UK General May Face Charges For Impeding Investigation

If there were ever any doubt that conservatives like Rupert Murdoch love money more than truth, one would only have to compare Faux News' "staying the course" cheerleading with coverage such as leaking the Downing Street Memos by the Murdoch-owned London Sunday Times. You see, in the UK, conservatives are against the war as an easy way to bash opposition leader, Tony Blair.

Still, we should be thankful that the Sunday Times has more journalistic acumen in it's canteen than exists in the whole Faux News empire.

Here's today's lead story - I'm waiting to hear about how Murdoch hates our freedoms from the freepers:

A BRITISH general is facing possible criminal charges over one of the most controversial incidents of the Iraq war, The Sunday Times has learnt.
The allegations levelled against Major-General Peter Wall relate to alleged attempts by senior officers to prevent an investigation into the deaths of a British tank commander and an unarmed Iraqi civilian.

The death of Sergeant Steven Roberts at al-Zubair in the early hours of March 24, 2003, led to widespread public outrage after the Ministry of Defence confirmed he had no body armour. In a taped message, recorded the evening before he died and released by his widow Samantha, Roberts described the lack of equipment as a “joke”.

It only emerged later that a civilian had died in the same incident.

Wall, who is deputy chief of joint operations, is by far the most senior officer to have been implicated in a case involving alleged wrongdoing by British troops.

He was commander of 1 (UK) Armoured Division at the time of the alleged offence.

His actions were investigated after Lord Goldsmith, the attorney-general, told Geoff Hoon, the former defence secretary, that the evidence suggested “a concerted attempt by the chain of command to influence and prevent an investigation”.

Goldsmith then removed the case from the army’s control and ordered that any charges be heard by a civilian court.

As a result of a Metropolitan police investigation, two soldiers from 2nd Royal Tank Regiment face possible murder charges over the death of Zahir Zabti Zaher, the unarmed Iraqi civilian.

Another soldier from the same regiment faces a possible manslaughter charge over the death of Roberts. Wall faces possible charges relating to the alleged attempt to prevent the investigation.

And while you're listening to the wingnuts wax loudly on how America has the best justice system, the best constitution, the best "freedoms" and the best everything else in the world, ask yourself:

Can you see something like this happening to an American senior commander who impeded an investigation of abuse in Iraq?

No, I thought not.