SAS man quits in protest at ‘illegal’ Iraq war
Richard Norton-Taylor
Monday March 13, 2006
Guardian
An SAS soldier has resigned from the army, describing the military intervention
in Iraq as a “war of aggression” and “morally wrong”. The soldier said he
witnessed “dozens of illegal acts” by US forces there.
Ben Griffin, 28, who left after three months in Baghdad, is believed to be the
first SAS soldier to refuse to go into combat and to leave the army on moral
grounds. His decision comes at a time of growing disenchantment among British
soldiers about their presence in Iraq.
This week, pre-trial hearings are due to start into the court martial of Flight
Lieutenant Malcolm Kendall-Smith, an RAF doctor who is refusing to return to
Iraq on the grounds that the war is illegal. Mr Kendall-Smith’s lawyer, Justin
Hugheston-Roberts, said yesterday: “We will be arguing that he has no case to
answer because, without a UN mandate, the invasion of Iraq was manifestly
unlawful and any subsequent order was therefore unlawful.”
Mr Griffin told the Sunday Telegraph yesterday that he had expected to face a
court martial for leaving the SAS. Instead, he was discharged with a glowing
testimonial.
When he was on leave in March last year he told his commanding officer he had
no intention of returning to Iraq. He said he was very angry “at the way the
politicians have lied to the British public about the war. But most
importantly, I didn’t join the British army to conduct American foreign
policy.”
He said he had witnessed dozens of illegal acts by US fighters who viewed
Iraqis as “sub-human”. Mr Griffin said: “I saw a lot of things in Baghdad that
were illegal or just wrong. The Americans were doing things like chucking
farmers into Abu Ghraib, or handing them over to the Iraqi authorities, knowing
full well they were going to be tortured.”
The Ministry of Defence does not comment officially on any activities involving
Britain’s special forces. However, defence officials did not deny that Mr
Griffin left the SAS in protest against the war in Iraq.
The SAS has been operating under cover in Iraq since the invasion, working with
US special forces seeking out insurgents and foreign Arab fighters linked to or
proclaiming sympathy with al-Qaida.
British officers have told the Guardian that they have been dismayed by US
military tactics in Iraq. They also say that attempts to train the Iraqi army
and police are fraught with problems.
Comment:
Something which Muslims have known for years is now finally sinking into the minds of many other people who follow the principle of seeing is believing and they have finally seen the horrors being committed by the so called " liberators" against our brothers and sisters the Muslim Iraqi people.
What now needs to be discussed and debated by all people is, What is the solution for Iraq? Is it western democracy or another solution which is in tune with the Muslim Iraqi people and has a proven track record of solving humanities problems and under which the Sunni, Shia and Christians and even idol worshippers lived peacefully and side by side for hundreds of years before the British carved up Iraq and installed pro-western leaders, who were then succeeded by another pro-western puppet the man himself Saddam.