Posted on 05/14/2004 10:43:16 AM PDT by Eurotwit
The editor of the Daily Mirror has resigned after admitting its alleged Iraqi abuse pictures had been "a hoax".
Piers Morgan's decision came as the paper "apologised unreservedly" for printing the pictures.
The editor, one of the best known faces in Fleet Street, had earlier brushed away growing pressure on him to quit.
The Queen's Lancashire Regiment, subject of the abuse allegations, had said the pictures were "utter and complete nonsense".
Military figures for the regiment said the photos are fake and that the newspaper should apologise.
In a hard-hitting press conference at Fulwood Barracks, Preston, key figures for the regiment said the Daily Mirror had increased the danger faced by British troops serving in Iraq.
Col. David Black, a former commanding officer of the QLR, said: "(They are) almost a recruiting poster for al Qaeda and every other terrorist organisation."
They did not call for the resignation of the Daily Mirror editor Piers Morgan, but said the board of governors and shareholders should put pressure on the paper to cooperate fully with an ongoing inquiry.
The reputation of the regiment had been "unjustly sullied", they added.
Brig Geoff Sheldon said: "It's time that the ego of one editor is measured against the life of the soldier.
A lance corporal shows the difference in Army guns
"
He added: "These photographs have done enormous damage to the country and Army. The danger of the loss of life has been exacerbated.
"It is not a parlour game."
They said the photographs had served as a "red herring" for any legitimate allegations of torture.
Soldiers serving in Iraq felt "anger, upset and hurt" at the publication of the photographs, they added.
But the regiment had received support from the Army and politicians.
Mr Morgan, asserted Thursday that the government had not proven that the photos were fake.
The regiment put on show old rifles used in the Daily Mirror pictures and compared them with new rifles which are currently being used in Basra. They also had on display two different trucks to highlight the discrepancies.
The fake truck was found at a Territorial Army base in England, though it is not known who the soldiers who took the photographers are, or which regiment they are from.
The military men strongly criticised the photographers for their "disgraceful behaviour in a most ignoble episode."
Col. Black added: "This regiment is old and fine. It is 350-years-old. We have weathered worst storms than this."
Just breaking on Sky.
He should be hanged for treason!
Oh, wait. No I don't.
LOL!
Didn't they also show photos of the alleged source of this story and one of the guys who recognized himself behind the blacked-out face said it was nonsense?
Boston Globe editor next?
Do we hold our breath waiting for the Boston Glub guy to quit?
Well said! We need to try that in the USA.
Now what about the editor of the Boston Globe, whose paper also ran fake pictures.
Euro I feel cheated I thought Brits were doing same thing like we Americans we doing
GOOD I hope he doesn't show up on Fleet Street anymore pehaps he had job offer from CNN
I love that line.
There's still some decency left in England, even on the left. It's very rare in America, however. The Globe still hasn't even apologized or fully admitted that the photos were fakes.
Did Janet Reno step down after incinerating about 70 innocent children? Of course not. She is a shameless Democrat, who believes that ideology trumps truth any day of the week. So does Martin Barron.
He WANTED the photos to be real, they fit his worldview, so he never tried to authenticate them.
In fact, his lesson from this is probably "this stuff really does happen all the time, but I happened to get fake pics."
Paging the Boston Globe...
England still has the Tower ....throw this clown in it.
When will the editor of the Boston Globe take the high road and resign?
Oops, drunk again!
Exactly.
The British have such a classey way of verbally b*tch-slapping people. You have to love them.
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