RAF pilots asked to consider suicide missions

[American Patriot]

RAF pilots asked to consider suicide missions

By staff writers

April 03, 2007 10:31am


A SENIOR British air force officer has asked his fighter pilots if they would fly suicide missions as a last resort to stop terrorists.

Air Vice-Marshal David Walker put forward the last-ditch scenario at a conference for air crews, the Ministry of Defence said, according to the Sun newspaper.

According to tabloid, he said: "Would you think it unreasonable if I ordered you to fly your aircraft into the ground in order to destroy a vehicle carrying a Taliban or al-Qaeda commander?"

A ministry spokesman said Air Vice-Marshal Walker did not say he would order his crews on suicide missions.

"As part of a training exercise, he wanted them to think about how they, and their commanders, would react, faced with a life and death decision of the most extreme sort - for example terrorists trying to fly an aircraft into a British city being followed by an RAF fighter which suffers weapons failure," the spokesman said.

"These are decisions which, however unlikely and dreadful, service people may have to make and it is one of many reasons why the British people hold them in such high esteem."

[American Patriot]

IF someone ORDERED me to do something like that, I'd probably not do it. However, were I in the situation where I had to make a split-second decision on giving my own life to stop some bad guys from killing hundreds or thousands, that would be MY final, personal decision that I would make myself.

I would NOT let someone TELL me to do it or order me to do it. It would not be their decision, ultimately, but it would be mine to make.

If I were the commander, I would NEVER ask someone to do such a thing. EVER.

[Malsua]

This brings back the discussions that went around after 9.11. The first set of fighters were unarmed. I suppose they could have aimed at the commercial jets and then ejected since they didn't have missiles. I seem to recall that in an Interview Cheney discussed exactly that. He said something to the effect "I considered giving the order to take down those jets by any means". Considering the fighters were unarmed, I can't think of another way.

[Ryan Ruck]

If I recall correctly, there was an interview with one pilot of one of those unarmed F-16s in which he said he was ready to ram an airliner.

A completely shameful state for our national air defense, by the way.

All I can say is, good thing these were invented: