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April 15, 2006
Malcolm Kendall-Smith and the legality of the Iraq War
Malcolm Kendall-Smith, an RAF medical officer who refused to serve in Iraq, has just been court-martialed. He was given an 8 month sentence, a dishonourable discharge and a legal bill for GBP 20,000.
The RAF prosecution made a statement that:
“British troops are operating in Iraq under a United Nations mandate and at the invitation of the Iraqi government. The judge advocate ruled that the court would not accept his defence that the war was illegal and a panel of his peers have convicted him on that basis.”
Many people would not recognize that version of the situation in Iraq. I hope we hear more from Kendall-Smith.
news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=567932006
Posted by Simon Holledge at April 15, 2006 11:12 PM
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Comments
United Nations mandate? Did I miss something?
That said, the unfortunate Mr Kendall-Smith really hasn't got a leg to stand on. You sign up, you're cannon fodder. That's how armies work. If they were really about keeping the peace or helping refugees, they wouldn't need all those weapons.
Posted by: markgamon at April 19, 2006 05:44 PM
Yes, indeed. However I was interested to see that the RAF did not merely court martial him for disobeying orders, but argued on the legality of the war. (Poor tactics, I would have thought.) The Judge also vented his private spleen on Kendall-Smith calling him "arrogant" etc.
I hope he gets support from the anti-war groups. He should.
Posted by: Simon Holledge at April 19, 2006 06:23 PM