The evidence brought to light by BBC Panorama of alleged widespread unlawful killings by special forces in the British Army is further damning proof that the military occupation of Afghanistan was an utter failure. The primary victims of that failure were the people of Afghanistan who have suffered immeasurably from these war crimes.
The reports detail over one-hundred murders including night raids on unarmed victims, the killing of detainees and the ensuing cover-up. Stop the War demands that those responsible for these crimes and the whitewash that followed are brought to justice for their actions.
The fact that General Sir Mark Carleton-Smith, the former head of UK Special Forces, who is accused of leading the cover-up was promoted to Chief of the General Staff is yet another disturbing indictment of the British Army. The ‘reward for failure’ culture in that institution seemingly knows no bounds.
Stop the War Convenor, Lindsey German, said:
“These revelations are horrific and were obviously well known at the highest levels of the British Army. We have had 20 years of lies about Afghanistan, not least that it was a humanitarian intervention.
These killings were war crimes and were covered up. There should be trials of those responsible including those in government and military who knew about this. But I won’t be holding my breath given the impunity over Blair and Iraq.”
