In a society ruled by law, as distinct from rule by men, General Sir Nick Carter would be risking not only his job as head of the British army but prosecution in a civilian court, for his recent remarks regarding soldiers being held to account for criminal behaviour.
Persons who commit crimes are entitled to fair trials. If there are mitigating circumstances, they should be taken into account. If there are aggravating circumstances the sentences should reflect this.
Since Hitler did the world a favour by shooting himself there have been various other campaigns where other powers have committed atrocities.
France in Indochina is one example. And the French were happy to accept Hitler’s old soldiers to do some of their dirty work there, and in Algeria, amongst other places.
Britain has fought many nasty campaigns which they labelled emergencies, where unspeakable outrages were visited by her forces on the natives. On at least one occasion in Malaya troops were happy to be photographed with the severed heads of their victims. In Kenya, Cyprus and Egypt they committed atrocities and in other places never acknowledged they poisoned wells.
Rarely have the lower ranks been prosecuted for their crimes against humanity. Never once have those who ordered the atrocities been put on trial. The late Lord Carrington, who ordered the torture of prisoners and the Bloody Sunday massacre is a prime example of a criminalnever brought to terrestrial justice. Lt Colonel Wilford was merely a middle-ranking cog in the chain. On that day in Derry, Major General Ford was there on the spot to see that Carrington’s and Heath’s orders were carried out.
When politicians such as Tony Blair sought to make peace, the High Court in London’s Strand was picketed by thugs wearing Royal Marine berets when it was reviewing a sentence on “Big AL” for a homicide in Afghanistan.
Even the late Garret Fitzgerald, England’s favourite Taoiseach, was rather bemused by how much British government ministers were in thrall to their Army.
It’s not compatible with a free and law-abiding society. If the rule of law is to prevail, the Director of Public Prosecutions should give the order “NICK CARTER!”
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