LONDON (AP) — In a book full of startling revelations, Prince Harry’s assertion that he killed 25 people in Afghanistan is one of the most striking — and has drawn criticism from both enemies and allies.
In his memoir, “Spare,” Harry says he killed more than two dozen Taliban militants while serving as an Apache helicopter copilot gunner in Afghanistan in 2012-2013. He writes that he feels neither satisfaction nor shame about his actions, and in the heat of battle regarded enemy combatants as pieces being removed from a chessboard, “Baddies eliminated before they could kill Goodies.”
Harry has talked before about his combat experience, saying near the end of his tour in 2013 that “if there’s people trying to do bad stuff to our guys, then we’ll take them out of the game.”
But his decision to put a number on those he killed, and the comparison to chess pieces, drew outrage from the Taliban, and concern from British veterans.
“Mr. Harry! The ones you killed were not chess pieces, they were humans; they had families who were waiting for their return,” prominent Taliban member Anas Haqqani wrote Friday on Twitter.
Retired Army Col. Richard Kemp told the BBC the claim was “an error of judgment” that would be “potentially valuable to those people who wish the British forces and British government harm.”
In the US military nobody, or nearly nobody, who actually killed any enemy talks about it, nor numbers if in the few cases they do. However, as pointed out in the same article : Harry said he reviewed video of his missions, and “in the era of Apaches and laptops,” technology let him know exactly how many enemy combatants he had killed.Col. Tim Collins, who led a British battalion during the Iraq war, told Forces News that the statement was “not how you behave in the Army; it’s not how we think.” Retired Royal Navy officer Rear Adm. Chris Parry called the claim “distasteful.”
War, for the US has been a body count game starting with the Vietnam War. In the more technical age a half century on counting the bodies is a lot more precise.
Being a gunner in an Apache and killing two dozen people, that were thought to have been "enemy" would seem to be an under count. But be that as it may, should he be required to express remorse and do the PTSD thing? Hasn't it long been the intention of every military to train their troops to dehumanize their enemies? Certainly, even if the military commanders didn't go to great intended lengths to do so their governments propaganda certainly did, and with a lot of help from the press. And so it continues with the Ukraine conflict if you look closely.
I'd say Harry's statement is exactly how a lot of soldiers from many eras felt about their relationship to the enemy they confronted with the numbers killed or unknown killed by individual combat participants irrelevant.
https://apnews.com/article/prince-harry ... 856a539e2a
