It appears that many Britons, and the Government in particular, have once again revelled in the sense of patriotism our armed forces invoke, only to express disgust when confronted with the realities of war. Our country and the cause it is fighting for might well be civilised, but war will never be so. Incidents such as these will always be a part of war, however zealous the Military Police are in regulating the forces. If a World War II veteran were to hold his hand up and admit he beat a young German soldier, would we inform him of our disgust and say it was men like him who tarnished the British forces' image? No, we would thank him for everything he sacrificed for us, much like we should be doing with the soldiers of today.
Robert Atkinson, YorkBritish soldiers fight for Queen and Country; with Mr Blair behaving like a President and more and more of our national sovereignty being seized everyday by Brussels, it is not surprising that their lack of self-understanding about their role leads to a fundamental lack of self-discipline. The soldiers are also being judged by the standards of the media age rather than by the high standards set by their peers in previous conflicts, not least World War II. War is not a TV game, it is a brutal reality. Christopher Gillibrand, Brussels
Has the British Army lost discipline? Have they ever had it? What the British army is good at is covering up their unruly, undisciplined bigotry and criminal few. And if it wasn't for this stupid cameraman, this would have been covered up and none of us would be any of the wiser. I have no doubt that their anger is not directed at those who meted out the beatings, but to those who allowed the pictures to get into the public domain. For that there will be retributions; severe ones at that. The army doesn't hang their washing out to dry in the open air. Glenn Renshaw, Newbury
What a non-event. The ones picked up and given a slap were ringleaders of the riot. A Snatch unit identified and removed them in order to calm the overall situation. It is a tried and tested tactic used in Northern Ireland. Was anybody being beheaded? Let's get this into perspective and move on. Support our troops rather than talking about Queensbury Rules. This is a real situation and if the Americans were managing the preceding riot then I am sure the outcome would have been worse. Name and address withheld
It was shocking and disgraceful to watch the footage of British soldiers behaving like thugs. Before reading these responses I would not have imagined that any reader of a serious newspaper would seek to justify or excuse such conduct. Even more shocking then than the original footage are the views which some of your respondents have expressed. Britain has become the home of yob culture; it is behaviour like this which makes our country despised and puts our troops at risk - not the decision to publicise it. How amazingly perverse to suggest that it should be wrong to let the truth be known about such abuse. Open your eyes in any town centre on a Saturday night and you will see the blueprint for the behaviour which we have witnessed on this footage. The sad fact is that we have many young men of the type who have been caught on this video, and many of them find their way into the British Army. Name and address withheld
I have a wonderful idea. We will create a new level of command responsibility in the army and call them "officers". This new rank will be held accountable for the actions of the troops they command. We really cannot condemn non-commissioned officers and other ranks when it clearly is a breakdown in the command hierarchy that must be at fault. Brian Lewis, Manila, Philippines
I think if I was a squadie in Iraq, the first thing I'd do would be to shoot every journo I saw. With friends like them, who needs enemies? Bry Barnes, Somerset
If this was pure abuse and the senior officers knew about it, then the problem lies with the senior managers who condoned it. If however, the soldiers have some mitigation, then this should be heard also. Rajendra Joshi, Leicestershire
Surely the ability to act on occasion in a brutal manner is what soldiering is largely about and certainly this country's teeth-arm units promoted "controlled aggression" in recruits (and beyond) in the very recent past. As to the accusations of any lack of control, anyone with a modicum of experience of internal security operations could justifiably argue that the video footage suggested the four men detained were being effectively controlled by troops who had not lost their reason. Which is perhaps more than many of the more damning commentators could say of themselves. Certainly the amateur-video's added commentary was as unpleasant as it was unprofessional. Perhaps the same accusation could be levelled against some middle-ranking and senior officers, both serving and retired, who spoke out against these actions. Although not timid, the non-lethal violence was nonetheless fairly mild when compared with local responses to similar violent disturbances in that part of the world. Without such support British troops in, as they so often are, a difficult position neither of their own making nor choosing, will become increasingly despondent with the treatment dished out to them by their politicians, elements of the press, and portions of a public largely uneducated in the realities of the professional soldiers' lot. Peter MacDonald, Redditch
Great how quick we are to rubbish our own young men for their actions in the face of greater violence and danger. Whatever happened to loyalty? Let him who criticises them receive the first stone. Name and address withheld
The harsh treatment of the prisoners was not acceptable but I am not one bit shocked. What would shock me? A picture of a British soldier beheading an Iraqi peace activist and putting the resulting pictures on the Internet. We aren't playing the same game, so we should never have gone in the first place unless we intended to do so, especially as Iran had the weapons program, not Iraq. David Cage, Highworth
How do you stop bands of aggressive youths trying to maim and kill soldiers who mean them no harm? Are children throwing stones and grenades responsible for their actions? In an ideal world, these kids would be at school or playing with friends, with little interest in violence, politics or religion. In times of war, they would be out of danger and protected by their parents or relatives. But these youths have been abused, manipulated and corrupted by the society they live in. The same society that is horrified when its children are beaten in combat. If they had been enemy soldiers, they would have been shot. Maybe some individuals were heavy-handed but this is a war zone and no place for children. There are two wrongs here but the worst by far is a society that allows children to play war games. This is where the Muslim world should focus its outrage. Robert Taylor, Dorset
Some of the soldiers were beating the Iraqis with issue batons - presumably if they had beat them in the place where the rioting was taking place that would have been OK. Where were the officers, or senior NCOs? Colin Dix, Orihuela, Spain
Seeing the headlines in the Arabic press, let us get the hell out of there. These are battle troops not policemen, perhaps they could be replaced with our beloved government, who after a few hours in this arena may not be so keen on starting another escapade like this. Name and address withheld
