SAS soldier 'refuses Iraq mission'

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SAS soldier 'refuses Iraq mission'

Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit

PA via The Scotsman - Mar 12, 2006
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=372602006

SAS soldier 'refuses Iraq mission'

An SAS soldier has refused to go into combat in Iraq alongside US
forces after branding their tactics "illegal", it has been reported.

Ben Griffin, 28, left the Army after three months in Baghdad citing the
behaviour of US troops and the policies of coalition forces. He is
believed to be the first SAS soldier to refuse to go into combat and
quit the Army on moral grounds.

Mr Griffin told the Sunday Telegraph that he witnessed dozens of
illegal acts by US fighters who viewed Iraqis as "sub human".

He said: "I saw a lot of things in Baghdad that were illegal or just
wrong. I knew, so others must have known, that this was not the way to
conduct operations if you wanted to win the hearts and minds of the
local population.

"And if you can't win the hearts and minds of the people, you can't win
the war."

On Saturday Foreign Office minister Kim Howells admitted that Iraq was
"a mess" during a visit to the country to inspect the oil industry. But
he played down the prospects of civil war and praised the enthusiasm of
ordinary Iraqis for change.

"People describe Iraq as a mess," he told BBC Radio 4's Today
programme. "But it is a mess that can't launch an attack now on Iran; a
mess that won't be able to march into Kuwait; it's a mess that can't
develop nuclear weapons.

"So yes, it's a mess but it's starting to look like the sort of mess
that most of us live in."

The SAS has served alongside its American equivalent, Delta Force, in
all parts of Iraq, targeting al Qaida cells and insurgents.

The Hereford-based unit, formed in 1941 to conduct raids behind enemy
lines during World War Two, is the principal special forces
organisation of the British Army. An MoD spokeswoman said the
department does not comment on matters involving SAS personnel.

) Copyright Press Association Ltd 2006, All Rights Reserved.

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