24 years ago yesterday Operation Flavius took place on the island of Gibraltar. For those who donât know the Special Air Service (SAS) had been tipped off about an IRA bomb plot that threatened the lives of a large number of not only British Army members but also Spanish & British civilians. The terrorists were followed and shot dead as it was thought they were due to detonate a large car bomb. The terrorist were found armless but belongs to the three lead the authorities to a huge car bomb in Marbella that was intended to cause death and destruction. We were having a debate about this yesterday in work and about shoot to kill policies. Do you agree that if terrorists are ready to attack, should they be shot dead or arrested for an expensive trial and possible lenient sentence.
*unarmed My point was there families who have in the past said that members of the police should have arrested their loved ones rather than murder them. Yet some of these people had guns and/or bombs on them!?!
Fair is fair If you want to kill a suspected terrorist instead of arresting him don't go crying when they blow your humvee up
If they pose an immediate threat (by which I mean if they have a weapon pointed and you or civilians) then by all means shoot them. If not, all measures should be taken to arrest them without violence.
I think the issue is with percieved excessive force. Was there not something like 100 rounds put into the car. Some bodies had 30 bullets in them. Thats seems more like perverse trigger happiness and enjoyment out of being able to kill these people and have an excuse rather than any necessity through fear for their/others lives. If indeed they suspected the car was carrying a "massive" bomb, what idiot would proceed to put a spray of bullets into it.
Six more British soldiers killed in Afghanistan this week. Can anyone remind me of what we are doing there?
