With considerable controversy currently surrounding the possibility that thhree British troops could soon be charged with war crimes over the killing of an Iraqi civilian during the US-led occupation, it is now revealed that former Prime Minister David Cameron attempted to shut down the investigations before they really got going in earnest.
Parliamentary defense committee chair Johnny Mercer (C – Plymouth) reported that he’d demanded Cameron shut down the entire Iraq Historic Allegations Team (IHAT), which Cameron conceded he’d already tried to do, but had been told by Attorney General Jeremy Wright that it was “legally impossible” to do, and would risk International Criminal Court proceedings.
A number of high profile Conservative leaders are condemning the IHAT as amounting to mistreatment of war veterans, and are insisting that the evidence that IHAT has gained from testimony of Iraqi civilians amounts to “lies” trying to embarrass the British government.
The report from IHAT found that the three British troops in question had detained a 15-year-old on suspicion of looting back in 2003 in the city of Basra. They forced him into a canal and as he didn’t know how to swim, he drown. The British Defense Ministry apologized for the killing last week, following the report, though many MPs insist that because the British military has already found the troops blameless in the killing over a decade ago, they shouldn’t face any legal repercussions.