The Gurka That Turned Into Jack Bauer!

Biggins · 19-07-2010 09:25AM #1

Truth can be stranger than fiction sometimes.
In Afghanistan a group of soldiers were chasing after a high value Taliban target.
When they caught him and he was killed in the still ongoing fire-fight, bosses from up high above him demanded that his body be brought back to base to prove identity.

Unfortunately this proved to be damn difficult as the soldiers were still in the middle of an intense battle - so one Gurka did the next best thing! :pac:

...In order to confirm identity of their target (as per orders) he chopped off the Taliban leaders dead head and brought that back instead! :pac:

His reward? Suspension and sent back to Britain!

Jack Bauer would not be pleased!

The original article:

wobbles-grogan · 19-07-2010 09:31AM

I like it!!

The guy could go to jail, going by what the article says anyway.... That's not cool. If he's really Jack Bauer though, he'll find a way out of it...

Guy:Incognito · 19-07-2010 09:32AM

Joanna Lumley will not be pleased.

syklops · 19-07-2010 09:33AM

From the article:

It is understood the Gurka then cut off the dead mans head with his kukri(ceremonial knife), and took it with him so his identiity could be confirmed.

This is considered offensive to Afghans whose customs dictate the entire body be buried, even if it means retrieval of body parts.

So let me get this straight, invading a country, killing and capturing its leaders, and sending many of its young men to prison without trial is fine, but woe betide you if you insult burial customs?

The world has gone mad!

Biggins · 19-07-2010 09:34AM

Had I thought of it, I would have done the same damn thing as the Gurka.
Daft sods back home over-reacting from behind their desks.

Guy:Incognito · 19-07-2010 09:36AM

Biggins wrote: »

Had I thought of it, I would have done the same damn thing as the Gurka.
Daft sods back home over-reacting from behind their desks.

The leaky neck spoiling their desk probably annoyed them a bit

Biggins · 19-07-2010 09:38AM

Stekelly wrote: »

The leaky neck spoiling their desk probably annoyed them a bit

LOL True - damn paperwork getting stained! :pac:

Manach · 19-07-2010 09:39AM

Well in civilian life, he'd do well in a recruitment agency as they are always on the lookout for headhunters.

19-07-2010 09:47AM

In two minds about this.. If it were my brother who had his head chopped of by an invading force, it'd ruin my day..

If a British soldier did it to someone in the IRA during the troubles, i'd say everyone in the country would have picked up a gun.

Wicklowrider · 19-07-2010 09:51AM

A Brit named Simon Murray served in the French foreign Legion in the '50's. In his book about his service in the legion he describes either himself or another legionairre ( long,long time since I read it) beheading a FLN guerilla corpse for to prove identity. He said they were on top of a mountain In Algeria at the time and didn't fancy carying the corpse down the mountain. Cannot recall if they were reprimanded or not, somehow I doubt it. I think Murray went on to be a bigshot banker in his later life so it didn't exactly hold back his civilian career.

syklops · 19-07-2010 09:56AM

Deleted User wrote: »

In two minds about this.. If it were my brother who had his head chopped of by an invading force, it'd ruin my day..

If a British soldier did it to someone in the IRA during the troubles, i'd say everyone in the country would have picked up a gun.

If a british solidier did it during the troubles the BA/MOD would (then) have had the good sense to cover it up. Not return the soldier to base and let the Sunday Times hear about it.

Nowadays the MoD is run by accountants and PR enthusiasts. Bad press and numbers in spreadsheets are more important than the job in hand.

Dyr · 19-07-2010 10:04AM

syklops wrote: »

If a british solidier did it during the troubles the BA/MOD would (then) have had the good sense to cover it up. Not return the soldier to base and let the Sunday Times hear about it.

Nowadays the MoD is run by accountants and PR enthusiasts. Bad press and numbers in spreadsheets are more important than the job in hand.

Cover it up?..how exactly do you explain a dead provo who's missing a hand to the relatives? It was always like that but they never noticed?

pickarooney · 19-07-2010 10:08AM

Afghanistan
Taliban
Burqa ban
Gurkha

Go crazy, Daily Mail headliners.

wes · 19-07-2010 10:09AM

So, taking a picture was out of the question?!?

Biggins · 19-07-2010 10:10AM

wes wrote: »

So, taking a picture was out of the question?!?

You have a point but there will always be someone who will also claim pics can be faked, it's not him but someone like him, etc...
You can't fake DNA however (that I know of)!

syklops · 19-07-2010 10:44AM

Bambi wrote: »

Cover it up?..how exactly do you explain a dead provo who's missing a hand to the relatives? It was always like that but they never noticed?

You stick a grenade or two under him and take cover. Best to have a bucket and sponge ready.

Nijmegen · 19-07-2010 10:52AM

The British army can either issue everyone with a (robust) digital camera or shut up. The guy was under fire and taking the body was not an option. So he adapted, improvised and overcame the problem, right how you're trained to do it.

It's a war. The guy is the enemy. He was dead already and not going to miss his head.

Alternatively the PC brigade and a few journalists can be on standby to pull bodies out under fire.

Gyalist · 19-07-2010 10:55AM

So that's all the billions spent trying to win "hearts and minds" gone down the drain. The Taliban couldn't have wished for a better recruiting sergeant.

Ash.J.Williams · 19-07-2010 10:57AM

Bambi wrote: »

Cover it up?..how exactly do you explain a dead provo who's missing a hand to the relatives? It was always like that but they never noticed?

you wouldn't hand over the body....it would vanish...

Nijmegen · 19-07-2010 11:01AM

Gyalist wrote: »

So that's all the billions spent trying to win "hearts and minds" gone down the drain. The Taliban couldn't have wished for a better recruiting sergeant.

The Taliban wins hearts and minds by cutting them out of people.

Stoning women who attended schools in areas they take back.

Punishing men who don't wear a proper beard.

Yeah, the soldier who cut off the head of one of their commanders is clearly at the vanguard of an evil empire attempting to roll over a poor and innocent land of freedom fighters.

Biggins · 19-07-2010 11:04AM

Nijmegen wrote: »

The Taliban wins hearts and minds by cutting them out of people.

Stoning women who attended schools in areas they take back.

Punishing men who don't wear a proper beard.

Yeah, the soldier who cut off the head of one of their commanders is clearly at the vanguard of an evil empire attempting to roll over a poor and innocent land of freedom fighters.

...Don't forget about blowing guests up at a wedding or killing similar large groups of people while they are just trying to collect their wages (just a few days ago).

The Taliban can't speak of winning a PR war - their own actions is turning off the Afgan' people by the hundreds per day - who are seeing them for what they really are.

Gyalist · 19-07-2010 11:11AM

So you prove that the Taliban are evil by behaving just like them? It is a tradition of war that the opposing sides are allowed to retrieve their dead. If Afghans start mutilating the bodies of dead NATO troops you'll no doubt be singing a different tune.

A few words from Rudyard Kipling, poet, apologist and cheerleader extraordinaire of British imperialism:

When you're wounded and left on Afghanistan's plains,
And the women come out to cut up what remains,
Jest roll to your rifle and blow out your brains
An' go to your Gawd like a soldier.
Go, go, go like a soldier,
Go, go, go like a soldier,
Go, go, go like a soldier,
So-oldier ~of~ the Queen!

The Young British Soldier by Rudyard Kipling

Biggins · 19-07-2010 11:19AM

Gyalist wrote: »

So you prove that the Taliban are evil by behaving just like them? It is a tradition of war that the opposing sides are allowed to retrieve their dead. If Afghans start mutilating the bodies of dead NATO troops you'll no doubt be singing a different tune....

Aaa... aren't they doing that already to soldiers there and in Iraq anyway!
Or have we quickly already forgotten (just one simple example) about the a soldier that was chopped to pieces and then those sections left hanging from a bridge last year?
Lets not be forgetting either all the chopped heads of LIVE victims that were captured by the Taliban.

If the Taliban stood in glass greenhouses, they couldn't exactly throw the first stone!
...O' wait a minute, they are good at throwing stones too at heads aren't they?

Gyalist · 19-07-2010 11:22AM

The Taliban aren't fighting in Iraq.

Biggins · 19-07-2010 11:28AM

Gyalist wrote: »

The Taliban aren't fighting in Iraq.

That will be news to the soldiers there fighting them in the northern border regions!

...But carry on and avoid the rebuttal points put to you!

Nijmegen · 19-07-2010 11:59AM

Gyalist wrote: »

So you prove that the Taliban are evil by behaving just like them? It is a tradition of war that the opposing sides are allowed to retrieve their dead. If Afghans start mutilating the bodies of dead NATO troops you'll no doubt be singing a different tune.

Several years ago a Royal Marine was killed and his body captured in Afghanistan. So concerned were his colleagues about the mutilation he would suffer, they mounted themselves on the side of an apache attack helicopter, flew in and rescued the body.

The Taliban, and their militant Islamic buddies around the world, don't mind mutilating the corpses of live and dead enemies.

wes · 19-07-2010 12:04PM

Biggins wrote: »

You have a point but there will always be someone who will also claim pics can be faked, it's not him but someone like him, etc...
You can't fake DNA however (that I know of)!

Ok, if they just wanted some DNA, they do not need the whole head. A small blood sample, or even a hair sample (not sure of that one) would have done the job as well.

Biggins · 19-07-2010 12:10PM

wes wrote: »

Ok, if they just wanted some DNA, they do not need the whole head. A small blood sample, or even a hair sample (not sure of that one) would have done the job as well.

Again true, very true but (not to be awkward, just pointing out) again some could claim, "Sure you could have taken those samples while he was/is still alive!"
(Wouldn't be the first time that an enemy has denied to their own and the world, one of their own has died)

To demoralise and thus hopefully divide the enemy, sometimes means having to prove totally that that their leaders are not infallible to capture and death.
Thus the probable reason why absolute confirmation was probably needed, the better the evidence, the better chance of undermining of morale on the opposite side.

Nijmegen · 19-07-2010 12:10PM

wes wrote: »

Ok, if they just wanted some DNA, they do not need the whole head. A small blood sample, or even a hair sample (not sure of that one) would have done the job as well.

They likely wanted the head for identification, I doubt they'd have his DNA.

Either way, you think to take a swab sample with 7.62mm rounds coming down on top of you.

Nodin · 19-07-2010 12:15PM

Biggins wrote: »

Truth can be stranger than fiction sometimes.
In Afghanistan a group of soldiers were chasing after a high value Taliban target.
When they caught him and he was killed in the still ongoing fire-fight, bosses from up high above him demanded that his body be brought back to base to prove identity.

Unfortunately this proved to be damn difficult as the soldiers were still in the middle of an intense battle - so one Gurka did the next best thing! :pac:

...In order to confirm identity of their target (as per orders) he chopped off the Taliban leaders dead head and brought that back instead! :pac:

His reward? Suspension and sent back to Britain!

Jack Bauer would not be pleased!

The original article:

Jaysus, its like a boys own adventure out there, with all the shooting and the beheadins.

Scuid Mhór · 19-07-2010 12:19PM

'get the body!'

'we've been compromised!'

The Gurka That Turned Into Jack Bauer!

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