DESPICABLE BETRAYAL OF AN SAS HERO
MoD censor soldier’s account of ‘mercy killing’ in Iraq War ...then report him to police and hang him out to dry
AN SAS hero is facing murder charges after the Ministry of Defence launched an investigation into his ‘mercy killing’ of Iraqi soldiers 13 years ago.
Sergeant Colin Maclachlan, who starred in the Channel 4 series Who Dares Wins, could be jailed after he admitted shooting dead ‘two or three’ mortally wounded Iraqi troops during a bloody ambush behind enemy lines. The Scottish war hero, 42, who has a record of selfless courage on covert Special Forces operations, is being investigated by military police after
revealing harrowing details of the 2003 battle in a new book.
The Mail on Sunday can reveal that he was coldly informed of the police inquiry in an email from MoD officials last week. Maclachlan, who left the SAS and the Army in 2006, says he has not been offered any support or legal advice by either the MoD or his former regiment.
Last night, devastated Mr Maclachlan, from Edinburgh, insisted to The Mail on Sunday that ending the lives of the ‘horrifically wounded’ Iraqis had been purely an act of mercy and spoke of his shock that he is under investigation and possibly facing a lengthy prison sentence.
The MoD has confirmed it has launched an inquiry, but refused to reveal further details.
Executing badly wounded enemy troops on the battlefield, even when intended as a ‘mercy killing’, is illegal under UK military law and is a breach of international treaties such as the Geneva Convention.
But last night Maclachlan defended his actions, saying: ‘Our motives were entirely humane. I’ll happily go to court, I’ll happily go to jail, if you think I’ve done wrong. But people should put themselves in my position first. Walk around in my boots, then judge me.’
The Mail on Sunday understands that the inquiry is being carried out
‘Walk in my boots before you judge me’
by the Special Investigation Branch (SIB) of the Royal Military Police.
Detectives were alerted after MoD officials were given an early manuscript of Maclachlan’s book SAS Who Dares Wins: Leadership Secrets From The Special Forces, in which he described the moral dilemma he faced between ending the suffering of the Iraqi casualties or leaving them to writhe in agony.
The passage detailed the human carnage following a top-secret mission to eliminate enemy troops near the town of Al Qaim, just 20 miles from the Syrian border, in the early days of the 2003 Iraq War. In the chapter, which the MoD ordered to be censored, he wrote: ‘When we got there, I could see there were a number of seriously injured soldiers. Many of them had lost limbs. One or two had been disembowelled, but they were still alive. Special Forces operatives quickly put them out of their misery, rather than leaving them to die slowly and in agony.’
Later in the same section he admits that he was one of those who shot dead the wounded Iraqis, writing: ‘I didn’t enjoy killing those soldiers at the checkpoint but I had to put them out of their misery. I didn’t want them to suffer any more.’
He went on to describe how medical kit was in short supply and he had to decide whether to preserve vital medicine and equipment or treat the wounded Iraqis.
He wrote: ‘It was awful. The Iraqis [pro-British militia working alongside the SAS] could see our struggle as we tried to help enemy soldiers who were screaming, bleeding out and dying slowly. Our Iraqi allies told us they understood the dilemma; they realised our mercy killings were for the greater good.’
The Mail on Sunday understands the MoD was first made aware of the passage about six weeks ago but only told Maclachlan of the police inquiry on Tuesday evening last week.
One of the Army’s most senior legal officials, Lieutenant Colonel Alan Nurse, was also notified of the inquiry. Astonishingly, such a serious matter was mentioned only in passing in an email about other publishing matters. The message offered Maclachlan no advice on what he should do next or any support.
Last night Maclachlan, who was captured and tortured during an SAS mission in Iraq in 2005, said: ‘I’m not playing the victim card for a second, but after what I went through there wasn’t anyone or any lawyer going after my captors.
‘And afterwards I accepted that as being part of war, par for the course. But everyone in our military, myself included, is held accountable for anything which the ambulancechasing lawyers can define as a war crime.’
The police investigation into Maclachlan will also fuel growing anger over the hounding of British war veterans over incidents which took place in the line of duty in Iraq, Afghanistan and Northern Ireland. Almost 300 UK troops have been contacted by investigators probing ‘war crimes’, including a major and two soldiers facing prosecution over the drowning of a 15-year-old Iraqi boy, even though they were cleared at a court martial in 2006.
Last month Theresa May ordered sweeping changes to stop the ‘industry of vexatious allegations’ targeting British troops. But these changes