The rot of British war crimes starts at the very top of the Establishment

Editorial / 5 October 2026 US flight from RAF Fairford: let’s finish the job and make it permanent 5 October 2026 Editorial / 4 October 2026 No more war, no more fascism: the message of Cable Street 4 October 2026 Editorial / 2 October 2026 Cable Street’s historical lessons are we must unite today's struggles into one 2 October 2026 Editorial / 1 October 2026 We do not need another Brexit debate 1 October 2026 Editorial / 30 September 2026 Build a cross-party campaign for socialism 30 September 2026 Editorial / 30 September 2026 Irresponsible scaremongering over the RAF Fairford incident incites racism and war 30 September 2026 Editorial / 29 September 2026 Urgent reform is needed to fix our broken electoral system 29 September 2026 IMMENSE pressure has been exerted to head off a serious investigation into war crimes by British troops deployed in Afghanistan during the Nato war on that desperately poor country.

To a certain extent that effort has been deflected and diverted but facts are stubborn and the disclosure made in the High Court earlier this week that armed forces personnel are suspected of carrying out what are rather quaintly described as “serious offences” emerged during investigations carried out earlier this year.

The disclosure was made by Jonathan Glasson KC, counsel for the judge chairing an independent inquiry into allegations of so-called extra-judicial killings between mid-2010 and mid-2013.

These kinds of processes inevitably accompany every exercise of military force by armed forces deployed in the interests of British imperialism.

In the case of the investigations into the Bloody Sunday killings, and other extrajudicial murders, in the imperial statelet in the North of Ireland, largely into widely known facts, has taken decades and immense political pressure was exercised to ensure firstly the anonymity of the soldiers responsible and secondly to ensure they remain largely unpunished.

The old 19th century British socialist refrain — the British empire over which the sun never sets, and the blood never dries — retained its relevance through the 20th century. The disreputable counter-gang tactics used by British Special Forces in Ireland drew on the experience, and the personnel, involved in the suppression of rebellions in Malaya, Aden and Kenya, just to mention three particular episodes.

The distinctive thing about Britain’s 21st century imperial wars is that they are carried out by Britain’s armed forces invariably under the overall command of the directing centre of Nato which is to be found — notwithstanding window-dressing dummies like the present Dutch secretary-general of Nato — in the uniforms of US soldiers.

There is no further demonstration of the essentially servile relationship between Britain and the United States, and the more general submission by European states, to the US command, than the suggestion that the next puppet to occupy the Nato role is to be Keir Starmer.

But for all that the specific crimes committed by British troops under Nato command, or any other, are individual responsibility of the people who committed them with a measure of culpability always invested in their immediate chain of command.

A higher level of responsibility is that of the senior officers who direct operations and the politicians who ordered the wars which, as wars do, inevitably brings about war crimes.

We can be sure that none of these people will carry the can. And the marks of culpability are not always etched on the faces of these people. Compare the ruined visage of Tony Blair to the bland contours of Alastair Campbell’s face untroubled by the burden of guilt.

Readers of this newspaper would expect to read criticism of imperialist warmongers to be expressed not in measured words of moral disapproval but sharply expressed and to the point.

And when the call for guilty men to be held to account for crimes they individually committed this must always be in the context of a full understanding of what war does to human beings.

Responsibility and blame must be assigned to the forces whose embodiment as armament manufacturers, arms dealers, politicians and brass hats makes them complicit.

We need to hold these profit-seekers and decision-makers responsible for the human consequences of sending men, and now women, to fight for such tainted goals.

Proximity to the way in which highly trained and technologically dominant armed forces are pitted against local militias and civilians in underdeveloped countries is morally corrupting.

And thus, when broken veterans are to be found sleeping on our streets these too are the victims of imperialist war.

Human Rights / 6 October 2026 MoD found evidence of ‘serious offences’ by troops in Afghanistan, court told 6 October 2026 ‘It is a disgrace that still there have been no consequences for the unnamed perpetrators of war crimes,’ Stop the War says

Features / 10 September 2026 9/11: The day the ‘war on terror’ began 10 September 2026 The attacks of September 2001 became the pretext for a new era of US-led intervention. Twenty-five years on, millions are dead and the promised ‘victories’ remain nowhere to be seen, says ANDREW MURRAY

Policing / 23 July 2026 Met Police re-opens war crimes case on Britons fighting for Israel 23 July 2026 Eyes Wright / 17 June 2026 Healey’s exit exposes a rearmament consensus that doesn’t reflect British realities 17 June 2026 The defence secretary’s resignation reveals not a split over principle but a dispute over pace of military spending, as Britain’s political Establishment unites behind deeper Nato commitments, argues NICK WRIGHT