Back in 2004, British soldiers mutilated the bodies of Iraqi resistance fighters and tortured and murdered captives after the battle of Danny Boy. When the UK media highlighted the story in 2008, the British military dismissed it on the basis that the case had been "thoroughly investigated by the RMP [Royal Military Police]" who had "found no evidence to support these allegations". They were lying:
Senior army officers "slammed the door" to block a military police investigation into the treatment of prisoners captured after a fierce battle in Iraq, and then tried to deny having done so, a public inquiry into the incident has heard.
Lucy Bowen, a military police special investigations officer, described how commanders of 1 Battalion Princess of Wales Royal Regiment (1PWRR) stopped her from questioning soldiers after the Battle of Danny Boy – Danny Boy was a British checkpoint near Majar al-Kabir, north of Basra – on 14 May 2004, in which at least 20 insurgents were killed and others were wounded and captured.
The inquiry counsel, Jonathan Acton Davis QC, said: "The door was slammed in your face?" Bowen replied: "Yes … they would not allow us to investigate."
This is how the British military protects its "honour": by covering up serious allegations of torture, murder, and war crimes. The question is, will the current inquiry actually get to the truth, or will it just be more of the same?
