The last few weeks have seen Britain’s special forces whining in the press about accountability – again. This time their gripe is about potential legacy allegations from Ireland. It’s good to be specific here because there are so many competing controversies related to these units.

For example, the current inquiry into war crimes in Afghanistan. Investigative website Unredacted have a great breakdown here. Or, directly connected, the SAS refusing to give asylum to Afghan troops in case they later testified on said war crimes.

On 27 November, Forces News declared that special forces veterans had ‘broken cover’ to rail against the Ireland legacy bill. ‘Broken cover’ is an odd way of describing a group of soldiers who never seem to shut up. And who, in fact, have produced an entire genre of books and TV shows.

In fact, UK special forces personnel had to be additionally gagged with an NDA in 1996 to stop them writing books. Yet they kept talking, not least in the galaxy of military manosphere podcasts. Just yesterday, far-right London mayor hopeful and former special forces soldier Ant Middleton found himself in court for breaching a non-disclosure agreement. Middleton reportedly blabbed secret details on a US-based podcast in July.

Special forces victim complex

A former SAS soldier has told Forces News that special forces veterans had started a new campaign called Project Verity. It’s aim is to defend member and former members from prosecutions. These Ex-SAS members have even threatened to sue the government.

The secretary of the SAS Regimental Association said:

We have never said where wrongdoing is suspected, or there is evidence that, you know, nobody is trying to dodge their responsibility. That’s not the case here.

What… we find galling as service personnel that the balance in the Northern Ireland Troubles Act as is, is always more towards IRA, Sinn Fein sensitivities rather than sensitivities and the needs of the veterans.

The way veterans and some politicians talk about legacy allegations – from the War on Terror, as well as Ireland – you’d think there are ex-servicemen being hunted through the streets daily. The reality is vastly removed from this vision of ‘wronged’ or ‘betrayed’ heroes.

The reality of legacy allegations

The Centre for Military Justice (CMJ) has often commented on the hyperbole around these cases. In July, they wrote:

There have been just six prosecutions brought against veterans since the Good Friday Agreement, more than 25 years ago. There has been just ONE conviction. That is not a witch-hunt.

CMJ warned the entire debate was:

clouded by myths and ignorance about both the conflict and what has happened in the years since the Good Friday Agreement.

And bear in mind that only a few months ago Soldier F, the 1972 Bloody Sunday shooter, was acquitted – over 50 years after the killings occurred.

The truth is there is no ‘witch hunt’. British military veterans have been overwhelmingly protected – not just from prosecution, but from even basic scrutiny. The rhetoric of ‘protecting our troops’ from lawyers and victims is part of this. These processes are made even more difficult by the incredible slowness of court cases and inquiries and various layers of official secrecy. And in the end, all this allows British military to portrays itself as the primary victim of its own wars.

Featured image via the Canary

By Joe Glenton

This post was originally published on Canary.