Iran’s comments on Harry

[PoochPalace]

As expected, Harry I’ll advised comments on his active service has drawn attention from extremists.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry have alleged tweeted:

“The British regime, whose royal family member, sees the killing of 25 innocent people as removal of chess pieces and has no regrets over the issue, and those who turn a blind eye to this war crime, are in no position to preach others on human rights.”

But if you read it in full he states they were targeted kills on terrorists. And that he went to great lengths to make sure they weren't civilians.

Still should haven't included it but people do need to read it before commenting.

This.
All this bollocks about “context”. No regime like the Taliban or the Iranian govt gives a shit about context. As for the Taliban’s claim that Harry’s number included civilians, well that’s their “truth” so if the actual facts differ it doesn’t matter. That is how they will spin it. Much like Harry did when he subsequently claimed he had included this to help combat vets suicide rates. Well that’s ok then 🙄. Repressive regimes are going to think it’s fine for him to have mentioned his kill number. Or are they just going to take his words at face value and use them as an excuse for their behaviour, I wonder? Not to mention those fanatics who will manage to take what he has written as a personal reason to take revenge. The man is an arse.

That is the point, we have no idea who Harry killed, and if they are innocent or not. Taliban terrorists don't walk around with targets on the top of their heads so the military can target the 'right' people.

We might not agree with the Taliban and the way they live and values etc but it IS their country, and they had more right to be there than Harry. To actually gloat and talk about it in the way Harry has done is shocking and disrespectful, and more than that it paints us all in a terrible light. Thank goodness he is no longer part of the royal family and no longer represents us.

The people Harry killed were someone's children, and they no doubt thought they were saving and protecting their country at the time.

It was so obviously a stupid thing to include in the book.
As H is so concerned about protecting his family surely he must have realised the possible implications. He can't be that stupid??

But if the war has been declared illegal it makes it a massive grey area. Were they specifically identified terrorists or were they inhabitants of their country defending their country during an illegal invasion/war. Who I’m sure due to their taking up of arms in defence would have been labelled terrorists by our troops 🤷🏻‍♀️

We might not agree with the Taliban and the way they live and values etc but it IS their country, and they had more right to be there than Harry.

No. This isn't a case of them having different values, they will actually kill anyone who is in an ethnic minority or refuses their religion. They oppress their people and kill anyone who breaches the rules, many times based on hearsay.

It's true, it can't be 100% confirmed his kills were all Taliban. Best he kept it to themselves. But I'm no way are they like ordinary Muslims who just have a different lifestyle.

But if you read it in full he states they were targeted kills on terrorists. And that he went to great lengths to make sure they weren't civilians

So? The Taliban have claimed he killed civilians. That is “their” truth. A phrase Harry seems fond of using. Like I said, where’re it is the actual truth is irrelevant in the propaganda machine of the Taliban. And to all the lone wolves looking to avenge perceived wrongs like this. Also it is naive in the extreme to ascertain with any certainty that no civilians were killed. Bullets are fired, people die. The bullets don’t check if you are a civilian first.

I'm sure the very compassionate Taliban also didn't see Harry as a chess piece.

He shouldn't have published it because they are just using this for propaganda. And people are actually falling for it.

But the point is that it was obvious that that was going to happen. It couldn't be taken out of context if Harry hadn't been dim enough to include it in the first place, could it?

I'm as grateful to our serving and ex military as the next person, including Harry, but I do wish he would shut up -however I suspect its a little too late now. The sensible royals understand why the "never explain, never complain" mantra is so important - of course what they say will be taken out of context.

Once again I am raising the point that The Sun didn't face this reaction when they splashed across their front page at the time that Harry had killed an important taliban chief. The taliban need little reason to retaliate, and boasting about killing one of their senior figures would absolutely have been seen as provocation to them. So where was the outrage over this at the time?

Until someone can answer the question, I am absolutely going to believe that the ongoing debate about Harry writing about his experiences is manipulated outrage and not much more.

Harry's excuse that he somehow thought this would help suicidal ex soldiers is a nonsense. It's never going to make a difference to them realistically, and it will hardly be a comfort to the relatives of anyone killed by the Taliban as a direct result of his stupidity.

It is not our job to wade into other countries and tell them how to live, and not oppress. It has absolutely nothing to do with us how they choose to run their country and affairs. If they want to live as they did a thousand years ago that is a matter for them, and their collective choice. We may not agree with how they treat women and girls and many other aspects, but that is a matter of opinion. They are traditionally conservative Muslims that honour their past and way of life. It is not for you or me, or anyone else to involve ourselves, particularly not in a military way.

It is western entitlement and a sense of moral superiority that we think we can go around the world telling other ancient civilisations how to live and bomb and kill their citizens if they don't. It had zero support then from most of the British public, and it has even less now we can see the actual outcome of such a horrible war.

The war has been the most pointless waste of human life, money and resources the world has ever seen. The Taliban are now back in charge, and everything has gone back to the way it was, as expected.

Irrelevant. Two wrongs don't make a right. It's particularly crass to revive the whole issue several years later.

That's what myself and a lot of people said at the time when his book was published.

The context and fluffy words around it won't matter. Describing them as "chess pieces" and "baddies" and confirming how many he killed just hands the Taliban et al the means to whip up propaganda.

It doesn't matter if his comments were taken out of context. Because the Taliban aren't exactly known for their meticulous adherence to reasonable views, truth and accuracy, are they?!

The Forces have a policy of not giving any of this information because it can be twisted and manipulated to suit the enemy's agenda. And this is why. Harry thought he knew better which was foolhardy and arrogant.

Of course no one here in the West thinks for a single second that Iran has a point. That would be ridiculous. But we're not the people they're trying to convince. It's a propaganda tool to whip up their supporters, to point out that a member of the ROYAL FAMILY killed 25 people in a war which is considered problematic.

But Harry is blaming the media. Definitely not his fault for using those actual words.

There is a world of difference between a paper reporting the killing of Taliban chief, as they are expected to do, report the facts and Harry using the death of twenty five people - calling them 'chess pieces' as further insult - for tens of millions of pounds.

Are you actually saying there is now no difference between Harry's moral compass and that of the sun?

I would also ask why you don't believe the servicemen and woman and the veterans when THEY say they felt triggered by his comments, now feel more at risk as a result and the moral code in the military has been broken? Are you dismissing their views?

How on earth is it irrelevant? Two wrongs might not make a right, but if only one wrong comes up for scrutiny than something is amiss.

The Sun wrote this article when Harry was still in Afghanistan. The threat levels to him and to this country were never higher. And yet barely anyone (certainly not the MSM) went 'uh, this is probably a bad idea to print this?

And 'particularly crass' is a nothing expression. If it wasn't 'particularly crass' to fight an illegal war and risk killing innocent civillians, it's certainly not particularly crass for a veteran to write about his experiences later once he's had time to reflect on it.

Once again I am raising the point that The Sun didn't face this reaction when they splashed across their front page at the time that Harry had killed an important taliban chief. The taliban need little reason to retaliate, and boasting about killing one of their senior figures would absolutely have been seen as provocation to them. So where was the outrage over this at the time?

There wasn’t, because that was 10 years ago, and there was an ongoing conflict and completely different political situation in Afghanistan and the international coalition at the time. Harry’s writing now, when the Taliban is back in control of the country, it was odd no-one thought of this point.

I’m kind of amazed this needs sayings to be honest. Have you never noticed how the work of British bomber command was lauded during WWII and then completely hushed up afterwards? How about the Falklands war? The propaganda put out during a conflict is quite different to the situation afterwards, and there is normally a marked shift in tone, and sensitivities to the different politics.

I like many others, don't feel outraged or manipulated.

I just feel it is very bad form to put others at risk to fill your own coffers to keep running the mansion or whatever. There is something deeply immoral about selling your own comrades security and mental health down the river to make a few bucks.

I would feel deeply betrayed if I were them.

No, there isn't a world of difference. Military personnel involved in specific operations are supposed to have their names protected as it puts those involved under specific threat as well as their home country. The sniper who was accidentally named by the MOD for having the longest kill shot won a substantial payout because just the knowledge that he had taken this shot put him and his family at risk.

Harry is also a veteran and he has just as much right to talk about his experiences as anyone. Veterans aren't a hivemind, they are entitled to their opinions but ultimately it was Harry's decision to make.

Propaganda works when it changes the narrative it really doesn’t care for context or debate. The talking point being more about Harry words than the fact it was used as some form of justification/deflection away from the killing of a British/Iranian citizen. I’d say in using Harry book it’s been pretty successful in this case.

I don't think the Sun has ever been held up as an example of intelligent debate. It's the very epitome of sensationalist trash with journalists who are very happy to trawl the gutter for the biggest headlines.

That said, presumably it would have been public knowledge that a big Taliban leader had been killed. That kind of information always gets out. It's too big to contain.

That feels very different from talking about how many foot soldiers you killed.

I can imagine both being used to whip up the enemy, but the latter feels far worse, a lot more personal, exacerbated by the fact he described them as just chess pieces.

I can't honestly believe that an intelligent person would think it's perfectly OK to talk about a hostile enemy, and give this level of detail, especially when it's against the Forces own policy. And especially given the fact that this same enemy is still an active problem. It's not about whether he should be able to discuss this, it's whether it was a smart thing to do - or perhaps whether his words will have consequences for others, which may include loss of life....

There wasn't a 'completely different' political situation. The taliban were capable of terrorist attacks back then and they're capable of terrorist attacks now. What there was, was a completely different cultural situation. Now it no longer serves the tabloids to be jingonistic about fighting the taliban, there's faux outrage over their once blue-eyed royal fighter boy having the audacity to write about his experiences.

What on earth are you talking about.

What about the current military personnel that are now at risk because of Harry's words?

What about the views and feelings of everyone he worked with, and how triggered and upset they were to read his comments?

The whole country is now at heightened risk thanks to Harry, is that okay?

How on earth does he think he has the right to do this to other people? And make millions doing so, without a thought for them.
He clearly hasn't even considered what his own risks are now, when he wrote the book he was obv not bothered, or that of his young children. I can not understand why no one pointed out to him how dangerous this was to print something like this - but maybe they didn't care, if the pay check is big enough.

I am sorry but you sound morally deficient if you can not understand why writing about the deaths of people and calling them chess pieces is wrong on so many levels, then I can't help you. You really are defending the indefensible.