Three Brit soldiers cleared in Iraqi death

From the London Times...

Two of the three soldiers cleared of killing a 15-year-old looter in Iraq announced that they were quitting the Army today, accusing their superiors of scapegoating them. 

A panel of seven officers took less than five hours to acquit Guardsman Joseph McCleary, 24, Guardsman Martin McGing, 22, and Colour Sergeant Carle Selman, 39, of manslaughter on Tuesday after a five-week court martial which cost £2.5 million.

The three Guardsmen were accused of ordering 15-year-old Ahmed Jabar Karheem, an asthmatic who could not swim, into the Shatt al-Basra canal in Basra at gunpoint in May 2003. Prosecutors had alleged that Karheem had struggled in "obvious distress" before disappearing under the water and drowning....

Guardsman McCleary, of Bootle, Merseyside, said he and his comrades had been singled out as scapegoats amid mounting reports of soldiers mistreating Iraqis. He said: "We were told to put the looters in the canal. I was the lowest rank, and we were always told we weren’t paid to think. We just followed orders.

Interesting. Apparently British soldiers are actually allowed a trial before being condemned, as opposed to the way the US media treat US soldiers. 

Posted by Danny Carlton at June 9, 2006 11:07 PM