A dirty little secret known within Special Forces circles and amongst military drone pilots has come to light in a BBC investigation into the Special Air Service (SAS), Britain's storied special operations unit.
The BBC obtained documents revealing a troubling pattern with SAS operations in Helmand province in Afghanistan in 2010, identifying at least 54 killings worthy of further investigation. The BBC investigation revealed that different squadrons within the SAS were competing with one another to see which could obtain the highest body count during their deployment.
The documents also highlight a suspicious pattern in the killings of Afghan civilians, such as Afghans being intentionally freed and then quickly returning from their homes with a Kalashnikov rifle to engage the SAS.
Many times detainees were somehow able to reach for hand grenades that were concealed somewhere and were subsequently shot by SAS operators. How a detainee can arm themselves and pose a threat to soldiers speaks to a profound lack of professionalism in how suspected enemy combatants are searched and secured, at a minimum. But when it happens again and again, serious questions must be asked about the reliability of those reports.
"Too many people were being killed on night raids and the explanations didn't make sense," a senior officer who worked at Special Forces headquarters told the BBC. "Once somebody is detained, they shouldn't end up dead. For it to happen over and over again was causing alarm at HQ. It was clear at the time that something was wrong."
In recent years, a similar investigation into the Australian Special Air Service led to criminal charges, many of which are still pending, and the disbanding of a SAS squadron.
The BBC investigation also revealed the use of "drop weapons," a well-known technique allegedly employed by American forces as well in which murdered civilians have weapons planted on them after the fact. Previously reporting indicated that SEAL Team Six would take photos of killed Afghans for mission debriefs and in each picture the same weapon is displayed.
The investigation brings to the forefront a subject that has been whispered about for years in certain circles. While the British courts have possession of military documents regarding the SAS killings, the drone footage from these operations remains in U.S. custody as the drones belong to the American military.
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In the RPA (Remotely Piloted Aircraft) community, which flew overwatch missions for the SAS, these killings are fairly well known, according to sources who spoke to this reporter.
They explained that the SAS operators on the ground would request that the drone pilots "spin the ball" meaning to rotate the drone's camera off the objective area. Sometimes the drone operators spun the ball. Sometimes they didn't. That footage could be declassified if the political will existed.
The British Ministry of Defense claims that two investigations into the SAS killings found that the charges were unsubstantiated and that the BBC reporting puts British soldiers at increased risk overseas. Some of the investigators told BBC that their efforts were blocked by the military.
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It is hard not to draw a comparison to the American Special Operations community that for years conducted internal investigations and found itself not guilty with no systemic ethical issues at all, until the preponderance of public evidence reported by the press became so overwhelming that they were forced to admit, "we have a problem."
Sadly, storied units and prestigious commands issue denials as the problems compound, right up until the moment the dam breaks. It is unfortunate that American and allied militaries are unable and unwilling to skip past the denial phase and get straight to the reform phase. Problems can be fixed if leadership has the courage to address them.
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Reach Jack Murphy: jack@connectingvets.com or @JackMurphyRGR.
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