I recall an SAS story, told to me by a Catholic priest following the First Gulf War, where the SAS played a crucial role in spotting targets for the RAF which still horrifies me. The story involved an SAS unit crawling through the Iraqi desert. Suddenly, they encounter some shepherds and are clearly spotted. The shepherds were shot without hesitation and the unit moved on undetected.
The story horrifies me because it was an awful thing to do and, given the circumstances, an awful thing to have to do. I also know that, under no circumstances, could I do such a thing and that I would never have what it takes to be in such a situation in the first place.
The SAS requires men who will kill without hesitation when it is required, often at close quarters and often targeting people who just happen to be there. If I turned up for SAS recruitment, I would be weeded out on day one. I suppose I take pride in the fact that I am not a ruthless killer. I also take great comfort from the fact that there are those who are willing and specifically trained to go out and do these things so that I don’t have to.
In the Gulf War scenario above, what would the consequences have been otherwise? A compromised mission and a dead SAS unit. In fact, one of Andy McNab’s (Steven Billy Mitchell CBE, DCM, MM) books, if I am not mistaken, recounts exactly what happens when, in a similar situation, the spotter is not dispatched. A retreating firefight, dead comrades and a near death experience for him. I had the privilege of meeting him (aka ‘the man with no name’) when he was evacuated to our military hospital during the First Gulf War.
Until 1980 I bet that barely anyone outside of military circles had heard of the SAS. I recall as a student watching in awe, live on the BBC News, as black hooded figures abseiled down the outside of the Iranian Embassy in London and jumped into the building. A few rounds of rifle fire and flashes at the windows, and a six day siege, which had cost the lives of a young policewoman and two hostages, was over. All the terrorists were dead and all remaining hostages were rescued alive.
Who knew, until then, that such men existed? Surely, many thought, the IRA would soon be a thing of the past; our shores safe from future breaches. The SAS did, indeed, mix it with the IRA, but politics prevailed and ridiculous rules of engagement prevented them decapitating the organisation, ending The Troubles much earlier – only for the UK to cave in to the terrorists and the Irish Government in the infamous (not so) Good Friday Agreement.
The British Army and, specifically, the SAS learned what it was up against in Gibraltar in 1988 after ending the antics of an IRA unit deployed there to kill British soldiers. Outrage followed. The left-wing propaganda machine otherwise known as ITV aired the infamous Death on The Rock documentary which suggested that the IRA operatives were shot without warning and possibly had their hands up.
Guardanista types lapped this up as evidence of the SAS being out of control, bloodthirsty, operating above the law and—to top it all—having violated the human rights of the terrorists. Sane people thought ‘warning shots; what the fuck?’, and saw this as the misplaced attribution of human rights to inhuman people. In fact, since then, nearly every death inflicted by SAS soldiers is taken as evidence that it is high time the regiment was disbanded.
Similar outrage followed several incidents in Northern Ireland where the human rights lobby somehow considered it wrong to shoot, without first issuing a polite warning, the driver of a stolen lorry. They conveniently skip the details, including that the lorry was mounted with a heavy machine gun and full of IRA operatives with assault rifles, who had just fired armour-piercing missiles into a police station.
The Clonoe Ambush is just one of many battering rams being used to try to topple the SAS, which was criticised for not attempting to arrest the IRA fighters. Remarkable given that, on the one hand, it is not the job of the military to arrest anyone and, on the other hand, that those who may have tried to arrest them had just come under deadly fire.
The SAS seems to have few friends. It is hard to know whether the recent series on the SAS Rogue Heroes has helped or hindered their image. Of course, apart from the incongruous and anachronistic rock music, we loved it and were glued to the set in our house. But I am sure some of a more delicate disposition may have needed counselling.
Among the legacy press The Spectator has been excellent in showing support for the SAS. Last week a former commanding officer, writing in the magazine, exposed the BBC’s duplicity in using SAS training films, made by the author of the article, as if these were some grand exposé, evidence of a widespread bloodlust.
There are also accusations of summary executions of innocent civilians and unarmed combatants. These are probably worth investigating, but the BBC and The Guardian are doing their best to prejudice the SAS in the minds of the public. To counter some of the propaganda, Country Squire Magazine has also been providing a platform for former SAS soldiers to write in defence of the regiment and its values.
It has become a cliché to point to the luxury we have of being able to sleep safely in our beds because there are men out there doing whatever is needed to keep it that way. It may also be an exaggeration, as we witness the continuing invasion of young men of military age with values incongruent with our own, along our southern shores.
But what is surely true is that the SAS are being judged by people who consider it a crisis if their skinny caffè latte with non-dairy whipped gunk on top is cold, and who consider stress to be an Uber that is five minutes late. Their idea of fitness is walking to the gym, and ruthlessness is telling the nanny not to use too much toilet paper. They are judging men who have done the unimaginable, long before they do the unacceptable, on our behalf.
Roger Watson is a retired academic, editor and writer. He is a columnist with Unity News Network and writes regularly for a range of conservative journals including The Salisbury Review and The European Conservative. He has travelled and worked extensively in the Far East and the Middle East. He lives in Kingston upon Hull, UK.
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The woke have forgotten that there are situations in which ‘kill or be killed’ are the only options. Pacifism is a luxury that hardly anyone wouldn’t abandon if they themselves or their families were under attack.
It is however easy to make heroes of the SAS (their covert missions should remain secret, lesser things are embargoed for 100 years) by overlooking the unpalatable fact that it provides an outlet for those types who have very different outlooks to the rest of us – whether this is a good thing or not is a personal moral judgement of the type that asks if Gurkhas are legitimised mercenaries or not?
The Iraq story is not true!
You were there?
You are confusing the Iranian embassy siege with the incident outside the Libyan embassy 4 years later where WPC Yvonne Fletcher was murdered while policing a demonstration.
A police officer, Trevor Lock was taken hostage while on duty outside the Iranian embassy in 1980 but survived the siege (he died last month at the age of 85). I had the privilege of meeting him in the early 1990s although still affected by his experiences he has a great bloke with a dry sense of humour. On occasion he would still attend events organised by the SAS to recount his experiences as a hostage to assist new members of the regt in future operations.
Further to the above not all of the hostage takers were killed. One survived by posing as a hostage when the SAS stormed the embassy and was protected by two female hostages who had formed an attachment with him during their ordeal. He was released from prison in 2008 and still resides in the U.K. under a new identity.
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The time is coming soon when this country will require the SAS to protect its citizenry from enemies domestic and foreign. Let us hope and pray that when this happens that it has the judgement and the will to do what is necessary.
Ask yourself this; given the group we’ll need protection from – will the SAS align themselves with the side (us) that expects some accountability or the side (them) that would give free reign to a ruthless force that paid lip service to certain beliefs?
Not encouraging at all in my opinion.
Know next to nothing about the SAS, however I’m glad they operate in the shadows, willing to risk all for so little gratitude. Long May it continue.
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