Ex-UK Special Forces break silence on 'war crimes' by colleagues

Post by rightbyte » Mon, May 12, 2025, 9:27 PM UTC

beloch wrote: post #33

huhkerrf wrote: post #21

When I read about terrible things done in a group like this, my first thought is: would I have done the right thing? I like to think I'm a good person, but these people probably do, too. It sounds like there's something rotten in the culture of the special forces that encouraged or at least overlooked these actions. What would I have done if I had been there? Would I have stood up against people I saw as my brothers…

Soldiers are not trained to do police work, yet that's what many are asked to do. An informant provides a tip that someone is manufacturing IED's, so soldiers are sent to investigate. They're not trained for that. Worse yet, they're the targets of the crime they're investigating. Police are not typically asked to investigate an attempt on their own lives for good reason. Even with appropriate training and when invest…

Post by psunavy03 » Mon, May 12, 2025, 9:40 PM UTC

fmajid wrote: post #30

psunavy03 wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

War crimes have always happened. What matters is whether they are celebrated, ignored, or properly investigated and punished. Wars are horrible enough as-is; we have laws of armed conflict to try the best we can to keep a lid on the utter barbarity of it all, and to help our warfighters be able to live with themselves after. This is not a new concept; one of the first people to expound on the proper laws of war in th…

That's too easy. The US, British and Israelis routinely whitewash their war crimes. The Russians don't even pretend to follow the rules of war. In comparison, the French put a general in the dock when his soldiers in the Ivory Coast, at his implicit orders, extrajudicially killed Firmin Mahé, a bandit himself responsible for many murders, and I believe other European countries have done similar prosecutions of senior…

Post by s1artibartfast » Mon, May 12, 2025, 9:44 PM UTC

pessimizer wrote: post #24

tiahura wrote: post #20

It'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 pro…

> Killing the kids of your enemy is bad, but was happening long before humans showed up. What does this mean, and why is it relevant? Some animals eat their weaker young. Would you include this in an argument defending a child cannibal? Did he eat fewer or more children than others? I think this is how you reason when you have no values. "I know it's probably bad or whatever, but it's 5% fewer than the French!" "Who…

Post by throwaway48476 » Mon, May 12, 2025, 9:52 PM UTC

Post by pyuser583 » Mon, May 12, 2025, 10:12 PM UTC

tartoran wrote: post #40

beloch wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Soldiers are not trained to do police work, yet that's what many are asked to do. An informant provides a tip that someone is manufacturing IED's, so soldiers are sent to investigate. They're not trained for that. Worse yet, they're the targets of the crime they're investigating. Police are not typically asked to investigate an attempt on their own lives for good reason. Even with appropriate training and when invest…

I don't buy that, nobody with a shred of humanity shoots handcuffed kids in the back of their heads. Something is wrong with these people as well as with the ones who are protecting them.