Mark Urban, BBC correspondent, writing in his book about SAS operations in Iraq:
“…in a UK context, for example, there are obvious political and legal reasons why the SAS could not have adopted a similar strategy against the Irish Republicans in the 1980’s. While applying Iraqi levels of force to the Irish counter-terrorism scene would have caused national uproar…”
So Mark Urban, establishment reporter, Newsnight reporter, brazenly admits that the British armed forces did things in Iraq that would be considered illegal if done in the UK.
He is even more specific about the legality issue when he writes:
“The story that emerged [in Iraq] was a quite remarkable one of high risks and extreme violence. In this sense Iraq presented a completely different arena from Northern Ireland where considerations such as the legality of the use of force ranked much higher.’
The moral for political activists and opponents of capitalism is quite clear – there are virtually no limits on what the ruling class will do to hold on to power and exercise their control over society. The only limit is what they can get away with.