British Army Officer Busted for Strip Poker Game

The soldiers were uncomfortable with the game, but felt forced by Bristow to participate.

Amidst the current troubles in Basra, Iraq, comes the revelation that a British army officer who was highly influential in the return of the city to Iraqi control organized strip poker games while still in Basra.

Brigadier Andy Bristow, who at the time of his infractions was a colonel in the Royal Corps of Signals, took advantage of his status and rank to intimidate four junior soldiers into playing along in a game of strip poker.

The soldiers and Bristow had all been drinking, and Bristow enforced forfeits as hands were lost, causing the soldiers to strip to their pants.

The Ministry of Defence refused to comment, saying only an investigation was underway.

The soldiers were uncomfortable with the game, but felt forced by Bristow to participate. They filed complaints after returning from Iraq.

Bristow's career, which seemed to be that of a rising star, now is probably ruined, even if he is found to not be culpable to charges.

The lesson here is that strip poker has its time and place; and that time and place involve the presence of hot young women, not male soldiers at a wartime post.