fantassin
01-14-2004, 03:19 AM
Equipment shortage in Iraq was reason for British soldier's death from friendly fire
Richard Norton-Taylor
Tuesday January 13, 2004
The Guardian
A British soldier was killed early in the Iraq war because of a shortage of body armour, it emerged last night.
Confirmation of the cause of the death of Sergeant Steven Roberts, the subject of widespread speculation, was given by Nicholas Soames, the shadow defence secretary, in a letter to the defence secretary, Geoff Hoon.
Mr Soames explained that Adam Ingram, the armed forces minister, had given him a "preliminary note" on the incident. He said the findings showed "beyond doubt, that had he had the correct protective equipment he would not have been killed."
Sgt Roberts, from Bradford, was shot in the chest on March 24 last year. The sergeant, from the Royal Tank Regiment, had been told to hand over the bulletproof ceramic plates from his flak jacket to an infantryman.
Defence sources say that he was a victim of friendly fire and that his death is the subject of a military police investigation as well as a board of inquiry. In his letter to the increasingly beleaguered defence secretary, Mr Soames said: "The truth is that insufficient sets of body armour and other vital life-saving equipment were distributed in theatre, greatly endangering our soldiers and, in the case of Sgt Roberts, costing him his life."
He added: "For what greater dereliction of duty can there be than for a minister to authorise the deployment of troops into harm's way without adequate protection? ... It is clear that ... the only honourable way forward for you is to consider your position."
Mr Soames released his letter on the eve of a Commons debate on a devastating report by the National Audit Office which showed that British troops in vading Iraq were deprived of vital equipment, including body armour and protection against chemical or biological attack, as well as such basic items as desert boots and clothing.
In a separate development, veterans of the 1991 Gulf war yesterday demanded a public inquiry into the MoD's policy of vaccinating troops, which they say has led to debilitating illnesses. The demand came after the release of a confidential report by a senior army medical officer directly linking the vaccinations to osteoporosis, one symptom of what the veterans call Gulf war syndrome.
The report, by Lieutenant Colonel Graham Howe, clinical director of psychiatry for British forces in Germany, focuses on a former lance corporal, Alex Izett, who was given a cocktail of vaccines.
Lt Col Howe says that he was told by a more senior officer that "certain injections and medication" administered during the Gulf war were "classified secret". They were not listed on individual soldiers' medical documents.
Richard Norton-Taylor
Tuesday January 13, 2004
The Guardian
A British soldier was killed early in the Iraq war because of a shortage of body armour, it emerged last night.
Confirmation of the cause of the death of Sergeant Steven Roberts, the subject of widespread speculation, was given by Nicholas Soames, the shadow defence secretary, in a letter to the defence secretary, Geoff Hoon.
Mr Soames explained that Adam Ingram, the armed forces minister, had given him a "preliminary note" on the incident. He said the findings showed "beyond doubt, that had he had the correct protective equipment he would not have been killed."
Sgt Roberts, from Bradford, was shot in the chest on March 24 last year. The sergeant, from the Royal Tank Regiment, had been told to hand over the bulletproof ceramic plates from his flak jacket to an infantryman.
Defence sources say that he was a victim of friendly fire and that his death is the subject of a military police investigation as well as a board of inquiry. In his letter to the increasingly beleaguered defence secretary, Mr Soames said: "The truth is that insufficient sets of body armour and other vital life-saving equipment were distributed in theatre, greatly endangering our soldiers and, in the case of Sgt Roberts, costing him his life."
He added: "For what greater dereliction of duty can there be than for a minister to authorise the deployment of troops into harm's way without adequate protection? ... It is clear that ... the only honourable way forward for you is to consider your position."
Mr Soames released his letter on the eve of a Commons debate on a devastating report by the National Audit Office which showed that British troops in vading Iraq were deprived of vital equipment, including body armour and protection against chemical or biological attack, as well as such basic items as desert boots and clothing.
In a separate development, veterans of the 1991 Gulf war yesterday demanded a public inquiry into the MoD's policy of vaccinating troops, which they say has led to debilitating illnesses. The demand came after the release of a confidential report by a senior army medical officer directly linking the vaccinations to osteoporosis, one symptom of what the veterans call Gulf war syndrome.
The report, by Lieutenant Colonel Graham Howe, clinical director of psychiatry for British forces in Germany, focuses on a former lance corporal, Alex Izett, who was given a cocktail of vaccines.
Lt Col Howe says that he was told by a more senior officer that "certain injections and medication" administered during the Gulf war were "classified secret". They were not listed on individual soldiers' medical documents.