GIVE 'EM TO THE LOCALS:

Looters said to be target of the British (Richard Bernstein, January 22, 2005, The New York Times)

The alleged abuse of Iraqi civilians by British soldiers at a base near Basra, which has riveted British public opinion and provoked widespread condemnation, arose from an effort to stop persistent looting of humanitarian supplies, the commanding officer of the accused soldiers said at a British court-martial hearing Friday.

Testifying in the trial of three men accused of beating and sexually abusing detained Iraqi civilians, the officer, Major Dan Taylor, described a desperate situation in which every other effort to stop looters from stealing humanitarian supplies at Camp Bread Basket near the southern city of Basra had failed, and local residents were telling the British troops simply to shoot the offenders.

Taylor testified that he had ordered his men to "round up as many men as we could, work them for an hour or so, and then release them."

When asked by a prosecutor why he had given the order, Taylor replied: "In an effort to stop looting that was rife within the Bread Basket camp."

He said, "There did not appear to be any other way we could prevent that looting, short of doing what the locals wanted us to do, which was shoot people."

Should have either shot them or handed them to the local citizenry.

Posted by Orrin Judd at January 22, 2005 9:01 AM