Do you remember the officer...................

[Donut]

Who gave the rousing speech just before the war started. Looks like he's in a bit of froth and bubble! Hope it's not true but glad it's being investigated.


From the BBC


"A US officer is behind allegations about the conduct of a high profile British Army officer during the war in Iraq, it emerged today.

The Ministry of Defence is investigating Colonel Tim Collins, who commanded the 1st Battalion of the Royal Irish Rangers during the war against Saddam Hussein's forces.

Colonel Collins was the commander who delivered a rousing address to his men on the eve of battle which was later praised by the Prince of Wales and President Bush.

The Northern Ireland-born officer is being investigated by the Army's Special Investigations Branch, defence sources said.

One source also confirmed that a complaint about his conduct was made by an American officer.

The investigators are probing allegations that his treatment of prisoners of war and an Iraqi civic leader may have breached the Geneva Convention.

It is understood that Colonel Collins, who is on leave, will strenuously deny any wrongdoing.

A MoD spokesman said: "We can confirm that an investigation is being conducted into allegations that have been made against a British officer who was serving in Iraq.

"We cannot comment further because of the risk of compromising the investigation."

Colonel Collins's regiment, based in Canterbury, Kent, helped secure the oil town of al-Rumalah in the south of Iraq during the war. He was not contactable today.

The officer commanding the Royal Irish refused to comment on the claims. Regimental Colonel Simon Fordham said: "These are allegations and the investigation that is under way will see the result of what has been claimed."

Staff entering and leaving the barracks of the 1st Battalion Royal Irish Regiment in Canterbury refused to comment on the allegations today.

Colonel Collins, who was promoted to full colonel from Lieutenant Colonel following the war, officially left the regiment recently for a new posting and was given a traditional send-off.

All 560 officers and men of the battalion gave their commanding officer a march-past before he was hauled out of the barracks in an open-backed Land Rover by rope.

An MoD spokesman confirmed that Colonel Collins had officially left the Royal Irish Regiment and was on operational leave, awaiting his appointment to another post.

Colonel Collins, 43, was often seen with a cigar clenched between his teeth and wearing a pair of sunglasses during the conflict.

He galvanised his troops on the eve of battle with a speech in Kuwait in which he urged them to do their duty while treating the enemy with respect.

"There are some who are alive at this moment who will not be alive shortly," he said.

"Those who do not wish to go on that journey, we will not send. As for the others, I expect you to rock their world.

"Wipe them out if that is what they choose. But if you are ferocious in battle, remember to be magnanimous in victory."

He reminded his soldiers that the enemy had the right under international law to surrender, and would one day return to their families.

"If you harm the regiment or its history by over-enthusiasm in killing or in cowardice, know it is your family who will suffer," he said.

"You will be shunned unless your conduct is of the highest."

The Prince of Wales was so impressed by the speech that he wrote a personal note to Colonel Collins to say how "profoundly moved" he was by the "extraordinarily stirring, civilised and humane" words.

"What you said somehow encapsulated, in a brilliantly inspired way, everything that we have come to expect of our armed forces and demonstrated why, quite simply, they are the best in the world," he wrote.

Mr Bush was said to have a copy of the speech pinned to the wall of his Oval Office in the White House.

Colonel Bob Stewart, the former commander of British Forces in Bosnia, said there were situations in war "where people do things that can be cut any way you like".

He said: "If the MoD is conducting an investigation, that is good because our forces must be beyond reproach."

He went on: "The British Army abides strictly and absolutely by the Geneva Conventions.

"The one respect we have as an army - and we have the best army in the world - is that we actually fight wars humanely."

[ 05-21-2003, 10:21 AM: Message edited by: Donut ]

[*\Conan/*]

Sounds like a movie script Donut. "..you want the truth, you can't handle the truth"

[Donut]

Collins accuser did not witness Iraq incidents

From The Times

THE US Army reservist who accused Lieutenant-Colonel Tim Collins of war crimes during the Iraq campaign did not witness any of the alleged incidents for which the British officer is being investigated.

Major Re Biastre, 37, a school guidance counsellor and part-time traffic policeman — who is still serving in Iraq — made the allegations after being publicly reprimanded and arrested by Colonel Collins for handing out sweets to Iraqi children in defiance of the British officer’s orders. Another US reservist who was attached to Colonel Collins’s regiment during the war accused Major Biastre of acting out of “spite”.

Colonel Collins is on leave after relinquishing command of his regiment, a scheduled move. He has let it be known that he is frustrated at not being able to talk about the allegations because of the investigation.

Major Stan Coerr, a US Marine reservist, said: “Major Biastre is the sole reason this is happening. It is his spite for Colonel Collins that started this whole thing. I loved Colonel Collins and would serve with him again. This whole thing is a travesty.”

Major Biastre, from Eden, New York state, made a 2,400-word statement to his US commanding officer in which he accused Colonel Collins of pistolwhipping an Iraqi official and neglecting Iraqi prisoners of war by depriving them of food. The statement was made several days after he had been publicly rebuked, arrested for insubordination and ordered to stand to attention for 45 minutes by Colonel Collins.

Major Biastre concedes in the statement, which has triggered a high-profile and politically sensitive investigation by the Ministry of Defence, that he did not witness any of the alleged incidents, which, if true, would be in breach of the Army’s rules of engagement and the Geneva Conventions. Major Biastre, a reservist and part of the US Army’s 402nd Civil Affairs Battalion, provoked the ire of Colonel Collins, the commander of the 1st Battalion Royal Irish Regiment, as he handed out lollipops to Iraqi children.

Colonel Collins, 43, who gained public prominence for his widely publicised and stirring eve-of-war speech to his men, had banned impromptu food distribution because he believed that civilian crowds could be used as cover for counter- attacks and that Iraqi children were in danger of being hit by military vehicles.

According to one report, when Colonel Collins first reprimanded Major Biastre for his actions, the American replied: “You do your job and I’ll do mine.”

In Major Biastre’s statement, obtained by a Sunday newspaper, he describes what happened as he began handing out lollipops: “I heard a British soldier coming at me screaming ‘What the f*** do you think you are doing? . . . I asked him who he was . . . he screamed as loud as he could that he was Lieutenant-Colonel Tim Collins of the Royal Irish. He told me, in very vulgar terms, to leave the area, spitting in my face as he did so.”

The statement, which was passed by the US Army to the British divisional headquarters in southern Iraq, thus triggering the investigation, begins by claiming that a feeling of anti-American resentment was harboured by many of the British officers.

“After hostilities commenced, many British officers began to express their resentment of Americans more openly. They questioned the need for Britain to be in the war and they characterised President Bush as a ‘cowboy’.

“They complained that British Prime Minister Tony Blair was acting as a ‘puppet’ of President Bush. They often claimed that the majority of the British public did not support Britain’s participation in the war.”

Major Biastre’s wife, Debbie, told a newspaper yesterday: “My husband is the most truthful person I know. He just wanted to give out candy. Colonel Collins clearly knew who my husband was. There was no need to yell, let alone use obscenities.

“Re was appalled by the lack of respect. He’s met a lot of very dedicated British soldiers. He is not anti-British, but he felt the episode demonstrated how there was contempt among some British officers for the Americans and perhaps an element of retaliation because two British soldiers had just become casualties of US friendly fire.”

According to Mrs Biastre, her husband heard allegations about Colonel Collins while he was made to wait outside his office. Mrs Biastre said: “He believes he had no choice but to report what he and his men had been told.”

Colonel Collins let his frustration at the investigation be known through intermediaries yesterday . “I feel as though I am being hung out to dry,” he was quoted as telling friends. “I’m being treated as though I should be sitting in the dock at the Nuremburg trials alongside my chums Herman Goering and Adolf Eichmann listening attentively into my earpiece the hideous deeds I have supposedly committed. I’m in a very difficult position because I cannot talk publicly . . . I haven’t even had a chance to speak to the people carrying out the investigation into these allegations.”

The Iraqi at the centre of the claims is Ayoub Yousif Naser, a member of the Baath party and a leading official in Rumaila, an oil village 30 miles west of Basra. Mr Naser told The Times that Colonel Collins subjected them to a mock execution, ordering his men to put him and his son against a wall and ordered a soldier to kill them. Colonel Collins denies the claims. Mr Naser conceded to The Times that he lied about possessing weapons to British forces. Locals said Mr Naser was widely feared in the area.

Lieutenant-Colonel Collins is being investigated by the Army’s Special Investigations Branch for alleged breaches of the Geneva Conventions over his treatment of Iraqi prisoners of war and a civic leader. This comes after a complaint by a US officer.

Couple of thoughts...first off, the guy has not been found guilty of
anything yet. He is however as commander responsible for any acts
his troops comitted.

As for the US commander who brought this to the attention of the MoD,
well even if he did not witness any of the events, if his troops or someone
else brings the allegations to him...it is his duty to follow up on them.

All in all, sounds like the press trying to sensationalize the process when it
is probably routine....now if the Brit Officer is foud guilty, now that will be a story.

[Donut]

Originally posted by MagiK: Couple of thoughts...first off, the guy has not been found guilty of anything yet. He is however as commander responsible for any acts his troops comitted. As for the US commander who brought this to the attention of the MoD, well even if he did not witness any of the events, if his troops or someone else brings the allegations to him...it is his duty to follow up on them. All in all, sounds like the press trying to sensationalize the process when it is probably routine....now if the Brit Officer is foud guilty, now that will be a story.

I don't think you read it properly magik. It a Major that made the allegations after overhearing someone else. Once he goes to his commanding officer with a 2,500 word statement the commander has no option. It's just unusual for this sort of thing to go on. Soldiers usually support each other unless something serious happens. I haven't heard of any other case like this.