BELFAST RB BOOKLET 2020 - Flipbook - Page 29
Ci t y of Belf ast Grand Bl ack Chapt er - Dem onst rat i on Bookl et 2020
" L A W F A R E " . . At the end of last year,
during a seminar hosted by the Policy Exchange
Charity, two leading academics gave an interesting
presentation entitled .. 'Lawfare - resisting the
Judicialisation of War' .. aptly named, given that our
Armed Forces personnel continue to be cynically pilloried here by an overtly
biased judicial system, at the behest of weak government policies, most notably
the Blairite administration that issued 'letters of comfort and Royal Pardons' to
sectarian gangsters, both paramilitary and apolitical as far back as 2000, to
keep the republican movement on board the financial gravy train of peace.
As an independent and non-partisan
educational charity, the Policy Exchange is
the UK’s leading think-tank whose mission is
to develop and promote new strategies that
will deliver better public services, a stronger
society and a more dynamic economy.
The charity is committed to an
evidence based approach in
strategic development and retains
copyright and full editorial control
over all its written research,
working in partnership with
academics and other experts in
the commissioning of major
studies which involves thorough,
but mainly empirical, research of
alternative policy outcomes.
The group also believes that the
policy experience of other countries offers
important lessons for the British
Government by learning from both
business and the voluntary sectors.
Given that this year, when we salutatory
commemorate the 75th anniversary of
the ending of the War in Europe and the
global freedom from the evil scourge of
Hitler's dream of conquering the world,
what proved to be very interesting was
the foreword given by General David
Petraeus, a retired Former Commander,
United States Central Command and
the Coalition Forces based in Iraq and
Afghanistan; someone who, on many
previous occasions, has already
expressed his personal concern at the
so-called LAWFARE against Northern
Ireland service personnel and the unfair
pursuit of British soldiers and veterans
in the aftermath of military operations.
In his forthright opening to the powerful
think-tank the highly decorated US General
went further in his condemnation when he
stated .. 'despite recent reductions
in number, the British armed
forces continue to rank
amongst the most capable in
the world.' .. continuing ..
A very special relationship
has been established between
our two militaries over more
than a century of serving
shoulder-to-shoulder in the
hardest tests of battle. I have
experienced this special relationship
personally, during decades of the Cold War in
Europe and during operations in the Balkans,
Iraq, Afghanistan, and the greater Middle
East.
LAWFARE against British soldiers is
thus a matter of very real concern to
me. It is arguably as much of a threat to
Britain’s fighting capacity as would be a
failure to meet NATO budgetary targets,
and it risks putting the special
relationship under increasing strain.
To be clear, like all others, the British
military is rightly subject to the rule of law for
during combat, all soldiers must follow the
principles in the Law of Armed Conflict, which
are founded on the concepts of proportionality
and military necessity.
IN MEMORY OF THE FALLEN - 27 - AND THE FUTURE OF THE LIVING