Well, should be easy to account, given that the same prop-weapons were used over and over again. Find a unique scratch or dent and start counting.
Ex-UK Special Forces break silence on 'war crimes' by colleagues
11–20 of 89 posts
Re: Ex-UK Special Forces break silence on 'war crimes' by colleagues
#12The evidence presented by the BBC in 2020: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-53597137 And apparently Australia had already released their report and investigation of their own behavior: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-55088230 But only the whistleblower and one other were tried and convicted: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brereton_Report
Wow, that’s crazy, the _whistleblower_ and one other person were tried and convicted. Essentially just punishing the person that felt bad enough to reveal the crime, not the many that committed it and stayed silent. :(
Re: Ex-UK Special Forces break silence on 'war crimes' by colleagues
#13[flagged]
I don't think you read the article. > "They handcuffed a young boy and shot him," recalled one veteran who served with the SAS in Afghanistan. "He was clearly a child, not even close to fighting age." No Western government (or whatever you meant by government system) treats anyone like that, and such behaviour should absolutely surprise everyone.
Also, such behavior recruits the whole extended clan into a insurgency to avenge the dishonor of getting murdered. 10 psychopaths "working" can prolong a war in a clan-structured society indefinitely.
Re: Ex-UK Special Forces break silence on 'war crimes' by colleagues
#14It should be obvious to everyone, not just about UK, but all sorts of war invoke this. I mean, we all know about torture in Guantanamo and even on European soil, and it wasn't even that long ago. What makes anyone think anything has changed? Why would it change? Is there an incentive? Sure, there are courts and theoretical conventions, but the system is not perfect, there is no enforcement and also no incentive to enforce it. For all I know there is lack of enforcement for all kinds of crime - just extrapolate the mess with simple street crime to warzones and it doesn't seem as surprising anymore, does it?
Re: Ex-UK Special Forces break silence on 'war crimes' by colleagues
#15then yhey criticize the wagner militia but they are not any better apparently. Maybe it's even hearsay.
Re: Ex-UK Special Forces break silence on 'war crimes' by colleagues
#16[flagged]
I don't think you read the article. > "They handcuffed a young boy and shot him," recalled one veteran who served with the SAS in Afghanistan. "He was clearly a child, not even close to fighting age." No Western government (or whatever you meant by government system) treats anyone like that, and such behaviour should absolutely surprise everyone.
> "No Western government (or whatever you meant by government system) treats anyone like that, and such behaviour should absolutely surprise everyone."
Clearly not
Re: Ex-UK Special Forces break silence on 'war crimes' by colleagues
#17Seems like Kurt Tucholsky was right
Re: Ex-UK Special Forces break silence on 'war crimes' by colleagues
#18The evidence presented by the BBC in 2020: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-53597137 And apparently Australia had already released their report and investigation of their own behavior: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-55088230 But only the whistleblower and one other were tried and convicted: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brereton_Report
>But only the whistleblower and one other were tried and convicted:
Of course, what did you expect? Murder is legal if it's for the government, and, exposing your government's secret dirty laundry is a crime against the law. Business as usual everywhere.
I'm not aware of any government that rewards you when you exposed it as fool/criminal in front of their voters and the world. Hence why whistleblowers get the book thrown at them, as there's one set of rules for the plebs and another for the super wealthy and powerful.
And do you know what's most ironic? We're rewarding our own soldiers for the same crimes we hanged the Nazi soldiers for. Another proof that the legality of right VS wrong, good VS evil, has less to do with morals and more to do with whether you're on the victorious side of history.
Re: Ex-UK Special Forces break silence on 'war crimes' by colleagues
#19then yhey criticize the wagner militia but they are not any better apparently. Maybe it's even hearsay.
making excuses for the Wagner Militia really is not the takeaway you want from this one
Re: Ex-UK Special Forces break silence on 'war crimes' by colleagues
#20It's hard to know what to make of an article like this because of the lack of context. Killing the kids of your enemy is bad, but was happening long before humans showed up. So, the question is, given comparable conditions, how did SAS perform vs others? Are they 1/2 as cruel as the French and 1/4 as cruel than they used to be? If so, we should be happy they're improving. We don't know.
This seems like a systemic problem with war fighting and requires system improvements. The Heinlein in me is uneasy with a prosecutorial focus. Improve the culture, make it easier to take a couple of weeks off, whistleblow, whatever--but telling someone who volunteered to fight for their country to go get shot at and dodge bombs for a few hours, watch their friends get their faces blown off, and then flip a switch, seems unreasonable.