Prince Harry’s “ill-judged” comments about killing 25 Taliban fighters in Afghanistan could incite an attack on British soldiers, a former senior army officer has said.
Colonel Richard Kemp, who took command of British Forces in Afghanistan in 2003, told Sky News the prince’s suggestion that British soldiers are trained to see their enemies as “less than human” was particularly dangerous.
Harry writes about his two tours of duty in Afghanistan in his highly anticipated memoir, Spare, a copy of which Sky News obtained before its release next week.
In it, the prince reveals that he killed 25 Taliban fighters and adds: “It was not something that filled me with satisfaction, but I was not ashamed either.”
Asked about the duke’s comments, Colonel Kemp told Sky News: “I think they’re probably ill-judged for two reasons. One is his suggestion that he killed 25 people will have reincited those people who wish him harm.”
Col Kemp, who retired in 2006, added: “The other problem I found with his comments was that he characterised the British Army basically as having trained him and other soldiers to see his enemy as less than human, just as chess pieces on a board to be swiped off, which is not the case. It’s the opposite of the case.”
He added it was these comments “in particular” that could “incite some people to attempt an attack on British soldiers anywhere in the world”.
