Incompetent US soldier fails to discredit British war hero

[MOBIUS]

There I was thinking we were on the same side...

Now we find out the background to the accusations against the Colonel Tim Collins. Some ***** civil affairs reservist had a bone to pick.

The accusations came from a brother officer, Re Biastre, the small-town school guidance counsellor, part-time traffic policeman and major in the reserve who was sent to Iraq to do civil-military liaison work. His 2,390-word report detonated the inquiry.

The decision to come forward appears to have less to do with shock at Col Collins's behaviour than with an incident in which he was forced to stand to attention for 45 minutes for ignoring the colonel's rule against distributing sweets to local children.

Put thus, it seems that Mr Biastre is a generous soul and the colonel a flinty-hearted bastard. In fact to anyone who was in southern Iraq in the early days and saw children darting in front of military vehicles, yelling with feral intensity for bonbons, the colonel's edict made excellent sense. It reduced the risk of tragic accidents and preserved local dignity.

For crying out loud. Well he's been completely exonerated although this sort of mud can stick. The other guy is the sort of little **** who we'd beat up in school for grassing.

Still, better to have an argument over sweets than an incident of friendly fire...

Now repeat after me:

"We are your allies"

[Kuciwalker]

source? what the heck IS that? I'm not even sure what the heck they're talking about!

[SuperSneak]

Yes...if you're going to troll, at least be a man and give the whole story, you long haired hookah smoking draft dodger!

[Sprayber]

I thought he was restricted to one thread per month due to excessive narrow-mindedness.

[Ming]

HEY... enough with the personal stuff...

[The Mad Monk]

Sorry MOBIUS, I have no idea what you're talking about.

[SlowwHand]

This from the man who has been against it from the start.
WTG, ally.

BTW, what's your source?

[MOBIUS]

Thanks Ming!

Find your own source you lazy bastards...

Maybe incompetent is a bit harsh, but cry baby p*ssy fits the bill rather well...

Originally posted by SlowwHand
This from the man who has been against it from the start.
WTG, ally.

Hey! Just cause I was against the war doesn't make it right that wimpy US officers can spread lies about a British officer because he hurt his feelings...

For better or worse we're in this together!

ARTICLE

To be fair though, another US officer with backbone did defend our officer...

[DinoDoc]

Originally posted by MOBIUS
ARTICLE

Was that so hard to do?

[Nubclear]

Article

Major who accused Collins 'is motivated by revenge'
By Sean O'Neill and Marcus Warren in Eden, New York
(Filed: 26/05/2003)


The US army reservist who accused Col Tim Collins of serious misconduct during the war in Iraq has been described by an American colleague as a "weak officer" motivated by revenge.

Major Re Biastre of 402 Civil Affairs Battalion did not see any of the incidents which led him to make the allegations that prompted a military police investigation into Col Collins, commanding officer of 1 Bn Royal Irish Regiment.

The major, a high school guidance counsellor and part-time traffic policeman from Eden, New York, wrote his 2,400-word statement of complaint shortly after being publicly humiliated by Col Collins.

The British officer upbraided him for handing out sweets to Iraqi children in breach of an order that all food and aid distribution was to be strictly organised.

When Major Biastre, 37, responded with apparent dissent, Col Collins ordered him to be arrested for insubordination and to stand at attention for 45 minutes.

In his sworn statement, Major Biastre accused Col Collins of maltreating prisoners, pistol-whipping a Ba'athist official and firing shots to intimidate civilians.

Major Biastre said Col Collins confronted him as he handed out lollipops to children, shouting, "What the **** do you think you are doing?"

He added: "He screamed as loud as he could that he was Lt Col 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 major claimed that Col Collins had said his tactic was to make the Iraqis fearful, allegedly saying: "All these people know is fear."

Major Biastre added: "The problem I had with him was that I didn't fear him."

But other US soldiers who served with Col Collins have given statements in support of him to the Special Investigation Branch officers conducting the inquiry in southern Iraq.

Major Stan Coerr of the US marines told the investigators he was proud to have served with Col Collins.

Major Coerr in his statement: "This is an absolute travesty. It is obvious to everyone in theatre that it is a vendetta by a weak officer against a hero. I have worked with very few officers of the calibre of Col Collins. He blended tactical knowledge with an abiding concern for the people of Iraq and it was his concern for the children of Rumaila which caused him to confront Major Biastre."

He added: "Col Collins wore us ragged because he was always out and about in town asking what villagers thought and what they needed. He was always firm but fair and his first concerns were opening the school, establishing law and order and getting the economy going with an infusion of cash which he requested from the British Government."

Major Biastre, who has been a reservist for 20 years and was posted to the Gulf in January, is believed to still be in Iraq where he is leader of a direct support team attached to 16 Air Assault Brigade.

In his sworn statement, he claimed that there was tension between British and US servicemen which he blamed on strong anti-American sentiments among the British.

He wrote: "After hostilities began, 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 Tony Blair was acting as a 'puppet' of President Bush . . ."

He added: "The feelings of resentment among British officers were particularly intense after 'friendly fire' incidents where American forces inflicted casualties on British forces."

In his home town, close to the Canadian border, neighbours and colleagues said they knew him as an honest and credible individual.

Patrick Howard, Eden's police chief, aid: "I have no reason not to believe him. He's never given me any evidence not to. I wouldn't work with him if he wasn't honest. Re has been a leadership figure ever since I've known him."

Larren Dosser, a neighbour, said: "Before he moved here, we checked him out, and no one had a bad word to say about him. If the allegations came from Re, I would believe them."

Major Biastre's wife, Deborah, a biology teacher, also defended her husband in a newspaper interview.

She told the Mail on Sunday: "Re 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."

He added: "He believes there is never any excuse for breaking the rules and had no choice but to report what he and his men had been told."

[Joseph]

Instead of taking sides, what we really need is to talk to a non-com who has served in the area and find out just how things are going in this area. Is the British Col a good guy or was the Major a bad guy. The official report will cover up for one or the other. That is way it happen in the military. Never talk to a Officer, because he has to toe the line. Just talk to one of the guys to find out what is going on.

[The Emperor Fabulous]

It would have been helpful explaining which guy was from which force...

[Chris 62]

Seems the Col is cleared of THIS incident, but his fellow officers seem to have a problem with his way of doing things:

Army clears colonel of war crimes in Iraq
Humiliated major's claim 'triggered by spite'

IAN BRUCE
The Herald, 26 May 2003

COLONEL Tim Collins, the British officer who made world headlines with his
rousing eve-of-battle speech before the invasion of Iraq, has been cleared
of war crimes in a preliminary report by the army's special investigation
branch.

Military sources confirmed yesterday that claims by Re Biastre, a part-time
US army civil affairs major, that Colonel Collins had mistreated Iraqi
prisoners, threatened civilians, and "pistol-whipped" a local Iraqi official
were unfounded and "based probably on a personal vendetta".

Major Stan Coerr, a US Marine officer in charge of an "Anglico" team
attached to the Royal Irish Regiment throughout the campaign to co-ordinate
American air support and prevent "friendly fire" incidents, said the entire
episode was triggered by spite.

Major Biastre, 37, a school counsellor in upstate New York, had been
humiliated verbally and arrested for insubordination by Colonel Collins when
he breached orders, and then argued with his British superior.

Major Coerr described his fellow-countryman's allegations as "ludicrous" and
"spiteful" and said he would serve with Colonel Collins "any time,
anywhere". He has also volunteered to testify in the colonel's favour in any
inquiry.

Colonel Collins, now on leave after relinquishing command of 1st battalion,
the Royal Irish Regiment, to await a new promoted post, still faces another
inquiry into his style of leadership of the unit two years ago and an
alleged "climate of bullying" by fellow officers which may have contributed
to the suicide of 18-year-old Ranger Paul Cochrane in South Armagh in 2001.

Major Biastre was in charge of a detachment from the US 402nd civil affairs
battalion in southern Iraq. His job was to smooth relations between the
military and local civilians.

Colonel Collins had him placed under arrest for insubordination and demanded
that he be demoted after he found Major Biastre handing out lollipops to
children in the town of Al Rumailah in defiance of standing orders. British
concern was that children would be at risk of being knocked down by army
vehicles if they expected sweets to be handed out by anyone in uniform.

Major Coerr said yesterday: "Biastre had a chip on his shoulder from the
moment he arrived. All of us understood the order not to hand out candy, as
it caused the children to run towards military vehicles.

"When Biastre violated the rule and Colonel Collins confronted him, he said
something like 'you do your job and I'll do mine'. The colonel ordered him
to stand to attention and salute a senior officer.

"Biastre did so reluctantly and sloppily. I think they call it 'dumb
insolence' in the British army. When he continued to argue, he was arrested.
That's what started the vendetta. It was pure spite. He was embarrassed
about being humiliated in front of his own men."

When Major Biastre was later summoned to Colonel Collins's headquarters, he
was made to wait at attention for 45 minutes before being seen. He then
submitted a 2400-word statement based on hearsay evidence to US authorities
about the British colonel's alleged conduct towards Iraqi soldiers and
civilians.

The statement also complained that British officers had described George
Bush as a "cowboy" and were openly critical of US methods and competence
after a series of "friendly fire" tragedies.

The main allegation was that Colonel Collins had led a party to the house of
Ayoub Yousif Naser, a headmaster, and had struck him with his pistol, fired
a shot into the floor, and kicked and punched him.

Mr Naser, who has not made any complaint, turned out to be a senior official
in Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath party. He also had two Kalashnikov rifles buried
in his garden. Friends said yesterday that Colonel Collins, 43, felt he was
being "hung out to dry".

Clearly the REMF Maj made up the charges, yet I wouldn't call the Col exemplory.

[Ted Striker]

lame troll

[mindseye]

really lame troll, even by the poster's standards ...