Iraq war about oil, not human rights

This video from Britain says about itself:

13 July 2009 — Video showing a British soldier screaming abuse at hooded Iraqi detainees has been played at the public inquiry into the death of Baha Mousa.

By Paddy McGuffin in Britain:

Officer tells of Iraq priority: secure oil

Thursday 10 June 2010

A former senior British army officer has told an inquiry into abuses by British forces in Iraq that his main priority had been to secure the country’s oil infrastructure.

Lieutenant General Robin Brims, the former general officer commanding of 1 Armoured Division, made the comment during testimony to the Baha Mousa inquiry in London.

Mr Mousa was beaten and kicked to death by British troops in September 2003 while in custody at BG Main detention facility. The inquiry has heard numerous accounts of how Mr Mousa was abused for 36 hours and kept hooded for up to 24 hours, despite this being officially recognised as inhumane treatment.

Lt Gen Brims was summoned to the inquiry to answer questions about an order he issued banning the practice of hooding prisoners of war and detainees some months before Mr Mousa’s arrest and subsequent death.

Gerard Elias QC, counsel for the inquiry, asked Lt Gen Brims if he was aware that troops were apparently under the impression it was “a standard operating procedure to hood prisoners at the point of capture.”

The officer responded: “I didn’t know at the time, I now know it, yes.”

He also told the inquiry that he gave an oral order to ban hooding in April 2003 after witnessing such an incident at Umm Qasr detention centre.

Mr Elias put it to him: “It would have been desirable, wouldn’t it, that the order should have been cascaded down clearly and therefore desirable in writing.”

Lt Gen Brims said that at the time he had not seen it as a priority.

When later asked what his priority had been at that time he said it had been to “secure the flank” as US forces moved north and “secure the oil infrastructure.”

A Voice from Iraq: Former Guantánamo Prisoner Speaks | Andy Worthington: here.

Mehdi Hasan: Cameron claims that we should “revere” our military. When did the UK become Sparta? Here.

USA: Want to save $960 Billion in war spending? Here.

Pentagon Bought Billions in Unneeded Spare Parts: here.

A report commissioned and released on Monday confirmed that the US military will leave behind hazardous toxic waste in Iraq when it finally withdraws: here.

So far the British army has paid out £4.2 million to 1,145 Iraqis unjustly killed or injured by British troops: here.