The naked truth

After the premature deaths of army recruits in Deep-Cut barracks, the British ministry of defence is once more at the centre of a scandal. This time, the allegations are that the Royal Marines made two trainees fight each other stripped naked, while surrounded by other watching marines also stripped completely naked.  This initiation ceremony was supervised by two officers in fancy dress. Unfortunately, another Marine filmed the whole scenario and went public.

The armed forces are claiming that neither bullying nor harassment is commonplace within their ranks. The whistleblower, however, claims that this was not some drunken behaviour, but a premeditated exercise. He is probably right. Putting new recruits into degrading and compromising positions by which they could be embarrassed later has long since been part of the ritual in Masonic lodges. The shame of being found out creates in in-group feeling, bonding the members of the organisation together.

For more on these skeletons in the cupboard see the excellent book “Satanic Voices Ancient and Modern” available here. What is surprising is not that the army engages in such practices, but that one of their own is going public about it.

As for going public, I’ve added my name to those willing to risk a jail service by publishing the memo about Blair and Bush wanting to bomb Al-Jazeera, should it fall into my hands. After all, I know enough about prison to find my way around it, having been a prison Imam for many years. It’s so typical of New Labour: they talk of open government and practice censorship. Of course, Blair does not want the embarrassment of people finding out what he’s really like. Nor the allegations made by David Shayler in Bristol that he once worked for MI5 to spy on student protestors before becoming prime minister. I wonder what he had to go through by way of initiation ceremony.