British Soldiers Targeted At Home

[Evil_Maniac From Mars]

The Telegraph

I hope all the criminals involved are locked away for life.

[Kadagar_AV]

The Telegraph

I hope everyone involved is locked away for life.

I agree...

A bit suprised you would think snipers should be locked away though, thought you were pro-death?

[Evil_Maniac From Mars]

I agree...

A bit suprised you would think snipers should be locked away though, thought you were pro-death?

I'm pro-life generally, and neutral on the death penalty specifically. Pro- locking away criminals though, not the snipers.

[Centurion1]

I agree...

A bit suprised you would think snipers should be locked away though, thought you were pro-death?

seriously the snipers did a job. they didnt kill for sport or fun. they performed the duty they signed up for. they shot clearly identified insurgent targets.

the Taliban are pissed they shot their men?

yeah no freaking kidding im pissed whenever some fanatic explodes and kills my neighbor. doesn't mean im going to attempt to kidnap his family, chop his head off, burn his remains and hang them from my neighborhoods light poles.

get real, these mens families are being targeted and no matter who or what you are your family should never be brought into something like this.

Taliban: "hey you killed my fellow soldier. Im going to kill your family."

explain that logic.

[Viking]

Taliban: "hey you killed my fellow soldier. Im going to kill your family."

explain that logic.

Uhm, that's not going to take much.

[Subotan]

Not unexpected.

[Kadagar_AV]

seriously the snipers did a job. they didnt kill for sport or fun. they performed the duty they signed up for. they shot clearly identified insurgent targets.

the Taliban are pissed they shot their men?

yeah no freaking kidding im pissed whenever some fanatic explodes and kills my neighbor. doesn't mean im going to attempt to kidnap his family, chop his head off, burn his remains and hang them from my neighborhoods light poles.

get real, these mens families are being targeted and no matter who or what you are your family should never be brought into something like this.

Taliban: "hey you killed my fellow soldier. Im going to kill your family."

explain that logic.

explaining that logic...

you are in their country killing people, they go to your country killing people.

kudos to them for singling out snipers, who belong to the more disgusting type of troops.

I dont see the logical fail here. Elaborate, please.

[HoreTore]

Hah!

Great job, Al-Q!

[Kralizec]

That's not funny - and they didn't do a "good job" either, considering that they haven't actually succeeded yet.

explaining that logic...

you are in their country killing people, they go to your country killing people.

kudos to them for singling out snipers, who belong to the more disgusting type of troops.

I dont see the logical fail here. Elaborate, please.

They're not Afghans coming to Britain to kill soldiers. They're home-grown radicals who prey on soldiers (and apparently, their families) once they take out their uniform.

Why are snipers inherently disgusting?

[Crazed Rabbit]

Wow, I think I'm just going to add some people to my ignore list.

Never done that before.

Also; funny the government won't let the soldiers defend themselves with guns in their own homes.

CR

[Hax]

When did killing people actually solve something?

[Viking]

When did killing people actually solve something?

Quite often, actually.

[Hax]

They're not Afghans coming to Britain to kill soldiers. They're home-grown radicals who prey on soldiers (and apparently, their families) once they take out their uniform.

Why are snipers inherently disgusting?

In the eyes of the ex-government of Afghanistan, didn't the same go for the Northern Alliance?

[Evil_Maniac From Mars]

Wow, I think I'm just going to add some people to my ignore list.

Tell me about it. I'm too disgusted to reply to some of the asinine comments left here.

[Philippus Flavius Homovallumus]

Hah!

Great job, Al-Q!

You disgust me, really you do.

Uhm, that's not going to take much.

Killing combatants is one thing, killing non-combatants is something else. A (good) sniper kills cleanly, that is his job, these terrorists were planning to abduct and probably torture their targets.

There is a difference.

explaining that logic...

you are in their country killing people, they go to your country killing people.

kudos to them for singling out snipers, who belong to the more disgusting type of troops.

I dont see the logical fail here. Elaborate, please.

Maybe Snipers are murderers, but they are tasked to kill combatants in a war zone, usually, not to abduct men from their homes.

[Beskar]

I don't remember the army marching down the streets of my home-town.

[caravel]

the snipers did a job. they didnt kill for sport or fun.

they performed the duty they signed up for.

Job? Duty?

[Major Robert Dump]

Interesting turn of events. While it's not always classified here per se, a job in the military like sniping is something that is rarely advertised by the people who actually did it. Most people in the Army who say they are snipers are full of crap, and the ones who actually do it tend not to talk about it.

I wonder exactly how their names got out? Surly they werent blogging or talking to the press. If they wanted attention it sounds like their plan backfired. If the press outed them, then shame shame

[Centurion1]

this is ridiculous, no matter what those men did their families don't deserve to die.

Their job- snipe combatants and targets of oppurtunity
Their duty- execute said job.

why are snipers disgusting?

snipers are one of the more humane ways aof warfare. there are very select. there is no collateral. They kill relatively swiftly with such high powered weapons. Are they disgusting because tey kill from a distance. so do artillerymen and fighter pilots. Grow up its the 21st century we dont decapitate and disembowel our enemies anymore, except for your little terrorist friends.

[Thermal]

you are in their country killing people whilst being killed, they go to your country killing people whilst not being killed.

@Horetore, If these were Norwegian soldiers I doubt this would get the same response from you. Shame on you

[Philippus Flavius Homovallumus]

@Horetore, If these were Norwegian soldiers I doubt this would get the same response from you. Shame on you

Oh, I'm afraid he posted a topic about how disgusting Norwegian soldiers were a while back, under the guise of moaning about his country's arms-spending.

[Thermal]

Oh, I'm afraid he posted a topic about how disgusting Norwegian soldiers were a while back, under the guise of moaning about his country's arms-spending.

Oh...

[Mooks]

Snipers arent just any soldier, theyre insane. The kind of training they go through and the amount of skill any one of them has, makes them some of the best soldiers in the world.

Also; funny the government won't let the soldiers defend themselves with guns in their own homes.

CR

British people are funny like that.

[miotas]

Taliban: "hey you killed my fellow soldier. Im going to kill your family."

explain that logic.

All the article says is that Al-Qaeda planned to kill a soldier but were stopped. The rest is speculation that maybe the snipers might be targeted because their names got out and a threat letter was sent to one of the snipers.

[Tellos Athenaios]

I wonder exactly how their names got out? Surly they werent blogging or talking to the press. If they wanted attention it sounds like their plan backfired. If the press outed them, then shame shame

Well there have been (partially sponsored by various parties involved) ‘accounts’ from journalists following some units around in Afghanistan. I wouldn't be surprised if (a) people did mention the names of the snipers and some other personal details/circumstances at those times; and (b) if journalists did indeed (explicitly) follow snipers around. For the latter part because (b) ensures a combination of relative safety yet does give a ‘front-line’ angle to the story.

Also why is it funny that one citizen is not treated differently from other citizens and must abide by the same law? Asinine indeed.

[Megas Methuselah]

this is ridiculous, no matter what those men did their families don't deserve to die.

If you came over to my country and shot up my people, I would do all that I can to ensure harm to you and yours.

[Major Robert Dump]

Well there have been (partially sponsored by various parties involved) ‘accounts’ from journalists following some units around in Afghanistan. I wouldn't be surprised if (a) people did mention the names of the snipers and some other personal details/circumstances at those times; and (b) if journalists did indeed (explicitly) follow snipers around. For the latter part because (b) ensures a combination of relative safety yet does give a ‘front-line’ angle to the story.

Also why is it funny that one citizen is not treated differently from other citizens and must abide by the same law? Asinine indeed.

Not sure how much of this is directed at me, but let me clarify my comments from earlier.

The people I know who are snipers, special ops, SAR, etc, do not openly advertise their jobs to joe public because the very nature of what they do makes them and their families targets from both our enemies, political opponents and people-looking-to-make-a-point-in general. Much for the same reason CIA agents don't tell their entire community what they are and what they do. IT's common sense.

At the same time, unless said person/agent was involved in something highly questionable under the law, it is very irresponsible for a journalist/friend/colleague to divulge their role due to the fact that it is simply just irresponsible and, some may argue, unpatriotic to do so and definitely dangerous to them and their family. So yes, people who do jobs like that should fall under different rules. I'm not saying rules in the context of laws or special protections, but FFS, if u are a jouranlist covering a sniper in a war dont put his name in the papers. Jesus.

But based on the sheer number of soldiers who claimed to be snipers when they weren't (its a glamorous job), I am also reserving my conclusions to the fact that they may have advertised their roles themselves. In that case, I don't think it makes them or their families deserve what happened, but I do think it resounds that they lacked common sense in divulging their duties and they may want to look at themselves a little while assigning blame. Enemies that cross borders, dissimation of info, this is nothing new, don't advertise your role if it had significant impact on vs the enemy.

BTW, most "snipers" I have met ended up being riflemen in infantry squads...a job that certainly deserved respect, but not a sniper in the intended sense and not one who went through sniper school. I have a feeling had they been bona fide snipers, they would not have had that "sniper" bumper sticker on their pickup. Kind of like an FBI guy wearing a shirt that says UNDERCOVER.

Regardless, the people who are responsible for this need to be strung up for a long time, treated as traitors if they are citizens, and at the least deported. Snipers are an acceptable act of war vs enemies in the battlefield, going after their families out of theater is not

[spmetla]

It's a shame that British soldiers are being targeted at home, certainly won't help ease PTSD when the threat follows to what used to be a safe place. Not too surprising that it happens, though I just hope that the law enforcement there will be able to prevent any successful attacks.

As for some of the comments around here, how come such avowed pacifists give kudos to acts of aggression in this case? If you're going to condemn soldiers for fighting on behalf of their nation's interests why is it fine for religious fanatics or terrorists to do the same?

[HoreTore]

You disgust me, really you do.

Please explain why.

This past year or so, I've seen Al-Q and the taliban shift their focus from killing innocent civillians to legitimate military targets. This is another example of this trend. Please, do explain why it's a bad thing that they're killing enemy soldiers instead of civilians.

these terrorists were planning to abduct and probably torture their targets.

...They were going to send them to Gitmo or Abu Ghraib?

[Husar]

Didn't the Iraqis have some glorified sniper as well who the US tried to catch in his home country?
But yeah, a sniper is generally about as disgusting today as an archer or crossbowman was to a medieval knight.
On the other hand it's a bit weird to say that targeting people at home is disgusting when that is exactly what you're doing to the other people, too.
It's still scary and I hope it can be prevented though.