British Army sniper sets new distance record…

If the sniper had picked off two Afghan farmers innocently walking their goats then maybe the idiot commentor who posted the above diatribe might have had some points worth ‘recommending’ but as these were two combatants manning a machine gun they were fair game. I wonder if the prat actually read the piece or just trawled up the usual Stop The War Coalition crap…

You seem to miss the point. He didn’t want to point out (but rather used it for larger picture) exact act of killing the two Taliban, but mostly the hype that was created after this event has occurred. There’s nothing to be proud in killing somebody. And it isn’t noble to talk of it in front of the whole world. I know the story has been pushed to the front pages for the sake of altering moral of the troops employed over there. But it has been done in such a “Machiavelistic” way which may only bring benefits to those who are moving the pawns on the big chess board.

And that guy’s not an idiot. He just has very much different thinking of most of the things in this world than yourself. Is that a crime? Or you think that kind of behavior should be punished? Or limit such person in a society, ie. from voting or participating in any decision making processes?

You have to accept that we are all very different and try to live with that, and not change somebody to think the way you would like him/her to.

Most of the special forces’ operations still remain classified regardless how spectacular they might have been. But those are classified for a multitude of reasons.

Although this specific event wasn’t a SpecOp this “regular guy” has done extraordinary things that will certainly find him a place in the books and articles of modern warfare. But this guy will remain “exposed” till the rest of his life. For some he will be a hero and utterly skilled sharpshooter, while for the others a villain and a murderer. And for some (J Boyle) a “necessary evil”.

@J Boyle,

I do find it justified to fight when attacked or facing a credible treat. But not to cross that line. The other point the poster (whom you quoted) was trying to make was the necessity of this war. But that’s an entirely different topic and such a vast field where we could discuss for weeks without big success (and that would be finding a consensus). And 99,99% of our arguments/facts/insinuations would be those placed/found in the media. And there are so many contradicting claims and stories and much less credible authors of those. All of us are creating a picture of an event or a person upon information we receive. What creates a headache is that many of those we can’t fairly check and accept as an utter truth but rather take each of them with a grain of salt. And for a normal man (one that’s not absorbing fully what’s being placed in the media) digesting that type of info becomes a real pain in the a$$.

If the sniper had picked off two Afghan farmers innocently walking their goats then maybe the idiot commentor who posted the above diatribe might have had some points worth ‘recommending’ but as these were two combatants manning a machine gun they were fair game. I wonder if the prat actually read the piece or just trawled up the usual Stop The War Coalition crap…

For a glimpse at the modern enlightened “Western World”, read some of the posted comments to the story.

One that got a lot of attention reads:

Have I woken up in 1898 or something? This kind of nasty news makes me ill. Killing is killing. Killing of men is not sport. Its not akin to cricket or a game of ruggah. You might get medals and brisk handshakes but most rational people see what you are – a murderer. Someone who lives to take life, for the kick of it. Call it your job, or your duty, or just your ‘calling’. It still defines you as an example of regressive DNA. You can argue someone has to do it, that I don’t ‘understand’ because I wasn’t there. I can just as easily argue someone needs to stand up and say ‘no’ to the manipulators and the liars and the robber barons and the oil oligarchs who create wars for no other reason than profit. Always have, always will. You are not a hero outside of their world view. You are not a hero to me. You are just a cog in that evil enterprise. You are not defending your country. You are not defending your hearth or your kin. Your country has not faced invasion for 60 years and is 3, 000 miles away, which is where you should be! Raising your kids and doing something noble with the meagre handfull of years you’ve been given instead of this evil. As if there was anything lower than a self professed ‘professional’ murderer, truly, a sniper is it. A murderer and a coward. Two for one. War it may be, but there’s no honour to it, hasn’t been since courage became the cheapest and most common of all commodities. War is still just what it always was. Harry Patch had the right idea God bless him. He lived long enough to work it out for himself and he died ashamed of himself and of his species – and he was fighting for his ‘country’ too. Absurdly he lived longer than it did!

The poster has every right to his views, and over 100 readers marked the post as “Recommnded”.

Similarly, many revisionists call Harris, Churchill, Roosevelt or LeMay murderers.
That kind of open thought and discourse demonstrates the West’s tolerance, greatness and compassion…but those strenghts may well become its undoing in the face of barbaric enemies.
To defeat a savage foe, civilized man must sometime lower himself.

It’s the simple truth and it’s not attractive, but then war isn’t.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/afghanistan/article7113916.ece

What makes it even more amazing is that is was a standard sniping round.
The Canadian (Previous record holder) was using a sniping 50 cal. with specially adapted US Army bullets. And of course, he took out two baddies and the weapon….not just one. So it was 3 accurate shots over a distance that most people would drive!

He deserves a medal.