The Gurkhas are soldiers from Nepal who volunteer for the British army. Presently they are serving in Afghanistan. They are the bravest of the brave, and over the years have done wonderful service. The roll-call of Gurkhas who have won the Victoria Cross, the highest award for bravery, is awe-inspiring. A traditional weapon of theirs is the kukri, a curved short sword. It is said that the sound of Gurkhas sharpening their kukris was enough to frighten the Japanese in the Second World War.
It so happened recently that some Gurkhas were discriminated against by foolish paper-shufflers in Whitehall, and told they were not eligible to live in England. Uproar followed. There was a mass campaign. The Gurkhas were then treated properly, and Gordon Brown was forced to apologize for the unfairness. It was a big step in the disintegration of his government.
Gurkha battalions have British officers, and they are among the best in the army, too. One of them was Major James Bowman. A renegade Afghan policeman entered the Gurkha barracks and shot Major Bowman dead in his sleep. Now we learn that, at the same time, the Gurkhas were in action in Helmand, in pursuit of a top Taliban commander. Under heavy fire, they killed him. Orders were to establish the commander’s identity. It was too dangerous to drag him out while still engaged with the Taliban, so a Gurkha cut his head off with his kukri. Quick thinking, you may say.
This man ought to be promoted. Instead, he has been recalled to Britain and may face court-martial and jail. The foolish paper-shufflers are at it again. The story goes that by cutting off the commander’s head, the Gurkha has offended Muslims, on the grounds that their custom is to bury bodies whole. What nonsense this is, what an example of the self-abasement now habitual whenever we come up against Islam in any shape or form. And the renegade Afghan policeman who shot Major Bowman in his sleep wasn’t giving offense? If this Gurkha is indeed prosecuted, another mass campaign will start, and it may be a step in the disintegration of the Cameron government.
David,
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseBecause of your article (posted on Michael Yon's Facebook site), I signed up to comment. Because of your article, I will leave a comment at Number 10 with a link to this article. Perhaps you should have put the last sentence at the beginning of the article. I am looking for a petition to stop this injustice. Please let us know if you find one.
Thank you!
Howdy,
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThis sounds like typical British Colonial racism rearing its ugly head again in an effort to assuage misplaced guilt disguised as "sensitivity to Muslims."
That brave Gurkha warrior was doing his duty in circumstances not one single panties-in-a-wad goofy bureaucrat would ever consider doing.
Besides that, there is not one iota of logic in saying cutting off a dead Islamic terrorist's head for ID is more vicious or defiling than using cluster bombs to blow as many terrorist Muslims to smithereens (the more, the merrier) as possible.
{Let those dead terrorists meet up with the 70 Virginians, starting with George Washington on down to Stonewall Jackson and ending up with George Patton. They'll wish they had spent their time playing croquet instead.}
If your new PM over there has the sense God gave a goose, he'll intervene to drop those charges, have the Gurkha over for tea and give the chap a medal, as he's certainly earned one. He made a hard choice in a very hard set of circumstances. I imagine he'll be reminded of beheading that dead terrorist every day for the rest of his life. I hope he knows that there are millions of us who appreciate him, his associates and their service.