Among the many revelations of Prince Harry in his autobiography, those on his deployments in Afghanistan within the British army annoy the military.
Harry’s writings have international resonance. In addition to undoubtedly irritating his family to the highest degree, the confidences of the prince in his autobiography to be published attract the wrath of the army to him.
The prince’s rantings about his feats of arms in Afghanistan are indeed little in keeping with the traditional discretion of the army. Because if the army is not nicknamed “the great mute”, their soldiers are bound to a certain confidentiality about their actions on the ground.
“Gross Stupidity”
“You must not speak to the press, sell articles or photos without the authorization of your commanding officer”, is it thus written on the british army website.
“This is not how you behave in the army”, commented Colonel Tim Collins in the columns of theIndependent.
For him, Harry has “turned his back on his other family, the army, which once welcomed him into its midst, having demolished his biological family”.
Others underline the ridiculous and even dangerous side of the prince’s statements.
“It’s filthy and naive stupidity on the part of Harry, his editor and his ghostwriter,” said Major Chip Chapman, at the Times Radio microphone.
“Big mouth”
“Harry is no longer in the army, but these things are still sensitive, and for him who seeks security and discretion, he has just exposed himself to all kinds of jihadists and crackpots.”
Taliban leader Agha Gol has also called the prince “loudmouth”, and challenged him to return to Afghanistan “if he is a real man”.
The youngest son of King Charles III spent 10 years in the British Army, with two deployments to Afghanistan, in 2007-2008 for 10 weeks, then as a helicopter pilot in the south of the country from September 2012 to January 2013. He resigned in 2015 because he could not return to the field.
In his book The Alternate published next Tuesday but which some newspapers have already obtained a copy of, the exiled prince in California says he learned as part of his training to kill enemies and that it was part of his job: “We shoot when necessary, take a life to save a life.”
“chess pieces”
According to Telegramhe says about his second deployment that he could count the number of his victims thanks to the cameras on board his Apache helicopter.
“It seemed essential to me not to be afraid of this number. So the number for me is 25. It is not a number which fills me with satisfaction, nor which embarrasses me”, writes the 38-year-old prince .
He says he considered these victims as “chess pieces” removed from the game, as provided for in his training because it is impossible to kill a target “if we consider it as a person”.
“Personally, if I had advised the prince, I would have advised him against going into detail as he does here,” said Lord Kim Darroch, former national security adviser interviewed by Sky News on Friday.
“I love you, Harry, but you really need to shut up. We wonder who he hangs out with. If it was good people, someone would have already told him to stop”, tweeted a veteran who served in Afghanistan in 2008 and lost an arm and a leg there.
