovers that were obsolete in NI never mind afghanistan.

The list goes on and on, And now they start picking on the soldiers themselves.

[Stutz]

The loss of these brave soldiers pension is bad enough but what about the men's respect and dedication to their job. Red tape and bureaucracy gone daft. I'm lost for words regarding the UK's policies.

[Flyboy]

Has the moratorium on political threads been lifted now?

[Kymmy]

I personally don't understand what Labour has to do with Army discipline???

[Flyboy]

An exerpt from the BBC article:

Mr Ekhlas needed four stitches to his lip, had a cut on his forehead and two of his teeth were loose after the attack.

Judge Michael Hunter described it as "a sustained assault on an injured and unarmed prisoner".

Sounds like there might be more to this story than just a glancing blow from a wellington boot.

[Stutz]

You could be right but the below quote says it all to me.

PHP Code:

 Mohammed Ekhlas had earlier been detained by Marines who spotted four men â€˜digging in’ a roadside bomb near a British base in Helmand province 


[Flyboy]

Mohammed Ekhlas had earlier been detained by Marines

It doesn't say that it was him who was doing the digging.

[Sirius]

Originally Posted by Flyboy

It doesn't say that it was him who was doing the digging.

---------- Post added at 15:29 ---------- Previous post was at 15:27 ----------

Originally Posted by Flyboy

An exerpt from the BBC article:



Sounds like there might be more to this story than just a glancing blow from a wellington boot.

I should have known it would be you on the side of the Taliban. Then you wonder why i hate liberals

The court martial, held earlier this month, heard that the two men assaulted Mohammed Ekhlas in March 2009 after he was arrested on suspicion of trying to plant an improvised explosive device (IED).

Sergeant Mark Leader, one of the men court-martialled for attacking the Afghan, had lost three friends to the Taliban’s landmines. Captain Jody Wheelhouse, who was also court-martialled, joined in with what his Troop Sergeant was doing.

Sergeant Leader, who was dismissed from the service, will not just be deprived of his livelihood and burdened for years to come with his conviction. He has lost pension rights worth £400,000. Captain Wheelhouse’s life (he was dismissed ‘with disgrace’) is likewise blighted.

I’m prepared to concede that both men should have restrained themselves. But I think their action was understandable and trivial. They should have been let off with a reprimand.

Why do we, soft on real criminals and allied to a country – the USA – whose armed forces casually fry innocent civilians from the safety of helicopters, turn in this way on good men who daily face dangers most of us would run from?

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/ar...#ixzz0nXMiQRaL

It does not surprise me one little bit that there are those who will side with the Taliban on this forum and think its just and right to do this to 2 men who are are doing a job most here would never do. These same people would not have the guts to do what these brave men do daily .

Liberals make me sick with what they are trying to do to this country.

Re the injuries, did the sergeant forget to take his foot out of the boot

You have to remember Flyboy that these soldiers are putting life and limb at risk everytime they walk of camp ,of the soldiers i know that are serving over there (and i was talking to one a few weeks ago)they will tell you that some Afghans will be your best friend one day and try to blow your legs of the next ,in my opinion the only mistake these soldiers made was arresting the afghans ....they should have shot them

[Sirius]

Originally Posted by martyh

....they should have shot them

Having served myself and having been in 1 or 2 bad situations i can tell you now when you get the chance of a bit of payback you take it.

I feel for these two guys and hate the fact that some will take pleasure in what happened to them.

[Flyboy]

Originally Posted by Sirius

---------- Post added at 15:29 ---------- Previous post was at 15:27 ----------



I should have known it would be you on the side of the Taliban. Then you wonder why i hate liberals





It does not surprise me one little bit that there are those who will side with the Taliban on this forum and think its just and right to do this to 2 men who are are doing a job most here would never do. These same people would not have the guts to do what these brave men do daily .

Liberals make me sick with what they are trying to do to this country.

Who exactly is siding with the Taliban? Where has anyone here declared the allegiances to a vicious murdering terrorist group?

[Derek]

Originally Posted by Flyboy

Who exactly is siding with the Taliban? Where has anyone here declared the allegiances to a vicious murdering terrorist group?

Well if he was digging up a road he is either in the taliban or the afghanistan branch of reclaim the streets.

[Flyboy]

Originally Posted by martyh

Re the injuries, did the sergeant forget to take his foot out of the boot

You have to remember Flyboy that these soldiers are putting life and limb at risk everytime they walk of camp ,of the soldiers i know that are serving over there (and i was talking to one a few weeks ago)they will tell you that some Afghans will be your best friend one day and try to blow your legs of the next ,in my opinion the only mistake these soldiers made was arresting the afghans ....they should have shot them

That is no excuse to go round beating up anyone they want. Events at places like Abu Ghraib and the death of Baha Mousa shows that we cannot tolerate this behaviour from anyone, for any reason.

I don't really believe that even you would advocate summary executions for any so-called suspected terrorist.

---------- Post added at 16:27 ---------- Previous post was at 16:21 ----------

Originally Posted by Derek S

Well if he was digging up a road he is either in the taliban or the afghanistan branch of reclaim the streets.

The report does not say he was digging up the road, it says:

Mohammed Ekhlas had earlier been detained by Marines who spotted four men ‘digging in’ a roadside bomb near a British base in Helmand province.

It does not say that he was suspected of being one of those men. If he had been digging the road up, don't you think the Daily Heil would have said so. If he was a terrorist, don't you think he would have been tried and convicted for it.