(no subject)

The death of Lance Corporal Jabron Hashmi, the first British Muslim soldier killed in Afghanistan, has been deemed an unlawful killing.

The soldier, aged 24, who was from Bordesley Green in Birmingham, died along with his colleague, Corporal Peter Thorpe, from Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, when a [Taliban] rocket struck their compound in Sangin, Helmand province on July 1st 2006.

Oxford coroners court heard that the two men, both serving with the intelligence corps, were supposed to be wearing body armour yet neither were properly prepared when the building was hit and shrapnel showered the soldiers inside the building.

Mr Walker said the episode highlighted “failings in the chain of command”, although he ruled the incident was “little short of murder”. [InTheNews]

A representative from the army then took Mr Walker aside and explained to him the concept of “war”. Proceedings were delayed for the duration of his moving demonstration to the clearly stunned coroner that included diagrams, excerpts from the writings of Sun Tzu, Julius Caesar and Niccolo Machiavelli, graphic footage from 20th century wars and even a brief digression on studies of violent behaviour among apes in the wild. A dazed and somewhat tearful Mr Walker then announced that he was going to have to think things through, and adjourned the inquest.