Brutality by troops in Iraq ...

watch: US soilders stand by and watch:

Exclusive: Iraqi army brutality
24 Jan 2007 Jonathan Miller
Channel 4 News has exclusive access to the brutality meted out by the largely Shi'a Iraqi army in Baghdad.

It is a shocking insight into the sectarian violence that is tearing Baghdad apart.

As tens of thousands of American troops prepare to "surge" into the iraqi capital - Channel 4 News has obtained exclusive evidence of the brutality being meted out by the largely Shi'a Iraqi army - as US troops stand idly by.

Two journalists - embedded with the First Cavalry division - witnessed suspected insurgents being viciously beaten and abused.

The journalists were then threatened and held under armed guard by the Americans - as troops attempted to seize their footage.

US Army commander Lieutenant Colonel Dale C Kuehl told Channel 4 News he had taken administrative action to include suspending the platoon sergeant.

He said: "The US Army does not condone detainee abuse within our formation not within ISF formations.

"The appropriate actions will be taken once the results of the investigation are final."

Watch the report (just give it a few seconds to play through ad's and such)

Do not ignore Iraq
24 January 2007, By Jon Snow Channel 4 Newsroom blog

Because it has been going for a long time, people seem to think there is nothing more to be said on the war in Iraq and if a news bulletin leads with it, they may well just switch off.

However, tonight is truly an exceptional night because the film that our team in Iraq has come up with is devastating, shattering and an acute insight into the massive undertaking facing the "surge", the imminent new deployment of American troops.

Not only does our footage show the active ethnic cleansing of both Sunnis and Shias daubing paint on doors to identify people who need to be driven out, but it also shows fire-fights between ethnic groups and worse.

We also see a joint patrol of US and Iraqi troops in Baghdad, where our camera captures the pretty brutal treatment meted out by the newly trained Iraqi soldiers to three suspected insurgents caught in a car, all to the accompaniment of laughter, whoops and egging on from the US soldiers who watch from their Humvee.

We now know that the incident is regarded as sufficiently serious for the US sergeant who was present to be suspended pending further investigation.

It is no coincidence that George Bush devoted most of his State of the Union speech last night to Iraq. He literally pleaded the Congressmen to support him, saying the whole of the Middle East faced meltdown and catastrophe if they didnt. He doesnt quite get to the point of accepting that the very war itself may have produced these circumstances.