A former officer with the Army's Special Air Service (SAS) has denied the unit was involved in "shoot-to-kill" missions against the IRA during the Troubles in Northern Ireland. George Simm, who served during the 1970s and 80s, stated that while soldiers "shoot to kill" when necessary, the "inference from our detractors using propaganda was that you went out there with the full intent to kill, we didn't."
Simm has remained silent about his experiences for nearly five decades but has now spoken out to criticize the government's proposed Troubles Bill, which he believes abandons veterans.
He served in hundreds of operations, including an SAS ambush in 1988 that resulted in the deaths of three IRA members. Describing the incident, Simm said he posed as a broken-down lorry driver. The IRA men, who were planning to kill an off-duty UDR man, approached in a car and opened fire on his position. Simm stated that the soldiers returned fire after one of the IRA men approached the truck intending to kill him, and that the entire engagement lasted only seconds.
Families of the three men killed in the 1988 ambush have previously asserted it was a "shoot-to-kill operation" and that the men could have been arrested, as the Army reportedly had prior knowledge of them being armed.
Simm challenged this narrative, stating, "When you shoot you shoot to kill but the inference from our detractors using propaganda was that you went out there with the full intent to kill, we didn't." He added that evidence has consistently proven the opposite and called the claims "just propaganda." He criticized the British government's handling of the legacy of the conflict, describing it as "weakness and pathetic."
The Northern Ireland Office maintains that the Troubles Bill includes "effective safeguards" for veterans and makes clear that there is no equivalence between the lawful conduct of soldiers and the actions of terrorists. The legislation aims to address the unresolved legacy of the conflict and includes provisions for a legacy commission, an information recovery body, and a unit within An Garda Síochána.
Simm expressed frustration that the narrative surrounding the SAS and the British Army has been "so perverted, so corrupted by stupid politics and the corruption of the legal process." He is speaking out to ensure the truth about operations is understood, as he feels veterans are censored by the Ministry of Defence.
He also commented on the IRA, suggesting that the organization has shifted its tactics from armed conflict to digital warfare, stating, "They've all put away their weapons in the deep hides and they've all got laptops now and they are all social media warriors doing the same thing but we have to continue to fight, but we need to sort the law out first."