![]() ![]() The SAS took part in the fighting that liberated Western Europe from Nazi occupation, with its members once again often displaying great courage, although the military importance of their activities was as usual routinely overstated. The SAS had peculiarly British origins, being very much a product of the country’s class system. However, he has now revised his opinions, publishing a new book earlier this year, David Stirling: The Phony Major, which is a determined demolition of Stirling’s reputation. One historian of the SAS, Gavin Mortimer, published Stirling’s Men, a somewhat conventional celebration of the great man, in 2004. While there can be no doubting the courage of those involved in the operations that the new unit carried out, there can also be no doubt that propaganda reports greatly exaggerated the military importance of these operations, along with the prowess of Stirling himself. Because of his posh family connections, a young lieutenant called David Stirling was authorized to establish his very own unit to conduct raids behind German lines. It had peculiarly British origins, being very much a product of the country’s class system. What is the reality behind the myth of the SAS? The regiment was first established in North Africa during World War II. Celebration of the regiment is already beginning to revive despite the exposure of the Afghan atrocities. Even today, after humiliating defeats fighting in America’s wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the subsequent running down of the British Army as part of David Cameron’s austerity program, the SAS is still seen as representing the very best of Britain. This celebration of the SAS was at its peak during the years when Margaret Thatcher was prime minister. However, many people in Britain find the idea of the SAS committing such crimes unthinkable, regardless of the evidence, because its soldiers have become a symbol of Britishness, embodying all the British military virtues that are said to have made the country great and enabled it to conquer much of the world. Indeed, it is safe to assume that such shootings are taking place whether or not hard evidence comes to the surface. In the real world, such methods are a routine part of British and US counterinsurgency operations. In fact, it would have been a much greater cause for surprise if there had been no shootings of unarmed prisoners or suspects. The Ministry of Defence accused the BBC of putting frontline troops at risk, and right-wing newspapers claimed that the story was just an example of unpatriotic left-wing smears and propaganda. This came as something of a shock to many people. This summer, a BBC documentary revealed that a unit of Britain’s Special Air Service (SAS) had summarily executed more than fifty Afghans over a six-month period in 2010–11. ![]()
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