British Defense Secretary: Prince Harry boasted about how many kills he had

Days before Prince Harry’s Spare was released, the British tabloids got their hands on a Spanish-language copy and they proceeded to excerpt the book from poorly-done translations. That was when the British media decided that Harry “bragged” about the number of people he killed in combat during his two tours in Afghanistan. Harry did not brag – in Spare, the sections devoted to his combat tours were very thoughtful and, in context, he wrote about the questions every soldier has: does morality have any place on a battlefield, are these righteous kills, are these really “bad guys,” how will I live with the knowledge that I’ve taken these lives? As Harry explained to Stephen Colbert, Harry wrote about his “number” and his tours of duty because veterans need to be able to have these conversations and because he’s trying to prevent veteran suicides. Well, a month and a half later, the current British Defence Secretary hasn’t read Spare but he definitely reads the Sun and the Daily Mail.

The Defence Secretary has accused the Duke of Sussex of “boasting” about the number of people he killed while on tour in Afghanistan. Ben Wallace said that Prince Harry’s kill count revelation in his memoir Spare “distorts” the idea that the British Army is a team.

He told LBC: “I frankly think boasting about tallies…distorts the fact that the Army is a team game. It’s a team enterprise, it’s not about who can shoot the most”.

The Duke was heavily criticised by senior military figures for the revelation that he killed 25 Taliban fighters while he was on tour in Afghanistan. Many warned that he had jeopardised his own security as well as that of others.

Having never previously waded into the row, the Defence Secretary has now accused the Duke of “letting down” his former colleagues in the military.

“If you start talking about who did what, [you’re] letting down all those other people, because you’re not a better person because you did and they didn’t,” he added.

The Duke has previously defended his decision to publish the kill count, saying on a US chat show that his aim was to give veterans the “space” to share their experiences in the military without shame. “My whole goal and my attempt with sharing that detail is to reduce the number of suicides,” he said, denying that he was “boasting” about the figure.

[From The Telegraph]

“It’s not about who can shoot the most” – Harry never said it was, dipsh-t. As Defence Secretary, shouldn’t this motherf–ker be concerned about what’s happening to Iraq and Afghanistan War veterans? Shouldn’t he operate with more nuance and thoughtfulness? “If you start talking about who did what, [you’re] letting down all those other people…” Again, Harry’s message to veterans is: talk about it, go into therapy, talk to your friends about what you’re going through, it will save your life. And the g–damn British defense secretary is telling veterans to shut up about their PTSD, they’ll let people down if they talk about what they’re going through?

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