British Army Tries "Tolerance" Campaign, Military Expert Has Brutal Reality
A British military recruitment ad that attempts to bring Muslim recruits into the fold is getting a lot of attention — and not all of it is positive.
The ad, which was posted on Facebook by Britain’s Army Jobs on Saturday, had been viewed over 319,000 times as of Monday night.
The ad, called “The Prayer,” begins with several troops out in the field. A Muslim soldier begins removing his gear and then does the ritual ablutions for prayer in a brook as his comrades look on.
As he prays, radio communications are silenced out of respect for the soldier. The video closes with the other troops seeming to congratulate their comrade for praying, with the text “Keeping My Faith” and “This is Belonging” overlaid.
Tolerance and social engineering have been big things in militaries in the Western world as of late. There’s nothing necessarily wrong with that, at least when said initiatives don’t affect military readiness in any way.
However, we had Conservative Tribune’s own military expert, Jared Harris, take a look at the video. While it’s just an advertisement, he noticed several things about “The Prayer” that should raise red flags for anyone in any military.
Harris, a former infantryman, began his criticism by raising questions about the frequency of the Islamic prayer routine.
“Do they have to cease their patrol five times a day?” Harris said. “A predictable routine is a recipe for an ambush.” Harris said that there was “absolutely no security. Every time a patrol stops for more than a few seconds, they are supposed to start rigging and digging — making a hasty fighting position so they can defend themselves if attacked.
“With that lineup they take while their comrade is praying, they’re one machine gun burst away from being a six-man casualty,” he added.
Harris also noted that where the ablutions and prayer took place was a recipe for disaster.
“They stop by a terrain feature,” Harris noted. “Any dug-in mortar crew will have every noticeable location or hazards mapped on a range card. Stopping by a terrain feature eliminates the enemy’s need to guess. They can put a round directly on your team. Streams can also be muddy and tough to cross, slowing down people trying to get to the other side.”
And it’s not just the Muslim soldier putting his comrades at risk. He’s also putting himself in grave danger by taking off his boots, helmet and weapon.
“There’s a reason you don’t take your helmet off outside the wire (base camp),” Harris said. “If they take incoming fire, he’s virtually a guaranteed casualty.”
Harris also noted how “radio communications are silenced and unanswered while he is praying to show ‘respect.’
“You need to hear everything that comes through the radio,” Harris emphasized. “No exception. The transmission you miss could be the one with information you need.”
Of course, we again stress this is just an advertisement. However, it’s an advertisement that creates the expectation that Muslim troops will be able to serve without any interruption to their religious routine. This is patently absurd for all of the reasons listed above. It’s not only misleading, it demonstrates the most misguided excesses of diversity initiatives.
Let’s hope — for the sake of all of Britain’s soldiers, especially those of the Muslim faith — that what we saw in this video would never be duplicated out in the field.
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