[Peace-discuss] Fwd: British soldiers in Afghanistan shown 'war snuff movies'

[C. G. Estabrook]

> http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/british-soldiers-in-afghanistan-shown-war-snuff-movies-2360511.html
> British soldiers in Afghanistan shown 'war snuff movies'
> Camp Bastion's 'Kill TV nights' are intended to update troops on
> mission's progress, says MoD [= war department]
> By Kunal Dutta
> Sunday, 25 September 2011
>
> Disturbing footage of Apache attack helicopters killing people in
> Afghanistan is being shown to frontline British soldiers in "Kill TV
> nights" designed to boost morale, a television documentary will  
> reveal.
>
> The discovery of the practice comes in the wake of the damning verdict
> of the Baha Mousa inquiry into the conduct of some in the military. It
> casts fresh questions over the conduct of soldiers deployed abroad and
> has provoked a furious response from peace campaigners.
>
> Andrew Burgin from Stop the War last night described it as the  
> "ultimate
> degradation of British troops", comparing it to the desensitisation to
> death of US soldiers in the final stages of the Vietnam War.
>
> The footage, seen by The Independent on Sunday, shows ground troops at
> the British headquarters in Helmand province, Camp Bastion, gathered  
> for
> a get-together said to be called "Kill TV night".
>
> Described as an effort to boost morale among soldiers, it shows an
> Apache helicopter commander admitting possible errors of judgement and
> warning colleagues not to disclose what they have seen. "This is not  
> for
> discussion with anybody else; keep it quiet about what you see up  
> here,"
> he says in the film. "It's not because we've done anything wrong.  
> But we
> might have done."
>
> Last night, the MoD confirmed the speaker to be Warrant Officer  
> Class 2
> Andy Farmer, who is based with the Apache squadron in Wattisham,  
> Suffolk.
>
> Much of the footage is along the lines of the now infamous video of  
> a US
> Apache helicopter strike on civilians in Baghdad in 2007, first  
> released
> on WikiLeaks last year. In one clip an Afghan woman is targeted  
> after a
> radio dialogue between pilots refers to her as a "snake with tits".
>
> Another clip from a recent "Kill TV" night shows the cross-hair of an
> Apache helicopter taking aim at an insurgent. WOII Farmer gives a
> running commentary: "OK, so he's walking along... then thinks... I'm
> gonna go off and get my 70 vessel [sic] virgins 'cause daylight's  
> coming
> quite quick."
>
> As the missile hits the target and kills the person, he says  
> "Goodnight
> princess", adding "this is where you see he's actually had the clothes
> ripped off him by the blast".
>
> He defends the decision to celebrate the deaths of Afghans. "People  
> look
> at it and say you know... young lads are laughing at the enemy being
> killed," he says. "Well, I don't know if the Taliban do something
> similar but I'm sure they rejoice when they kill one of us."
>
> When asked by the interviewer in the film what he thinks goes through
> the head of a Taliban fighter when they see an Apache coming, WOII
> Farmer replies: "Hopefully a 30mm bullet".
>
> Later in the film, he is defiant about the moral consequences of war:
> "We're out there do to a job. We're not there to tickle the Taliban,
> we're out there to hurt them because they have no qualms about  
> hurting us.
>
> "Of the engagements that I've taken part in... I have absolutely no
> dramas with it. None at all. I don't really care whether they think  
> it's
> a fair fight. If they're [the Taliban] gonna pick up a weapon and take
> us on, then best of luck to them."
>
> But peace campaigners have a different view. Mr Burgin said: "The fact
> that British soldiers are reduced to watching what are effectively  
> snuff
> movies shows the complete failure of the project in Afghanistan. It's
> nothing to do with democracy, but a failure of war that is trickling
> down and resulting in a mental degradation among ground troops.
>
> "Afghanistan is a dreadful situation and it is no better than it was a
> decade ago."
>
> The controversy is believed to have prompted a rethink of the way in
> which the MoD will limit access to soldiers by documentary makers in  
> the
> future, according to senior sources.
>
> Last night an MoD spokesman denied any wrongdoing. "Regular briefings
> occur within the Joint Helicopter Force to all their deployed  
> personnel
> to provide an update on the operations that they have supported," he
> said. "This in some cases shows footage taken from the Apache."
>
> The footage is included in a three-part series, 'Fighting on the
> Frontline', that starts on Channel 4 tonight
>

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