Panorama Programme Puts Shameless Britain On The Spot- AGAIN…

Belfast and Glenariff is a Slugger reader from Belfast

The recent BBC Panorama programme “Special Forces – I Saw War Crimes” was quite shocking, but to many here in the North, totally unsurprising. It was a testimony of some former British Special Forces about the dreadful actions of their colleagues, particularly the alleged multiple murders of innocent civilians, including children, in Afghanistan and the subsequent cover-ups by senior commanders. I have quoted from the programme below; it could quite easily be testimonies about Britain’s behaviour here for decades.

“I saw the quietest guys switch, show serious psychopathic traits,” he said. “They were lawless. They felt untouchable. Mob Mentality, Barbaric”

“If a target had popped up on the list two or three times before, then we’d go in with the intention of killing them, there was no attempt to capture them, there were lots of (Special Forces) psychotic murderers”

“It was expected, not hidden. Everyone knew, the killings were completely unnecessary, some members kept their own individual counts, one operator personally killed dozens of people on one six-month tour”.

“Everyone knew what was happening. To avoid scrutiny of the killings, members of the SAS and SBS would plant so-called “drop weapons” on the bodies of the dead, to make it look as though they had been armed in the photographs routinely taken by special forces teams at the scene.

“There was a fake grenade they’d take with them on to a target, it couldn’t detonate,” said a former SAS operator. Another veteran said operators would carry AK-47 rifles which had a folding stock because they were easier to fit into their rucksacks and “easier to bring onto a target and plant by a body”.

Absolutely shocking, but the accusations of cover-up amongst senior ranks are also scandalous.

“Officers would then help to falsify post-operational reports in order to avoid scrutiny for the actions of assault teams on the ground, according to the testimony”.

“We understood how to write up serious incident reviews so they wouldn’t trigger a referral to the military police,” one of the veterans said. “If it looked like a shooting could represent a breach of the rules of conflict, you’d get a phone call from the legal adviser or one of the staff officers in HQ. They’d pick you up on it and help you to clarify the language”. ‘Do you remember someone making a sudden move?’ ‘Oh yeah, I do now.’ “That sort of thing. It was built into the way we operated. The reports were “a fiction”, another UKSF veteran said. “Falsified paperwork could help prevent an investigation by the Royal Military Police, but British special forces operations generated deep concern from Afghan commanders and Afghan government officials”.

All of the above could easily refer to McGurks Bar, Bloody Sunday, Ballymurphy, New Lodge Massacre, Ormeau bookies, Loughinisland, Pat Finucane, Rosemary Nelson and the murderous deeds of the Military Reaction Force, Force Research Unit, Paratroop Regiment, UDR, Brian Nelson. Glenanne Gang and other Loyalist satellites, including the Mount Vernon UVF and Billy Wright’s LVF.

The Panorama programme then alluded to the role of senior British military figures and politicians. Here are some more quotes from it.

“David Cameron – who made seven visits to Afghanistan as prime minister between June 2010 and November 2013, the period now under scrutiny by the SAS public inquiry, was repeatedly made aware of the concerns by Afghan President Hamid Karzai, according to multiple people who attended the meetings”.

“Mr Karzai consistently, repeatedly mentioned this issue”, former Afghan national security adviser Dr Rangin Dadfar Spanta told Panorama. He said Lord Cameron could have been left in no doubt that there were allegations of civilians, including children, being killed during operations carried out by UK Special Forces.

The Afghan president was “so consistent with his complaints about night raids, civilian casualties and detentions that there was no senior Western diplomat or military leader who would have missed the fact that this was a major irritant for him,” said Gen Douglas Lute, a former US ambassador to Nato.

Gen Lute then said “It would have been “extraordinarily unusual if there were a claim against British forces that the British chain of command was not aware of”.

Bruce Houlder KC – a former director of service prosecutions, responsible for bringing charges and prosecuting those serving in the Armed Forces – told Panorama that he hoped the public inquiry would examine the extent of Lord Cameron’s knowledge of alleged civilian casualties by British special forces operations.

“You need to know how far the rot went up,” Mr Houlder said.

Again, it has deep resonance with the situation here. Though to be fair to Cameron, he did make a public apology for Bloody Sunday, though not before decades of stalling and numerous cover-ups by successive British governments. Likewise the family of Sean Brown, the Loughinisland families, Ormeau bookies, Kingsmill & La Mon relatives etc have all seen their attempts for truth and justice blocked by British Ministers, Intelligence/Security Services and Military.

This current Secretary of State and Labour administration have been far more determined, complicit and compliant than many Tories in protecting the British Establishment’s role in the North. Britain indeed has a lot to hide. Their rotten empire was built, sustained, fueled and maintained by genocide, murder, rape, theft, extortion, intimidation and the widescale abuse of basic human rights particularly in Ireland. They continue to cover up, lie, deny, divert, obfuscate and look the other way at their crimes past and present. They would hang their heads if they had any shame at all, but they don’t and won’t. They’re a total disgrace.

Source for quotes – BBC News Article