Mr. Mach2number,
I agree totally. Once a perception has been formed in the mind, in is practically impossible the change it and so it is in this case, whatever the outcome of any trial. The damage has been done.
Re. your comment about the logical outcome, again I agree totally. I had to have a chat with my darling daughter when she stated she wanted to join the Police; I have banned both kids from having anything to do with Police, Army or Marines (anything which involves close contact with an enemy). How can any one of these organisations expect to recruit the "brightest and best" when the Government of the day is going to put you in harms way, with a high probability of death or life changing injury, and then prosecute you for a decision made in literally milli-seconds?
Heathrow Harry-
I also share your unease. Much of it will depend on the skill, or otherwise, of the interviewing officer. It will also spend on the witness themselves.
If I can give you a personal example, I'll tell you about my first terrorist incident. A Saturday morning in July 1972 in Belfast city centre. My father and I had just crossed a road at a 4-ways junction, when I became vaguely aware of something going on over my right shoulder. I remember stopping, turning round and seeing a car parked on the other side of the street. I saw an unarmed soldier (I'm assuming it was an ATO) running up to the car and stopping approx. 5 metres way from it. I then saw grey smoke start to fill the interior of the car and someone shout "Run!" which we did.
As far as I was concerned that was the end of the matter, we got the bus home and the incident was never discussed until November last year when my father happened to mention that the car bomb had detonated. Subsequent checking by me also showed that the device had indeed detonated as we were running, yet I have absolutely no recollection of either the sound, sight or heat of the detonation, nor of any destruction of the building beside the device. I remember none of that, zero. Totally blanked it.
I was 7 at the time. The car was (as I later measured) 23 metres away from me when I first saw it. Apart from showing me (1) the importance of getting out of line-of-sight, and (2) if you see an ATO running, run faster, it shows how unreliable the human mind can be.
This happened in the same timeframe as the McCann shooting. If I can totally blank an explosion, how can anyone expect anyone else to recall EVERY single detail of a shooting?
I have always stated that no-one should be above the law, but yet the reality of the situation seems to suggest that if you reach the top hierarchy of any organisation, you seem to become immune. We have the heads of terrorist organisations who have never been prosecuted for anything, we have an Ex-Prime Minister who gets us into the 'Mother Of All Clusterf**ks', not once, but twice (well 3 times, if you include the GFA) without censure. Why do we let this happen? The law should be applied equally......
Jonw66,
Thank you for your, and your colleagues, support over the years. Nothing lifted the spirit more when lying in a cold, wet, field than the sound of rotors.
Most my of work at that time was in a border town, although did manage to get a reasonable number of flights with 72 Sqn Wessex & 655 Sqn AAC Lynx's doing "Eagles" and 665 Sqn Gazelles doing "Finches", and a couple of flights in a 60 Sqn Wessex and 240 OCU Puma in England when a small group of us were sent over there to train with our army colleagues.
Never got the chance to say thanks, so here it is now - THANKS!
Anyway, still wishing all a Merry Christmas!
Now returning to the Dark Side, that is the civilian forum....