# No charges over fake Iraqi photo **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 9, 2005, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-charges-over-fake-iraqi-photo/334879 "2005-12-09T15:02:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Dead\_Badger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/848f3c/32.png) [@Dead\_Badger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Badger)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2005, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-charges-over-fake-iraqi-photo/334879/21 "2005-12-12T00:44:25Z")
> [@e-logic](#): > > That’s the reason no-one kicked up a stink when the pics were first published - it was pretty common knowledge (certainly in the armed forces) that this kind of thing was happening. Cite? These photos were faked to cash in on Abu Ghraib, no more no less. There _was_ a stink kicked up when these photos were published; why else do you think Piers Moron was fired so comprehensively? (He was walked out of the office without being allowed to pick up his jacket, no less.) These photos are indicative of nothing more than some cheap fraudsters out to exploit public suspicion, “common knowledge” or not. They were reprehensibly faked to exploit a current affairs story, and any justification of such deception is so much bullshit. That said, if the CPS don’t believe that there’s sufficient evidence that a crime was committed, then I support them in not wasting public funds on a wild goose chase. To me, it’s sufficient that those responsible for publishing this crap were humiliated and fired. We know the photos were faked, and those who are (to my mind) primarily responsible have carried the can. As the OP says, he’s not a lawyer, and much as it might outrage us that the people behind them didn’t break a law, I think that in the absence of an informed, alternative legal opinion, we ought to trust that the CPS know a lack of evidence when they see it. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2005, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-charges-over-fake-iraqi-photo/334879/22 "2005-12-12T00:59:59Z")
> [@Dead Badger](#): > > Cite? These photos were faked to cash in on Abu Ghraib, no more no less. Cite? Come on, you need to give us some decent evidence for such a comment. I don’t see it as implausible that the photos were created as a joke, and then found their way to the outside world. And when there’s nothing to prove this isn’t the case, the CPS can’t be confident of convicting anyone of anything. > [@](#): > > There _was_ a stink kicked up when these photos were published; why else do you think Piers Moron was fired so comprehensively? (He was walked out of the office without being allowed to pick up his jacket, no less.) Cite? Didn’t he hang about for many days before being forced out? ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2005, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-charges-over-fake-iraqi-photo/334879/23 "2005-12-12T01:00:56Z")
> [@Dead Badger](#): > > we ought to trust that the CPS know a lack of evidence when they see it. Unless, of course, we consider them to be “craven cretins”. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Badger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/848f3c/32.png) [@Dead\_Badger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Badger)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2005, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-charges-over-fake-iraqi-photo/334879/24 "2005-12-12T10:16:50Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > Cite? Come on, you need to give us some decent evidence for such a comment. Really? Some fairly elaborate fakes were created and sold to the Daily Mirror for a substantial amount of money, along with a defence of the veracity of various features of the photos. This, to me, veritably screams “cash in”, coming as it did _right_ on the heels of the Abu Ghraib scandal. Considering that one of the Mirror’s sources even went on TV to testify that the photos were real and that abuse was taking place (see link below), I find it massively unlikely that the photos were created for a joke. > [@GorillaMan](#): > > And when there’s nothing to prove this isn’t the case, the CPS can’t be confident of convicting anyone of anything. I agreed that the CPS shouldn’t prosecute if they didn’t think there was a chance of conviction, which they apparently don’t. But that doesn’t mean the photos were just larks, and it doesn’t mean they weren’t sold with cynical self-interest in mind. Note that the charge the CPS were considering was “obtaining property by deception”, with respect to which the question of motivation behind the photos is irrelevant. The lack of charges only means that they can’t prove beyond a doubt that the equipment used was obtained by deception, which doesn’t vastly surprise me. > [@GorillaMan](#): > > Cite? Didn’t he hang about for many days before being forced out? Once it was demonstrated that the photos were faked, he was sacked on the spot. [Link](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3716151.stm): > [@BBC News](#): > > The BBC’s Nicholas Witchell said it appeared Piers Morgan remained unrepentant right to the end. > > “According to one report Mr Morgan refused the demand to apologise, was sacked and immediately escorted from the building,” he said. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-charges-over-fake-iraqi-photo/334879.md?page=1)