UK defence secy Wallace chides Prince Harry for ‘boasting’ about killings in Afghanistan

UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace on Thursday expressed discontentment about Britain's Prince Harry boasting about the number of Taliban fighters he killed during his deployment in Afghanistan. “Boasting about tallies” lets down others in the armed forces, Wallace noted, speaking to British radio station LBC on Feb. 23. Wallace stressed that he did not agree with the Duke of Sussex’s decision to reveal such intricate details about the foreign military operations of the Royal Armed Forces, and his so-called giving out the "body count" while he served in Afghanistan. 

UK Defense Secretary Wallace said that “every veteran makes their own choices about what they want to talk about,” but “the armed forces is not about a tally.” He furthermore added that “boasting about tallies, or talking about tallies … distorts the fact that the army is a team game."  

'Neither proud nor ashamed': Harry 

In his much-talked-about memoir 'Spare', Harry revealed that he had killed 25 people in Afghanistan during his two tours as an Apache helicopter pilot in Britain’s Army Air Corps between 2007-2008 and 2012-2013. The Duke of Sussex revealed that he had gunned down the Taliban fighters while on military duty as a forward air controller. Harry appeared to justify the killings, saying that the 9/11 attack in the United States left him encouraged to eradicate these people, right after he had met with the victims' grieving families.

Harry claimed he flew on six missions in Afghanistan, which resulted in “the taking of human lives," adding that he was "neither proud nor ashamed" of his actions. “So, my number: Twenty-five. It wasn’t a number that gave me any satisfaction. But neither was it a number that made me feel ashamed,” Harry wrote. His comments attracted a widespread backlash among the UK's veterans and active duty service members. They were made at a crucial time as Britain's Defense Ministry announced a statutory judge-led probe into the allegations that the SAS soldiers carried out unlawful killings of civilians during their deployment. 

Major General Chapman of the UK Army had also earlier criticized the Duke of Sussex, saying that he broke "at least four values ​​of the military. "We have a code of conduct," said Maj Gen Chapman. "It's the values and standards of the military. He's broken at least four of those values. That includes respect for others, integrity, loyalty, and selfless commitment. For him, who wants privacy and security, he's just opened himself up to every jihadist and nutcase out there," said Chapman.