The conduct of Britain’s elite troops flared into a political dispute last fall when the Conservative Party was choosing a new leader. Robert Jenrick, one of the candidates, claimed without evidence that they “are killing rather than capturing terrorists” and said that was because a European human rights court would otherwise force Britain to release them.
Mr. Jenrick came under sharp criticism from two other candidates, Tom Tugendhat and James Cleverly, both former soldiers. Mr. Tugendhat said his comments showed a “fundamental misunderstanding of military operations and the law of unarmed conflict.”
Some of these disclosures came to light because of a fierce rivalry between the SAS, or Special Air Services, the special forces unit of the British Army, and the SBS, or Special Boat Service, its counterpart in the Royal Navy. SAS troops arrived in Afghanistan in 2009, many fresh from the war in Iraq, and took over the mission of hunting Taliban militants from the SBS. Many of the concerns about their methods were raised by SBS soldiers and their commanders.
Several witnesses expressed frustration that there was a culture of covering up misdeeds by falsifying operations reports. In the case of the Afghan man whose head was covered by a pillow, “It was implied that photos would be taken of the deceased alongside weapons that the ‘fighting age male’ may not have had in their position when they were killed,” one soldier recounted to the inquiry.
Another soldier said in a February 2011 email that when people raised concerns, they were met with the response, “‘What doesn’t everyone get about how important these ops are?’ The guys appear to be beyond reproach,” he wrote. “Astonishing.”
