The Performative Outrage Machine has been activated for Prince Harry’s memoir, Spare. The British tabloids got their hands on a Spanish-language version of the memoir, and they’ve been dutifully translating it (badly, in some cases) and maximizing the excerpts to fuel even more outrage. There are already some translated excerpts which seem purposefully confusing, like the British media is just trying to sow chaos and division. Because of course they are trying to do exactly that. In Spare, Harry writes about his military training and his two tours in Afghanistan. The Daily Mail, the Sun, the Express, the Mirror and other outlets all cherry-picked a handful of translated quotes wherein Harry reveals his “number” – the number of people he killed in combat. Instead of showing the patience to simply read Spare in context, the Performative Outrage Machinery has gone into hyperdrive to shriek about how Harry is dangerous and terrible based off of the partial quotes.
Prince Harry has drawn criticism from some British security and military figures – and an angry rebuke from the Taliban – after claiming in his autobiography that he killed 25 of the insurgent group’s fighters while serving for the British Army in Afghanistan.
Harry disclosed the figure in his upcoming autobiography “Spare,” according to British newspaper The Daily Telegraph, which said it obtained a copy of the Spanish version of the book ahead of its official release slated for Tuesday, January 10.
“My number is 25. It’s not a number that fills me with satisfaction, but nor does it embarrass me,” Harry reportedly writes. In another section, he is quoted as describing Taliban insurgents as “chess pieces” taken off the board, rather than people.
The prince’s comments prompted a sharp backlash from members of the military community, with leading figures saying they could jeopardize his safety and give the British Army a bad reputation.
The UK’s former national security adviser Kim Darroch, who was the British Ambassador to the United States from 2016 to 2019, told Sky News he would have advised Harry against making the statements. And Colonel Richard Kemp, a retired British army officer, told the same network they “tarnished” his reputation and “unjustly” painted the British Army in a negative light.
“His suggestion that he killed 25 people will have re-incited those people who wish him harm,” Kemp said. “Let’s hope they don’t succeed and I’m sure he’s got pretty good security, but that’s one problem.
“The other problem I found with his comments was that he characterized 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.
Yeah – if you’re interested in reading the full excerpt in context, go here to Yahoo. What Harry describes is literally what every soldier with a conscience goes through: am I doing the right thing? Are these righteous kills? Is there any chance a civilian could be caught in the crossfire? And now, in modern warfare, when soldiers can kill people with a push of a button, does it help or hurt to dehumanize the enemy? What I also find remarkable in this excerpt is that Harry writes about visiting with 9/11 families, and watching the Twin Towers come down while he was at Eton. He was literally in Afghanistan, fighting the Taliban – and less than a year later, his father was taking bags of money from the bin Laden family.
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- 170444, Prince Harry meets competitors during a training session in Toronto on the eve of the start of the Invictus Games. Toronto, Canada – Friday September 22, 2017. UK, FRANCE, AUS, NZ, CHINA, HONG KONG, TAIWAN, SPAIN & ITALY OUT Photograph: Ã?© i-Images, PacificCoastNews. Los Angeles Office (PCN): +1 310.822.0419 UK Office (Avalon): +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 sales@pacificcoastnews.com FEE MUST BE AGREED PRIOR TO USAGE,Image: 533240112, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS, DIRECT SALES ONLY UNLESS STATED OTHERWISE IN CAPTION – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251 Madrid: +34 91 533 4289, Model Release: no, Credit line: i-Images, PacificCoastNews / Avalon
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- PLYMOUTH, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 20: Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, Captain General Royal Marines, visits 42 Commando Royal Marines at their base in Bickleigh to carry out a Green Beret presentation at Dartmoor National Park on February 20, 2019 in Plymouth, England.,Image: 535413127, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR SEVEN DAYS – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251 Madrid: +34 91 533 4289, Model Release: no, Credit line: – / Avalon (in process) / Avalon
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- PLYMOUTH, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 20: Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, Captain General Royal Marines, visits 42 Commando Royal Marines at their base in Bickleigh to carry out a Green Beret presentation at Dartmoor National Park on February 20, 2019 in Plymouth, England.,Image: 535413161, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR SEVEN DAYS – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251 Madrid: +34 91 533 4289, Model Release: no, Credit line: – / Avalon (in process) / Avalon
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- PLYMOUTH, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 20: Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, Captain General Royal Marines, visits 42 Commando Royal Marines at their base in Bickleigh to carry out a Green Beret presentation at Dartmoor National Park on February 20, 2019 in Plymouth, England.,Image: 535413200, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR SEVEN DAYS – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251 Madrid: +34 91 533 4289, Model Release: no, Credit line: – / Avalon (in process) / Avalon
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- Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex meets Invictus Team UK member Jonathan Mitchell during his visit to the Invictus UK Trials at the English Institute of Sport Sheffield on July 25, 2019 in Sheffield, England.,Image: 536733507, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR SEVEN DAYS – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, Model Release: no, Credit line: – / Avalon
I saw the headlines about this and didn’t really comment or even think about it too much because I KNEW it was taken out of context. And yup, sure enough, when I read more of the excerpt – it’s a very thoughtful analysis of warfare and killing. He’s not bragging. He’s stating a number and it’s clear he thinks about that number a lot so he doesn’t become numb to what war actually is.
It just feels like performative outrage about this. “We don’t think about them like chess pieces”? Harry’s whole point is you kind of HAVE to if you’re going to kill them. You focus on the bigger picture, the strategy. Others may feel differently and that’s okay but this is how Harry views it.
Right?
What do they think doctors do?! They are trained not to get involved & take the human elements out of it. Turn the empathy off & get the job done.
These people are ludicrous.
As a nurse I can attest to that. You kind of remove the emotions or you can’t perform without fainting in horrendous cases. That’s how I found myself doing my job.
I am legitimately shocked that the British media is leading with “an angry rebuke from the Taliban”. Umm, they are terrorists, we aren’t trying to make friends with any of them. Did you forget which side you are on, Salty Isle? Are you so ready to crucify Harry that the TALIBAN’S statement is remotely relevant?
Same. I knew it was taken out of context and even manipulated the same way the Fail manipulated Meghan’s letter to her father. At that time I told my friends I am avoiding spoilers until I read it for myself.
Yep, the DM is on a roll with spinning and misinformation over this. They’re even using this as an excuse to start a ‘Harry shouldn’t be allowed to be involved with Invictus, they should take it away from him!’ push. Sad.
He had a job to do. You don’t get to pick what parts of it you do He was part of a team who could all die if even one person doesn’t hold up their duty. The media would lose their precious ability to report the facts and probably their lives under the Taliban law. These people are sinister and corrupt all in pursuit of money, the editors have lost their ability to differentiate between news, gossip and malicious intent. Power corrupts absolutely.
My mom was one of those “but they could come after him and his family!” Yeah, they could. They could have done it every day since he started in the military, the day he left, since he married Meghan, since he had children, since we had a day that ends in Y, WHATEVER.
I had to help work to create the resume of a sniper who had just left the military less than a month before. The first thing he wanted put on his resume was his count. War is ugly. Harry didn’t go over there and knit tea cozies.
They have shamelessly come after him and his family for less than this. It boggles the mind at the depth of evil they sink to.
This is typical bloody hypocrisy from the media and the military boffins. Harry had to cut his first tour short because it was leaked in the press, Harry came back, trained as an apache pilot and did his second tour. He was able to do it because the same old military men who are kicking up a stink now, made a DEAL with the media. They could go out to Afghanistan, film and interview Harry there and show it when he was back home. They did it and oh how the bloody mod gloried in it. They were all on television saying how wonderful it was that the Queen’s grandson was on the front line. Every television channel showed the interviews and documentary with Harry in it and now they are screaming because he said he did his job. The job THEY TRAINED HIM TO DO and bragged that he had done it. All of us veterans know we have to dehumanise the people we are shooting at. If we didn’t the rate of military suicide and ptsd would be 1000 times higher. And none of them have bothered to learn that the apache has inbuilt software that counts the contacts because the pilot bloody well can’t
Let’s ask the more obvious question, how many of our troops would have been killed or crippled if those 25 taliban had lived. And notice how they are not mentioning how THEY pulled out of Afghanistan and left many, many more who had HELPED us over there to die. Harry and Megan have helped Afghanistan refugees and still these bastards are trying to put him down and NOW they are making moves on invictus again to pass it up to William
^^ Who is making what moves? The Invictus Games is Harry’s idea and his creation. No one can take it away from him, much less ‘pass it to William.’ That’s laughable! 🙄 There’s a Board that manages the Invictus organization, I believe, but Harry has extensive involvement and oversight. The royal firm has absolutely nothing to do with the Invictus Games, in any way, shape, or form.
What this excerpt tells me is that Harry was a real soldier, not a royal mascot. I’ve always gotten the impression that when the BRF “serve”, that it’s understood they won’t be getting the full experience.
I wonder if Harry’s life would have been easier if he had been able to stay in the military.
And it makes me angry all over again that he couldn’t wear his uniform during one of the funeral events.
And Harry wasn’t protected and kept away from action, either, like many nasty commenters at DM have used as an excuse to discount his military service.
But whoever was fact checking or editing or advising must have known that naming the number of people he killed would be headline news, and taken out of context, when in fact detailing the number was not necessary given the context of what he was trying to say.
I suspect that Random House were thinking more in terms of book sales.
So basically, the entire RF, & indeed the UK (England at least) is ok with whatever you do UNLESS you talk about it publicly.
Then you are a horrid person, etc etc.
What exactly did they think happened in war? Or in all the counties they colonized?
Did they think those counties just said ok, come on in?!
They do, I think the general public really thinks those counties were/are lucky England showed up to educated them to a better way of life.
& so all the men who didn’t actually do anything get uniforms but the actual serving member gets hated upon for doing his job because… he talked about it.
What a fucked up country.
ETA: my phone autocorrect to make my user name Jokier. It’s supposed to be kokiri. Ffs.
The kicker is that he already talked about this in 2013. Of course, then he didn’t have a bi-racial wife and hadn’t won several lawsuits against the tabloids.
That’s the thing. He already talked about this and was called a war hero. He said he had killed people in war in 2013. The only thing new here is the number. This is performative outrage over old information and honestly it cannot be helpful for veterans to see him being scorned the way he is.
Not only all of that. Robert Jobson wrote a book titled Harry’s War(October 2008). Read the blurb about Jobson’s book. A higher number was put out back then. Hypocrites.
https://www.amazon.com/Harrys-War-Story-Soldier-Prince/dp/1844546721
“the late Princess Diana and third in line to the British throne—had secretly been deployed to Afghanistan. Subsequent reports revealed that the prince had killed up to thirty Taliban insurgents in directing at least three air strikes, and that he had helped Gurkha troops repel a ground attack of Taliban insurgents using a machine gun. On Februrary 29, Prince Harry was withdrawn from the country with distinction via a covert SAS deployment. This is the amazing story of the first British royal to serve his country in 25 years and his 10 heroic weeks of combat.”
THIS ☝️
Hmm…so the information had already been put out there….
Did anyone reprimand Robert Jobson for putting this information out there?
Thank heavens for the Celebitchy crew who are able to uncover all the lies and hypocrisy.
Yeah, I also knew that it was taken out of context but I still wish he had left that part out due to the security risks…
I have combat veterans in my family who served in WWII, Vietnam & Iraq. They each have a “number,” though it’s not something that’s easy for them to discuss. The tabloid twisting of Harry’s words will not make it easier for other vets to be open about their complicated experiences. And yes, they literally have to be trained not to see the humanity of enemy combatants. Otherwise, most people could not kill other humans.
When I was little, my sweet, gentle grandfather said something about seeing a soldier’s head blown off next to him. My sister & I were horrified. He exploded, saying, “What do they teach you war is?!” And I realized, they don’t teach us.
Current wisdom on the mental health of veterans: We should be encouraging veterans to open up and discuss their experiences in war, not silencing then , even if it makes us uncomfortable.
Also current wisdom on one veteran in particular: Shut up, Harry! You’re upsetting the Taliban!
Only psychopaths would go to war if soldiers were not taught to otherize the “enemy.” Make it “us v them.” Bad v good. Black and white. You are a weaponized, unthinking killing machine following code and instructions. Humanize an “enemy” and then you will never recover after having had to kill them. One side of my family is almost 100% military—a career “chosen” because it gets you out of poverty. Help Uncle Sam and we’ll help you when you get back, supposedly. Maybe with housing and a pension—that’s a crap shoot. But definitely with sub par care at the VA, no mental healthcare, and a new fight on your hands if you’re a POC trying to access the benefits they actually do give white vets. Always fighting, but this time fightIng America’s systemic racism. The whole system is based on men from every country otherizing other nations and some of its own citizens, trying to control everyone else’s bodies and decisions.
None of my family was a it to get mental health help after their tours. It’s left every one of them broken in some way, especially those who have fallen into addiction to cope. The gentlest souls there ever was couldn’t escape the horrors of war, while Uncle Sam moved on to gaslight new recruits.
@Brassy Rebel – well said!!!
And why are we suddenly supposed to care about the Taliban’s feelings anyways?
My uncle didn’t want my WWII vet grandfather to have a military funeral because my grandfather “didn’t talk about his time during the war a lot.” Of course he didn’t! Not only was it “not done” back then, but was he encouraged to see any sort of professional to discuss it? No. Did anyone ask the man about his military time? No. I had no idea he truly fought until about a year before he died (I’m not the brightest crayon, okay?!). And even if he had never peeped a single word about his military service, he had certificates and medals and deserved a military funeral.
Let’s just say that I pitched a fit of epic proportions, my grandfather had his military funeral and I cherish the folded flag I received from his coffin. (Other family members try to ask for the flag and I turn into the Bugs Bunny “no” meme haha)
@BrassyRebel
It is disgusting how the BRF mouthpieces have twisted this. None of them went to war they sat at home making money spreading Royal propaganda and gossip. The UK support for the Taliban that is still killing women and men who support them for just wanting an education is sick and dangerous to Prince Harry. It’s like they are gleefully putting a target on his back and showing them that the monarchy and country he fought for does not support or respect him and he is on his own. I have to wonder if they will be happy if Prince Harry and his family end up like Princess Diana and that is their endgame. There is something extremely sinister with this pro Taliban push.
No! Nooo! God NOOO. What is wrong with you?! Don’t do seriously twisted nonsense and attach her name. Gross!
As a military daughter, sister, granddaughter and on and on and on. Disgusting
I used to work with vets. One described seeing a soldier vaporized next to him: “He became sand and pink mist.” Never forgot that.
They ARE trained to take the humanity out of the equation. That’s one of the things that’s taught from basic training: a conditioning to numb out physical/mental/emotional pain and focus on the needs of the group. Oftentimes, the processing is hard once they leave the military and have to reflect on their trauma while back in an environment where there is no ongoing “mission.”
The vets I spoke to didn’t regret killing enemy combatants – they regretted killing innocents and agonized over the fellow soldiers they couldn’t save.
I hate that the media is making those soldiers question their own experience through that process – being told all over again, “We told you that you were brave when you risked your life in war, but we don’t want you to ever unburden yourself by talking because we actually think that your actions were disgusting and shameful, so you need to bottle that up and if it slowly poisons you, so be it.”
I agree, Lizzie.
Three things :
1) If we were lucky enough to be born into a half-decent family. we are all taught that killing is wrong. It’s one of the 10 Commandments. Through our judicial systems, this tenet is drummed into us even further when we read about humans killing other humans, and spending long stretches in jail or even facing the death penalty. And we all get it: killing is wrong.
Being part of the military is sold to us as getting the opportunity to be a national hero. If there was any truth in their advertising no one would ever join up. so they take their recruits or conscripts – mostly young men and women – who have all been taught and who understand that killing is wrong, and they turn them into killers. We can only imagine how they do this. When “the job is done”, they are dumped back into a society where killing is wrong, with very little ongoing support for their mental health, which has been knocked sideways by what they have had to do in a war,and how it has affected them.
2) Those of us Who paid attenti\on in the months/years leading up to the Middle Eastern wars, Will remember how the Taliban, soldiers. Z and even civilians were portrayed to the Westin world. They were depicted as being wild, stupid, dangerous, extremists Who were going to take over the world and turn us all into Muslims. The message was “ if we don’t kill them they will kill us“. But later, they forget about all the young people from our army‘s Marines Air Force who lost their lives, and are we really any better off now?
3) When the veterans are back home, they are expected to slot straight back into society as if nothing happened. Yet, right around the world, we know that veterans have to deal wit trauma that the average person doesn’t see. Brutal, horrific things. but it’s as if many of them are living under a code of silence, not able to speak about what they have endured. It might be years before a veteran speaks about what he or she saw and did, if ever. Every day, in one way or another, we are reminded to speak out, speak up, tell what we’re feeling, get counselling, don’t hold the pain in… Now here is a man who is doing just that, and he gets trashed for expressing his pain, trauma, memories,, and having to live with The horrors he’s so and had to take part of as a member of the British army. Detractors will say he is putting himself and others in danger by telling what the Establishment thinks should be kept secret, but supporters will say that he might show other veterans that it is OK to open the door and let some of that shit out of their brains.
Tabloids always dumb down, twist, remove context and sensationalize everything because their readers are morons, who can only take the news in two paragraphs and feel they do not need to analyze, or even think about, the material they read. They might as well read the back of a cornflakes box.
If soldiers talk honestly about their experiences, it would be a hell of a lot harder to sell war. So instead soldiers are blamed for what they’re trained to do and what happens to them in war. Because it couldn’t possibly be the fault of the people who sent them to war, right? It couldn’t possibly be the fault of people who supported an unjust war, right?
Men (and most soldiers are still men, and it’s a masculine archetype) are not supposed to have ~feelings~ about this stuff. They’re supposed to blindly kill and die for the patriarchy, for the rich old men with all the power. For
“The Old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.”
Give the army a bad rep? This is exactly what military forces are sent out to do. It’s not like the soldiers decide. Countries send people out to perform these tasks and then are outraged when the public in the country sending the soldiers hear from one of them about what he was sent to do? Is it any wonder that returning military are reluctant to talk about their experiences and suffer from a feeling of separation from society and PTSD when this is how they are treated for talking?
“Countries” don’t send people out to war, governments do. Governments that civilians voted for to protect them essentially. In order to do that, governments need to make war sound like an honorable thing worthy of praise and giving you that extra push by paying well. So then it’s no longer people recruited to go and kill other people in a different place, but “heroes who go out to defend their nation and freedom and everything that’s right in the world while the evil enemy wearing the devil’s sign waits to kill you all.”
You then can’t have veterans coming back to say “oh shiiii, it wasn’t actually a glorious heroical magial experience of a lifetime but a horrible massacre of humans just like us”. People back home need their illusions of honor and glory so they’re willing to keep sending more fodder for the cannons in the future.
I wish that the British media misrepresenting what he actually wrote was surprising, but that’s where we are now. Unfortunately, ABC News here in the states platformed the Taliban’s propaganda in response just like the BM. I could go into how some politicians have normalized these misogynistic terrorists so that media outlets feel free to treat them as a legitimate government, but that discussion is for another day. Right now, it is sufficient to say that the British media and some in the public are at least pretending to be more outraged that a soldier legally killed in battle than that the heir to the throne criminally assaults his brother, apparently on a regular basis.
ABC news seems to be more establishment with so called experts criticizing harry and meghan.
And so is Don Lemon of CNN. I’m beginning to think he’s a paid journalist by the Royal Family. He’s a conduit of the royal rota surely. He’s a big disappointment really.
They are also the station that bowed to Royal threats and sat on the Prince Andrew Jeffrey Epstein human trafficking ring that involved selling minors for rape for years.
This is one thing I’ve realized over the last few years: how the US mainstream uses the Rota as their ‘experts’ and happily spreads the attacks and disinfo without batting an eye.
My boyfriend and I had a fairly heated conversation about this on Friday night after he brought it up and I suggested we wait and understand the context. Having avoided all the screeching horror reactions in the news on Friday I am in no way surprised to hear that the full piece is totally different.
This whole brouhaha has had me scratching my head. Putting aside the utter hypocrisy of this outrage (after all the glory they rained down on Harry’s head when he came back from his tour), along with the sheer venality of taking these quotes out of context, and never mind that they’ve been giving THE TALIBAN a platform (!!), WTF do people think soldiers sent to fight a war are doing??!! This is nuts.
yes, they are giving the taliban a platform now. and they are being dragged seven ways to sunday on twitter for it. people are bringing receipts! like the newspaper covers literally praising Harry for killing taliban back in the day. it’s not like he went over there for tea.
those clowns are falling all over themselves and proving everything he says about the workings of the brit media. they do not know how to act and the “invisible” contract is on full display.
and tonight we get the interviews!
So the the British tabloids and the royals all of a sudden turn into Taliban supporters. Who’da thunk it?
Mind boggling the BM/RR’s think it makes it look like it’s a good thing they have the Taliban on speed dial and are now BFF’s. Is the BM trying to set it up that if something happens to Harry and his beautiful family it’s the Taliban’s revenge? Honestly. The Taliban have bigger things to concern themselves with then what Harry did 14/15 years ago. The BM/RR’s/Jobson already put the number out (actually they claimed more) back in 2008. It was okay for them to do that then?
If you’re like me and is a bit confused about some of the different groups. This offers a decent explanation. I’m not seeing how being BFF’s with any of them looks good for England globally.
https://www.forces.net/evergreen/islamic-state-taliban-and-al-qaeda-how-are-they-different
The only thing new here is the number 25. Harry has publicly spoken about this before. It’s not new information. In fact, he was called a war hero when he spoke about this before in 2013, I believe. So it’s purely performative from the papers to smear Harry. They know it’s not new info, except for the number.
This. Thank you Kaiser for posting. The outpouring of support that has come out AFTER the release of the context, while gratifying and reassuring…almost pales in comparison to the BM publishing a slew of how many threats to his life (some from not so seemingly innocuous places) he was getting. I even read posts of calls for him to be “tried for crimes against humanity”. Having grown up in a commonwealth country… with my brown skin and my semi-English influenced accent in the Caribbean… the queen on all our coins and bills and the history of years of colonialism, it’s so triggering to see this happen to someone who has always been respectful and thoughtful of his time at war. I wondered immediately if this was Willy jumping in to add to fuel because he’s been incandescently jealous of Invictus (and while I wouldn’t put it past him), more so realized it was just a sad consequence of Harry being a whistleblower for all the garbage that war (and monarchy/oppressive structures of power if you analyze it) represents. Staying away from the rest of the headlines til Tuesday. This $hit is raising my blood pressure.
The utterly laughable notion that the British military had a reputation to ruin in the first place, as if the Taliban were huge fans of the invading forces until right just now…I mean, that’s the British national delusion in a nutshell, isn’t it? Always seeing themselves as benevolent saviors of every country they’ve “civilized”, for hundreds of years now.
Those accents usually do a decent job of hiding it, but they really are slow learners, aren’t they?
So now Harry is disrespecting the Taliban?
THIS. I have no place commenting on a veteran’s experience in combat. But this seems like how it’s being spun
He describes his combat experience in a very good, even anti-war way. He was a soldier. Soldiers kill. He’s not happy about that, but he did the best he could and deals with it as well as he can.
I wonder how much of the frothing rabid outrage from Daily Heilers is that Harry is NOT some kind of ra-ra death cult person bragging about how much of a macho hardass he is for killing. That’s the type they like. Harry is a fully adult human, and therefore now they hate him more than they hate the Taliban. I don’t think these types ever hated the Taliban for any reason other than they were The Enemy anyway. The Taliban’s evil actions? What does the Murdoch and other right-wing press care about that? They like oppressing people too.
Fake outrage from fake people. Harry is getting a lot of stuff off his chest and in no way is he bragging.
And being a wife of a veteran, the military really does train you to dehumanize your enemy. See them as object on a board , an objective. It’s so you don’t crack under pressure. It’s not right of course but when you have a job to do…. well…
I’ve often wondered if Harry suffers from PTSD from his time served in Afghanistan.
He may also suffer from PTSD from his time served in the royal family. I am quite serious.
@Brassy Rebel — And C-PTSD.
And throw in the attention that he’s received — since birth — from paparazzi and the Press, as ongoing,often malevolent stressors that literally threaten his well-being and the well-being of his family….
British press have turned pro-Taliban now. A good thing about this performative outrage is that at least the press have come around to Harry’s view that there are threats to his life because he was in Afghanistan. When Harry put in his request for royal protection the press was saying that there were no threats to his life.
Aside from the fact that they took everything out of context- it’s not like nobody ever wrote ENTIRE BOOKS about killing enemy soldiers during their service in a military? “American Sniper,” anyone? Just another reminder of the many reasons that Harry needs heightened security and his family refuses to authorize it.
Harry gives a very thoughtful take on his combat experience. It’s incredible how vicious and hateful the BM is but it’s also disgusting that American and other international media don’t do due diligence and accurately report on what was written. I hope that the actual excerpt from Harry’s book is circulated far and wide and hopefully opens more people’s eyes to the truth.
**Also the BM has done a great job promoting Spare because it’s now sold out online at Amazon UK😂
The comments on Twitter, repeated in concert, turned my stomach. (And these are comments to posts giving the accurate excerpt):
“I can’t get past Harry murdering 25 humans.”
“Harry killed 25 POC in their home country.”
So do they apply this to veterans who have bravely served their country then. Totally disgraceful comments
I love how all these fascists are suddenly parroting the most shallow 19-year old “leftist” talking points. They’re doing it for Ukraine too. Somehow I don’t think they’re actually anti-war. Actual anti-war activists don’t run around calling soldiers killing other soldiers in the line of duty “murderers”. And pretending the Taliban is suddenly a bunch of innocents because of the color of their skin is just *chef’s kiss* infantalizing racism at its finest.
I just realized this could be read wrong. When I said “doing it for Ukraine”, I mean doing it in the context of Ukraine — the fascists are against Ukraine and pro-Putin, of course.
As a woman of color, it’s so gross to see people bringing up race to drum up sympathy for the Taliban/outrage toward Harry. It’s just too early to get into some of the reasons why that’s harmful.
As a veteran of the first Persian Gulf War, I can’t believe the British media is backing the Taliban rather than a British war hero. I see nothing wrong with what Harry said, it’s war… Did the media expect Harry to sit in his tent and not participate? Maybe Willy would have done that, but Harry was an actual soldier and did his job. It’s not a pleasant job, and I think when the book comes out and we’re able to read that section, we will see a very thoughtful analysis from him. In the past, I’ve loved visiting London as I have friends there, but after this? Salt Island is never getting my money again.
two of the pages are widely available on twitter already, if you want to read it now. as has been mentioned, it comes across very differently in context. they’re not upset that he did what he did. they’re upset that he has a nuanced view of war and they are doing the most to try to push their spin before people have the book. but those pages are available now.
Meanwhile the RF tried to gleefully drive Meghan to kill herself and they’re fine with it.
Are they aware that the Taliban has killed more POC than 25?
Wow @equality. Excellent point. I guess the BM is okay with the 450+ members of British forces or MoD civilians that died. The BM’s words now are very disrespectful to the family members who suffered the losses. Their clickbait and narrative is more important than UK lives lost.
https://www.gov.uk/government/fields-of-operation/afghanistan
sidenote: whoa, watching the AC interview. The Clarkson thing was brought up. That’s all I’ll say.
D@mn, I lied. This a great interview.
I wonder how they feel about the politicians, comfortably ensconced in their offices, who make the decisions in the first place? In the US, it is now very uncommon for politicians to have had military service — or for their kids to be at risk of serving. Anyone who wants to berate the actions of the military forces really needs to look to the decision-makers — and what they’re getting out of it, while others pay the price.
Agreed. He could have spoken about war/killing without numbers. And the Taliban have come a long way since they were a rag-tag group of extremists living in caves. They run a country now and have weapons and some level of world power. It is not a good look for Harry to name numbers with his need and requests for protection. And as Blue says above — who allowed this to be included?
Oh please. Every soldier has numbers. And “the Taliban are a world power” — SO? First, they’re the tiniest of tiny world powers. Second, they’re a world power who kill girls for wanting an education. Third, again, SO? This is what war is. Pretending it’s not about killing people, hiding the ugliness of it, means caping for warmongers.
Exactly yes to all of this!
The point is, these men and women soldiers have to live with this knowledge of their kill number everyday so that others can be safe. Nobody wants to talk about how that effects them or how they live with that. And as far as your comment about how the Taliban is some type of “legitimate” government, they are still terrorizing women and girls who simply want a better life. There is nothing legitimate about that.
MsIam: I like your point. War veterans do have to live with it every day and it’s a lifelong thing to carry. There isn’t a lot of recognition or gratitude sometimes from family members who didn’t have to serve in the same manner and have very little idea what war veterans go through. I don’t know what Harry’s family are like (haven’t wanted to read his excerpts since I pre-purchased a book and hate spoilers) but stripping him of the right to wear his military medals and honors at his grandmother’s funeral might have been a strong indication??? (and I agree the Taliban are not legitimate)
Harry’s the least of their problems and forget world power – the Taliban are focused on solidifying power in their own country. The economy is in a shambles, the currency is in the toilet, workers aren’t being paid, half the population doesn’t have enough food, children are suffering malnutrition, women are being oppressed and the international community is continuing its sanctions. Their sources of income are basically taxing the people to death and using the airport as staging for smugglers and money-laundering.
Exactly! And Harry is not in danger from anything he actually said. But the media distortions of what he wrote plus giving the Taliban a platform as if they have any valid points to make, does endanger him. It’s not as if the media ever cared about the safety of Harry and his family, and they don’t now. The Taliban is not a government, just a collection of various terrorist groups terrorizing, oppressing, and exploiting the people of Afghanistan.
Honey, is the UK a world leader? Do you have any sympathy for the UK soldiers that were killed by the Taliban? I want to know how far your sympathy goes.
I’m an American, and I was appalled that the UK didn’t do more for their soldiers during the Invictus Games. Your take on this situation makes me understand why those in the UK don’t thank their military members for their service. I guess if they thanked them, they would have to consider the fact that they did something for the country and for people, individually, who live there.
Harry had already been targeted by the Taliban. That was one of the things Meghan stated when explaining the letter she wrote to the brf to please allow security for Harry–not for her or Archie. This is not new news. What the UK media is doing, aided by media in other countries, is to make him a bigger target.
It’s very clear to me that they no longer want any of the Sussexes in the world. This is a very coordinated effort to make that happen. I always thought that the UK media was trying to make it too dangerous for Meghan to be in the UK, so that she and the children would stay away with Harry being the only one who goes there. It appears their strategy now is to make it too dangerous for Harry to be there, too.
Fortunately, not all countries are like the UK. H&M can go elsewhere in the world and have the type of security that they need.
Yes, I know that the UK is made up of more than one country. I refuse to call them a commonwealth. There is no such thing as common wealth if you’re attached to the UK.
@Honey: The Taliban are psychopathic monsters. Plain and simple. And many of them are still living in cave-like dwellings and their government is a shambles of mostly illiterate jihadists who were run out of Pakistan. They are derided by the rest of the world, that is why their country is still at war after all these years. These are men who have banned women from getting an education. These are men who will kill women who refuse to wear a burka. They make money by trading in drugs, extorting farmers and businesses, human trafficking and kidnapping. They have utterly no legitimacy on the world stage and the sooner they’re gone the better.
@Honey, are you cool with the BM/RR’s/Jobson providing numbers back in 2008? You know, RIGHT after. You good with that and their headlines back then?
“the Taliban have come a long way since”, I’m almost speechless. Is that a good thing? Like a Virginia Slims commercial? It’s not cute or clever of the BM(or BRF) to be in touch with officials of the Taliban. At all.smh
I’m curious @Honey, in what sense has the Taliban come a long way? Are women suddenly being given rights to live life? Freedom of worship? How, please explain.
The bigger deal to me is then Prince, now KING Charles accepting money from the Bin Laden family.
What is a country/government to do when the future/reigning monarch is a potential national security threat?
Second that: “[Harry] was literally in Afghanistan, fighting the Taliban – and less than a year later, his father was taking bags of money from the bin Laden family.”
Thank you Kaiser, for reiterating that point. It *needs* to be repeated over and over again.
Like what do people think soldiers do? And the Taliban has no hesitation in killing unarmed women and schoolgirls in Afghanistan and Pakistan. But if Harry was wrong for being an actual soldier, then why are his relatives so hell bent on dressing up in their “soldiering” costumes every year?
Literally the first thing the military does is break you down and desensitize you to the idea of killing people. They have to do so because the average person is averse to killing. Obviously, sometimes the military gets lucky and someone who is (clinically) psychopathic joins up and the training is easier for them.
So for the military to clutch its pearls and cry foul because Harry is telling the truth about the military training soldiers to see humans as targets is beyond hypocritical.
My response to the horrified crowd, this is the reality of war, and what we send our boys and girls off to do to save our democracies. But to try and make the taliban heroes is disrespectful to our militaries. Are we seeing our injured and dead, are they giving us a platform to complain about them in their media. I find the media pathetic , this is how low they will go to destroy a decorated soldier for marrying a bi racial woman, and telling his story in his view/words. Wake up world do you see the hypocrisy. This man and his wife have had to sit though lies and misquotes, from the media, and their own families, you say they have no right to tell their side.
I know I have seen and heard for myself the harshest put down of a woman, black or white in my 75 years, and I am a reader, and traveller. To the trolls and haters I say none of you bullies would be able to take it. Osborne, Anniston, Megan Kelly, levin all have shown contempt and had something to say, but when put on a minor spot you whine like babies. So woman to woman and, for the men to men, substitute your names for every article written/commentary on the Sussexes, and see if any of you rightest bullies would still be standing.
They are really contorting themselves in the effort to destroy Harry. The one thing they couldn’t touch was Harry’s record as a veteran and now see this as an opening to twist the narrative and tarnish his image with the military. It is disgusting and shows how little they care about the actual serving members of the military. They only want to wrap themselves up in the flag and parade in unearned metals to give the appearance of “Great Britain.”
It is impossible to increase his security risks. The Taliban do actually understand that a soldier in a war against them killed their soldiers. They’re evil, they’re not so unbelievably stupid that they do not understand war = people die. They already had a price on Harry’s head.
This concern trolling is ridiculous and really pretty gross. “Oh noes don’t say something terrorists might not like!”
The press’s totally histrionic and hysterical reaction to this, that Harry is starting a world war or something by telling his truth, is completely proving what he and Meghan have been saying about them and the royals for years as correct. They were right. It’s visible. These people are absolutely unhinged and showing it to the most extreme extent now basically trying to whip up terrorists to target Harry.
When Harry said, “They won’t stop until she [Meghan] is dead,” I thought, just Meghan? Harry’s the royal in a romantic relationship with someone who isn’t white. He’s the direct parallel to Diana in this situation — except he managed to escape. I think there’s a good reason Meghan begged for security specifically for him, leaving out herself. She knows exactly what the threats are. Apostates are always in a more dangerous position than outsiders.
I think both harry and Meghan have a good understanding of the potential danger they’re in every day. This book is also a “just in case” legacy for Harry’s children and wife. Just in case something happens, it’s all there in his words for his family and the world for all time.
I think too, this book is self-protection for the future. Harry wrote everything he could think of good and bad. There isn’t anything he thinks is negative about himself left out. He said it about himself already. Harry is free to open up about anyone else and they don’t have anything left to tell on him about
Knowing how real the threats are for Meghan and Archie (and I’m sure Lilibet now as well) it absolutely breaks my heart to think of Meghan pleading with those sociopaths to sacrifice her and her children, but please protect her husband. I can only imagine the fear and terror they live with every day. One thing I can’t even imagine though, is being a billionaire head of state and canceling the security for my child and his family. What is wrong with these people?
You need to save your finger wagging for his father who yanked his security then. Harry was doing his job. And a lot of these trolls who are crying about this are the same ones who were claiming that “Harry was never in combat, he just played video games the whole war!”
I’m absolutely FURIOUS. the exact same British press who HATE the fact that investigations have been happening into ACTUAL WAR CRIMES in Northern Ireland and are always protecting the military are suddenly siding with the TALIBAN against prince Harry because he did what he was legally told to do?
Hate the military industrial complex but make the tabloids make fucking sense.
There is no way the British army is telling its soldiers “When you kill someone, it’s important to remember these are human beings with families and dreams of their own.” They wouldn’t have an army if they did that. Human beings fundamentally don’t like killing other human beings, especially en masse. Military training is as much about psychological preparation as it is about developing combat skills.
This is ludicrous- what do people think war is? I applaud him for talking about this.
@ mel
Have you served in a war?. Have you had to kill in the name of democracy?. If so how are you coping?. Wuss, seriously?. And this I mean, it might sound harsh, but this is what happens in war, and how some cope, the problem is there are many more not able to cope with the things required of them. Like the taliban didn’t cripple or kill our children. And we still have suicide bombers afoot. So the media has the audacity to give them a platform, and you TRY, and denigrate prince harry.
I am not sympathetic to the Taliban, I understand why he talks about dehumanization, but yes, I do think it was silly to give an exact number of people he killed. People almost never talk about exact numbers because frankly it does sound callous (again, I am not sympathetic towards those who died) AND this is poking the bear again. There are literal threats now against him again, and I suspect it wouldn’t have been as bad if he hadn’t given an exact number because he has mentioned that he killed in war in the past…but this new info was dangerous.
What’s “silly” is taking away his security. It’s funny that people who want to criticize Harry never seem to point that out. The threat has always been there. And yet his father is willing to pay three million pounds to keep Andrew safe from whatever.
It does not sound callous. He was not bragging. He even says he’s not proud of it. He’s just being honest, and how very dare someone be honest about what war entails. And seriously are we going to tiptoe around the Taliban and other misogynistic authoritarian terrorist groups now because they’re scary? Talk about caving to terrorism!
@Div
He was a target before he gave the number. He became a target the minute he stepped into a helicopter and the press told the world he had killed enemy soldiers. He was still a target when his father decided he and his family no longer needed security. It’s only now that he has told the exact number that he’s suddenly more in danger. Sorry I’m not buying into that theory.
I have a couple takes on why he released this information. The first one is to let other soldiers they’re not alone and that they all carry the same guilt. The second is that it puts to bed the often reported rumour that Harry didn’t actually fight in the war and was heavily protected. Knowing what we know now It wouldn’t surprise me if the rumour originated from KP. It seems to go quiet and then is revived again around about the time of the IGs.
@Div, This is not new information. I’m sure you forgot the BM (Robert Jobson) printed kill numbers in 2013 in regards to Prince Harry time in Afghanistan. Sometimes it’s wise to do some research after you read tabloid and rota propaganda before arguing your case.
This talking point is unoriginal and disingenuous seeing as how, for the last few days, it’s been uniformly parroted across the BM in papers and on talk shows. Gasp, he’s putting himself in danger by stating an exact number! If he gets hurt, it’s his own fault! Certainly it’s not the BM’s fault for whipping up performative outrage over the old news that Harry killed people in war, which coincidentally was touted as heroic by those very same papers in 2013. Oh noes, he stated the number as 25, correcting the incorrect number of 30 that the royal reporter Robert Jobson had erroneously reported in his own lying royal book. Gasp! Harry’s putting a target on his own back so if something happens to him he absolutely did it to himself is the line the BM is feeding and people are lapping it up with a spoon.
I’m so glad u were around 2013 to be an anti war protester. Which anti war organization are u from. Where can we donate? Your ability to stick to the cause for so long is super duper admirable
As someone who actually was an anti-war protester at the time: lol. I was called so many names. The people clutching their pearls over Harry now were the same people saying I was a traitor and that I was in love with bin Laden. Of course not. I just knew it would be a disaster, because: Afghanistan. And now when I say “Hey can we do something for our veterans?” I also get called names. Fun!
@Emily – I was in a similar boat as u, thought the war on Iraq was a complete sham regardless of Husseins humans rights issues – there were many – and thought the Afghanistan war was going to be shambles cause no one who caused it would be there to oversee restructuring and funding for the decades needed. Now it’s all f*ck the veterans who need resources and woot Taliban lets go. I’m so sorry ppl treated u poorly – it’s so unfair
@Div — Harry’s life has been under threat since the minute was born. It got exponentially worse when he married a woman of colour. Why do you think the BRF have RPO’s? Why do you think it was so dangerous when Charles pulled the Sussex’s security and leaked where they were in Canada? In the context of his exemplary military service, of course it’s necessary for him to reveal his kills. It’s how he’s emotionally digesting that military service, by being open about it, not burying it deep inside himself so it festers and causes mental health problems later on. It wasn’t like he was indiscriminately murdering civilians, he took out Taliban terrorists.
@Div, as I posited to Honey up thread, are you good that the BM/BRF/Robert Johnson (re: his book Harry’s War in 2008) provided numbers back in 2008? Harry isn’t providing new information with his number. Old information already put out by the BM and whoever else back in 2008. This IS NOT new info.
As explained to me, by someone who is involved in certain aspects of international military threats, Harry currently speaking about things now has not increased the threats against him than before. The BM is increasing the threats. The BM made him a target in 2008. That’s it.
Ah. ‘people almost never talk about exact numbers’. Except when they do. Like when the number of kills were put on planes. In plain sight. Or sharing historical information. Last sentence of the 2nd paragraph. just saying
https://libguides.manchestercc.edu/c.php?g=273883&p=1827952
But, according to Willard, wars in Europe didn’t happen.
The reaction of media and dm commentators is very troubling. Some praise the Taliban because they don’t like harry
I think it immaterial whether or not he gave a number i think he would get slammed for fighting the Taliban
I have heard world war ii veterans talking about specific cases where they killed people. It never came across to me as bragging. It was more something that haunted them.
It haunted my father, who flew bombing missions in N. Africa during WWII. He never spoke of it.
Not totally relevant, but “invasion of the sex mad squeakers” in that tweet has me rolling
I am a trauma therapist and I am currently working in profession based PTSD where I see many first responders, nurses, and war veterans. I hear a lot of debate about whether or not a veteran should reveal their number. Many see this as an important part of their healing journey. Many also believe “you never ever ever reveal your number”. It does seem, in my experience to be a hotly debated issue at the moment. My personal opinion is, I’ve never fought in combat so I haven’t earned the privilege to an opinion on that. I will hold supportive space for veterans to have that dialogue.
Veterans have every right to agree or disagree support or criticize Harry’s choice to reveal his number. Harry has every right to stand in that arena and say what he needs to say. It’s okay to debate. It’s okay to not put Harry on a pedestal of “do not wrong” just because he has spent many dangerous years being shoved to the pit of “do no right”. I think it’s far more honest and relatable to see Harry as a whole person than to paint him as “the true example of Magical kingly perfection”. I also think that’s what he would prefer.
What I find completely BANANAS about the coverage of Harry choosing to reveal his number, is that it’s not currently doing what would be helpful and encouraging a healing and healthy debate, it’s that it’s so blatantly obvious the goal of, especially the British media, is to just absolutely destroy Harry.
Camilla Tominey is retweeting the TALIBAN!!!!!!!! What in the actual f@#$ is that? So now England is pro Taliban? England feels sorry for Osama Bin Laden because their Prince of the Realm fought this oppressive regime? 9/11 was no big deal to the Sun, Mirror, Fail, and Telegraph and a Prince of England should be accepting bags of money from the perpetrators instead? Come on guys!!! Is anyone actually dumb enough to believe that this is NOT the “invisible contract” at work?
The press taking this out of context has NOTHING to do with a debate around a soldier’s number and EVERYTHING to do with trying to destroy Harry before he can reveal more damaging things about members of the BRF…I would absolutely bet that what Harry revealed is JUST the beginning and they know it.
Slippers4life, thank you for this very thoughtful comment and for the important work which you do. When you have royal reporters retweeting the Taliban, you know that none of what they say and do is in good faith.
In this case, I think it’s a different “invisible contract.” Like with the RF, Harry is showing how things work in the military vs how things are romanticized in the press. This is a contract between the government/military and the press and this romanticizing is what covers up the issues veterans face.
The British media and the Royal family has made Harry and Meghan more popular that they would have ever been. None of this would be happening had they been allowed to leave quietly. Dozen of stories every day, daily leaks and briefings about them, royal correspondences who can’t keep Harry and Meghan’s name out of their mouth.
What is the issue about him talking about it? Why don’t you enlighten us. Are you a soldier or married to a soldier? Or a delusional royal family worshiping Brit
I think it makes no difference if harry had not given numbers he still would be slammed imo.
Yes, it’s really about outrage clicks, so they’ll spin things to get maximum anger, no matter what he says.
Well there is a bounty on his head for serving in both wars. Hes getting death threats for being a “race traitor”. The hateful unhinged are regularly targeting and endangering his wife and children. C-Rex pulling his security is the epitome of evil. TQ standing by and allowing it while fighting to keep Andrew’s security is just as evil.
Anyone who thinks soldiers aren’t trained to dehumanize “the enemy” isn’t paying attention. Most of these soldiers are young and inexperienced before being turned into killing machines. Unless you’re a sociopath, taking a life isn’t easy. Its partly why there were multiple people on a firing squad, with no one knowing who fired the fatal shot. My father served 24 years in the US Army and was a Vietnam vet. When I asked, the only thing he said about the war and if he killed anyone was “they train you to be a soldier and kill, but not how to adjust to your family and society when you return. You have to figure that out on your own.” That explained a lot.
Most people don’t like to acknowledge how horrible war truly is -even when deemed necessary and justified by TPTB. The British govt officials responding to a translated excerpt instead of waiting for the actual excerpt to put in context are just showing their stupidity.
When vets speak, we really should listen.
Apologies if you’ve seen this, but Yahoo News now has the English original and far better context.
Clearly it’s Scobie’s reporting that is giving them an in and some exclusive content.
The Yahoo link is literally in the post.
Arghhhhh I’m so embarrassed! Sorry for bad reading comprehension
That Yahoo story is not from Scobie.
Harry has done more for veterans even including American ones than his government does. Queen Victoria killed a couple million Irish people and nobody on Britain cares if we want to imitate these ridiculous fake hysteria takes from the press. Harry was part of the air support that protected my village position in neighboring Oruzgan. If we ever got into trouble it would take 8-10 hours for a ground force to save us. Pilots like him could get to us in under 30 mins.
MicMack, and I think this is what many people forget. It wasn’t just fighting, but fighting to protect the innocent. I’m so glad that your village was protected, and I hope it was for the entire length of the war.
Harry, through the Invictus Games, has brought military members together to help them through their injuries or illnesses. He has also brought them together to show they are a brotherhood/sisterhood. He doesn’t care which country they fought for. He wants everyone to heal.
The American veterans hold him in extremely high regard and he is consider a brother in arms. The village missions were a pretty good success for the time, we made new infrastructure for places that never had electricity, dug wells, built schools (including those for girls), gave inoculations, and taught children to read and write their own language.
The mask is dropping on the British machine and their real attitude toward their combat veterans.
MicMack, I had no idea all of the good that was done. I’m very impressed and happy to hear it! Thank you for telling us what was happening in the midst of suffering, too.
This is just performance outraged by the British media and the royal Trolls Harry killed counted is not news this is a tacit being used by the Royal family . To Distance themselves if anything happens to Harry to say see it wasn’t are years long campaign of racist bullying harassment of Meghan and Harry that’s cause something to happens . It was Harry book the British Royal reporters are truly disgusting bunch they would show support for the freaking Taliban a organization that kills woman and children and young men for sports . The Royal family and the British media had no problem with Harry incorrectly number being outed in 2013 when it made the Royal family looked good when they can used Harry as a way to give a boost to themselves.
What’s ironic is that from the excerpt we’ve seen about Harry talking about his second tour of Afghanistan he is speaking about this much more thoughtfully and carefully then when he spoke about it in 2013 yet none of these papers or the British military men they got to trash Harry the last few days had anything to say then. I’m pretty anti war and i understand why some people are uncomfortable with this type of talk but his reasoning for wanting to know his number- to make himself accountable and ensure he was doing his job properly and not harming civilians- is a sound and understandable logic. Him being honest about the reality of war is important; if you don’t want soldiers talking about killing people in wars then stop sending them to fight in wars! No one is aided by putting your head in the sand in pretending that wars aren’t violent and deadly and there is literally an entire section on Amazon dedicated to the best selling memoirs of veterans who served in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. (See; American Sniper, Scars and Stripes,etc)
Of every leak against Harry this has to be the most transparently cynical. These people are out here sympathizing with the TALIBAN and giving the Taliban platforms for comments which attack the British military just to get hits on Harry. Do they not see how insane that looks to the outside world? Does Charles not see how bad this looks that he as Commander-In-Chief is letting them go after his combat veteran son over his son’s service to Queen and Country like this?
“ Does Charles not see how bad this looks that he as Commander-In-Chief is letting them go after his combat veteran son over his son’s service to Queen and Country like this?”
Charles took secret duffle bags of money from bin Laden’s family. Charles refused to allow his war hero military veteran to wear a military uniform to his Commander-In-Chief’s funeral. When Charles faced a tsunami of criticism for that the uniform was allowed bit the royal insignia of the queen wasn’t allowed on the uniform.
Charles gives not one sh!t about Harry the son or Harry the decorated military veteran.
So putting your own a$$ on the line to keep the UK safe is somehow murdering innocent people? This is the Taliban. The group that is now sending armed men into women’s classrooms and forcing them out of school. The group that will kill a woman for not wearing a burka. The Taliban gets its funding from from the illegal opium trade and drug dealing, or other crimes such as smuggling. The group taxes and extorts money from farms and other businesses. Militants are sometimes involved in kidnapping for ransom. The country is in a severe humanitarian crisis and yet the tabloids are bitching about Harry killing 25 terrorists? Why aren’t you mentioning Osama Bin-Laden? He killed thousands of innocent people — men, women and children — in the Twin Towers attacks.
My father was a bomber pilot in N. Africa during WWII. He fought against Rommel’s elite forces and helped end the war against Hitler. His plane was shot down and he survived 3 days in the blazing heat of the desert before being picked up. I am heart-burstingly proud of what he did, although he rarely spoke about it.
So British gutter press, do you want to throw my father’s name into it too? When did it become a bad thing to defend your own country and military forces against terrorism? These tabloids are sinking to an all-time low and the fact that the BRF is in cahoots with them makes me sick. I hope this book helps take down the tabloids once and for all. Harry’s really taking one for the team and I applaud his honesty and fearlessness.
The hate for H&M is ramping up on SM, increasing daily.
My hope is that their protection and security people are doing an excellent job in keeping them safe.
I’m truly concerned that someone will try something.
Between all the PR now and with the upcoming coronation it will be end of May 2023 before the publicity settles down.
HeyKay, the hate that is ramping up on social media is by design. There are paid trolls and bots being purchased by the bm and I really think the brf is paying, too. The one thing that it has done is to make people want the book. That is the only good thing to say about this. People want to find out what Harry said in his own words.
The Sussex Squad has been out in full force making sure people know that they’re waiting to actually read what Harry said and put it in context. I really believe that it is getting people to buy the book and decide for themselves. That’s what will make a difference. It will be interesting to see what the media outside of the UK says then.
They also don’t have access to the intel of the threats the way they did when they were Senior Royals. I’m sure they have excellent security but it’s still very worrying.
Deanne, Yes, it is very worrying. I’m saying with all the constant PR, SM that is going on, bots driven or not, the very real threat of harm to H&M increases.
A single man somehow got inside the castle, into The Queens bedroom while she was there. Anne had a kidnap attempt. Lord Mountbatten was killed in a bombing brought by anti-monarchy forces. These all happened before the Internet.
John Lennon and Ronald Reagan both shot by a single person with a gun.
Deanne, I have no doubt that Harry’s security in the US does get intelligence having to do with death threats. That’s one of the differences between the US and the UK.
Disagree @HeyKay. Authentic accounts who’ve had no interest before are now saying WTF. There might be new bot/paid for trolls activity. Not authentic. Would like Christopher Bouzy to do another report on the odd activity since the Netflix series. I’ve noticed it – but I’m not a tech expert. It’s easy to see the paid for trolls.
As though the British army were there to make therapy referrals.
Harry’s war efforts were celebrated in the tabloids in a very macho way iirc – I doubt their readership actually thinks less of him for going to war. If anything, it might backfire and remind everyone of his service, and give his work with military veterans even more attention icredibility.
There’s a very good reason that the royal family tried their hardest to make sure nobody saw the image of Harry in his military uniform at QEII’S funeral – to punish him, yes, but also because he makes them look like overdressed frauds in their ridiculous plumed hats and chests full of dress- up medals. Now, the tabloids have reminded everyone that not only did Harry truly serve, he put himself in danger. I wonder if the rf would prefer to shift the focus firmly away from this topic.
Modern humans re-discover what our every ancestor knew: fighting with weapons (aka going to war) means you kill other humans. Killing humans isn’t nice and results in life-long trauma for you. Or it gets you killed.
LOL
This whole theatre of the absurd where people are now aghast at someone “daring” to say things exactly as they are without ideological brainwash is mildly entertaining but mostly tragic to watch.
Harry isn’t saying anything that is not true but given he already had a price on his head was it really a wise idea to provide his number and possibly inflame the Taliban anew? If something happens to his family or friends will it have been worth it?
My eyes may get stuck in the permanent rolling position from comments like this.
The Taliban would have taken him out long ago if they could. They are, for the most part, illiterate, stupid, poor and bent on ruining Afghanistan completely through a war they will not win.
Busy Bee, since the bm in 2013 stated that he had killed 30 people, I don’t see how that changes his risk as a target. What DOES increase the risk is the bm now being sympathetic to the Taliban. The question you should be asking yourself is why does the bm want to increase the risk to Harry.
Textbook trolling. Will has no combat record. Nor does Charles. So the tabs have to make fun of Harry’s record.
The concern trolling from Busy Bee is hilarious.
so many unfamiliar usernames out here concern trölling. it’s so obvious!
Once again Harry is leading by offering veterans a way of opening up these difficult and painful discussions.
Who the eff cares what the Taliban think? The British media have lost their minds in their zeal to destroy Harry.
Not sure what to think about J.R. Moehringer liking a tweet which was shading Harry (not only) for sharing the number.
Blowhards. It’s his experience and he has every right to talk about it.
They love to be outraged and show performative concern. Racist, hateful bums.
Quietly not supporting Harry anymore. If your family isn’t a racist family, you wouldn’t never be worried about bringing home a black girl.
I think he is trying to say racism and unconscious bias are different things and that he has never used the word racist to describe them, but as they say “we know what we know ” and Harry seems unable to accept the complete truth.
This is to be expected imo, but he is wrong there.
no…i think he was trying to backtrack and not burn the final bridge by calling them racists. i was disappointed here too. when a fam member literally asks you “oh but what will be the color of the baby’s skin” along with other crap like wearing a blackface pin…you’re family doesn’t have an unconscious bias, they are racists. got really disappointed he minimized this and made it seem like an honest mistake. this is exactly the kind of crap white people pull and say “oh but i’m not racist and i have x friends who are brown or black”. completely ridiculous he would backtrack like that.
I’m sorry to threadjack but there isn’t a comment yet regarding the interview last night with Tom Bradby. Has anyone managed to see it?
I watched it and thought Harry was considered, calm and articulate.
Bradby played Devils Advocate a fair amount.
My big takeaway was his overwhelming sadness at how it has come to this. He loves his father and his brother deeply whilst just simply craving to be heard.
@Hummingbird – No I didn’t see it as I’m not in the UK. I did watch Anderson Cooper. And my friends who are non Royal followers said he was holding back a lot of info! But he was calm.
Also I wanted to pop in and say that Kate’s Bday wishes on Twitter look like a bot farm was on sale. It’s crazy.
I am a Veteran. I say from first hand experience that ALL military organizations SPECIALIZE in dehumanizing “the enemy”, whoever that enemy might be designated. It’s exactly why police forces recruit ex-military members so aggressively: once you designate We the Peoole as the enemy they are free to treat us how they want, and as we have seen time and time again mostly with total impunity.