Scene: Helman Province, Afghanistan, May 2021. A member of the elite Australian SAS special forces command has detained a suspected member of the Taliban.
“Look, I’m really sorry about all this, but things have recently changed. I know we are pulling out in September, but until then it is business as usual. In the meantime, we have become WOKE, how I hate that word, and ‘politically correct,’ which I hate even more, but I’m just a soldier whose duty it is to do or die for a country in which the leftist-socialists and the military command treat us with undeserved distain. But enough of that … it’s my problem, not yours.
We now have a new convention that dictates how we are to conduct ourselves under circumstances such as this. I can no longer assume you are a Taliban terrorist, or is that now a military insurgent with a different religious and political agenda?
Our intel suggests you are not burdened with such rules of engagement, but the information we get is so often wrong, so it is up to me to make some on-the-spot assumptions.
I can only wonder how intimidating it must for you to have me pointing my rifle at you, but there are certain criteria I must establish before we can move on. I’m really sorry about that.
First is the way you are dressed. Until recently we each shot the enemy on sight if they were in uniform, or even if they were out of uniform, they could be shot as spies. The Taliban do not wear uniforms, and that is a conundrum. Second is the fact that you were carrying an AK 47 military assault rifle with a bandolier of bullets over your shoulder, but that may just mean you are hunting wild goats to feed your starving family? Decisions, decisions!
Please understand that if I make a wrong assumption and it goes sideways, I will be investigated and could be charged with manslaughter, or even murder. For both our sakes I need to be sure, but if I do feel confident you are a terror… I’m sorry, I meant enemy combatant, will you mind terribly if I shoot you?”
Dr Robert Harris
Author: WTF Is Happening To Us?
www.drrobertharrisbooks.com
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