Harry's description of killing 25 Afghans reveals 'language of war' - expert
A Security Studies expert at Birmingham City University has said Prince Harry 's comment about killing 25 Afghan fighters by Apache helicopter has revealed how current language around war can disguise the realities for ex-service personnel - which often include PTSD, homelessness and higher than average suicide rates.
Dr Lily Hamourtziadou (pictured) spoke ahead of Spare being published and following calls from relatives of an Afghan family of nine killed in an airstrike, allegedly carried out by British forces, for Harry to face prosecution in an international court.
Dr Hamourtziadou said: “In his memoir Spare, Prince Harry describes killing 25 Taliban fighters in Afghanistan as 'chess pieces taken off the board '. Seemingly filled neither with pride nor with shame, he explains, 'You can't hurt people if you see them as people�They trained me to “other ” them and they trained me well. '
“There has been widespread outrage around this particular passage in the memoir, following its leak, but why? After all, combatants are enemy fighters and legitimate targets in war.
“It is because we want to think of the soldier as a hero, and of war as a noble undertaking. We are told to believe there is heroism and nobility in warfare (ours), as well as evil (theirs). A great cause for which our nation fights.
“The 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, which claimed over 3,000 civilian lives, was called 'Operation Enduring Freedom ', while the 2003 invasion of Iraq, which claimed over 7,000, was 'Operation Iraqi Freedom '.
“The UK, we are told, goes to war to 'democratise ', to 'protect ', to 'liberate ' and to 'serve '. This is the language of war - language used to disguise and conceal what war is, what the soldiers know war is, which is the death of human beings -civilians as well as combatants- poverty, destruction, homelessness and trauma.
“War memorials tell us 'they died for our freedom '. For those that survived, PTSD, other psychological trauma and regret with every killing may occur, and, as has been widely documented, former armed forces personnel are more likely to commit suicide than their civilian peers.
“After Prince Harry 's comments, which have been condemned far and wide, perhaps it is time to talk honestly and openly about war and all its casualties, using clear and factual language, outside the patriotic realm of heroism in which we are conditioned to live. ”