A former commanding officer of 22 SAS has said he would question whether he could trust the state if he were a young officer in the regiment today, in an interview reported by Sky News on Saturday.
Lt Col Richard Williams spoke as Sky reported that the SAS Regimental Association had told its members in an internal memo on Friday that "the moral contract between the state and its soldiers has been weakened or even broken". Sky said it had seen the document.
The interview and the memo come as the Independent Inquiry relating to Afghanistan, announced in December 2022 to examine allegations of unlawful killings by UK forces, has yet to publish any findings. It has just completed three weeks of open hearings, held between 12 October and 13 November in London.
"In all the operations I conducted, from Northern Ireland, Iraq, Afghanistan, the Balkans, Latin America and elsewhere, I always felt the state had my back," Williams told Sky News.
"To find now that those operations directed by the state, endorsed by the state, bound by the state, is being dragged through the courts, would make me wonder if I was a young SAS officer now, as to whether I could trust the state after the event to support my necessary actions in close-quarter combat."
Sky reported that Williams, who left the army before the period under examination, insisted he had never encountered any soldier breaking rules.
The memo, as quoted by Sky, also warns that members may leave the service. "The risk to a highly specialised capability warrants serious attention," it says. "We do sense the mood of our members and the message on retention is a noticeably negative one."
The retention warning is the association's own assessment of its members' mood. The account of both the interview and the memo rests on Sky's reporting.
The inquiry is a statutory public inquiry, not a criminal prosecution. Chaired by Lord Justice Haddon-Cave, it is examining alleged extrajudicial killings during deliberate detention operations between mid-2010 and mid-2013, and whether Royal Military Police investigations into them were properly carried out. The allegations are unproven.
The public record points to more than one cause of the inquiry's slow progress. The Ministry of Defence has disclosed 97 million archived records that had not previously been reviewed, Forces News reported in October. The inquiry held a hearing on 25 September to take MoD submissions, having cited a "significant and unexpected increase" in relevant undisclosed documents, according to the campaign group Action on Armed Violence.
At an open hearing on 12 October, Haddon-Cave said many SAS personnel sent notices by the inquiry had declined to give evidence.
"A high proportion have indicated their intention to rely on their privilege against self-incrimination and have refused to answer any questions asked by the inquiry," he said, in remarks reported by Arab News.
The privilege against self-incrimination is a legal right, and relying on it is not evidence of wrongdoing.
The association's complaint is not new. It has previously told LBC that its members believed "the contract between the Armed Forces and Government has been broken", and that legal action against soldiers over Northern Ireland, Iraq and Afghanistan had caused "significant moral injury".
The Telegraph reported this week that the inquiry was thought likely to run until 2028. That is not an official estimate.
Join the Discussion
Have something to say? Join the conversation!
Sign in to share your thoughts and engage with other readers.
Sign In Create AccountNo comments yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this article!