army paratroopers shoot at jeremy corbyn
Britain's Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn (Stefan Rousseau/Pool Photo via AP)

Did anyone ask if the paratroopers are Jewish?

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s military said Wednesday it was investigating “totally unacceptable behavior” by some of its soldiers after they were filmed apparently using a picture of Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn for target practice.

Footage posted on social media showed members of the Parachute Regiment in Afghanistan shooting at an image of Corbyn, Britain’s main opposition leader.

Corbyn, a veteran socialist, has often been critical of British military campaigns overseas.

Brig. Nick Perry, commander of 16 Air Assault Brigade, said “the video shows totally unacceptable behavior and a serious error of judgment that falls far below what we expect of soldiers in our brigade.”

He said the video was being “fully investigated.”

“The army is and always will be a totally apolitical organization,” he said.

The brigade has 400 troops in Afghanistan as part of a NATO deployment to train Afghan forces.

Labour defense spokeswoman Nia Griffith tweeted that the video was “shocking and completely unacceptable.” She said it was “right that the Army is carrying out a full investigation.”

Conservative lawmaker Tom Tugendhat, a former soldier, said the video was “disgraceful.”

British politicians have reported increased threats and fears for their safety amid heightened tensions over Brexit.

Last month, a man angry about Brexit was sentenced to 28 days in prison for hitting Corbyn with an egg.

In 2016, Labour lawmaker Jo Cox was murdered by a far-right extremist. A neo-Nazi was recently convicted of plotting to kill another Labour legislator.

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43 COMMENTS

    • Doubtful. The British people are a far cry from their former selves and serve as a warning to all of us here. Britain even allows its soldiers to be prosecuted by the EU for conduct that’s entirely reasonable in war. One of the key issues of Brexit was this and returning to the concept of crown immunity for the military. Though I doubt even if Brexit (and that’s a big if now), happens Britain will return to that concept.

        • I’m not saying they should, I’m just pointing out that as an example. I agree that Crown Immunity would be a bad idea. If you like many here think American police get away with murder, a hypothetical return to such an imperialist system would make that look like child’s play. However on the opposite end of spectrum, allowing your own nations soldiers to be punished by foreign nations, simply by going to war as ordered, is a crime in and of itself. And in the EU it is getting that far, to where they want to prosecute British soldiers simply for being in Iraq.

      • Look, I knew a lot of Brits who thought we were going down the tubes by voting for Obama. And they were right. And I knew even more Chinese who said to me,”I left China to get away from the communists and now you people elect one. What the hell is wrong with you people?”

  2. Would it be “unacceptable” to replace a picture of a socialist with a real socialist?

      • “I have a case of unlicenced extra-large eggs…and, I know how to use them!”
        (MI5 Threat Level Classification = Critical – an attack is expected imminently)

        By Brit legal standards a case of eggs (360 eggs) @ 28 days penal servitude each would equal a bit over 27.6 years of incarceration…unless there are exacerbating charges for that quantity of eggs qualifying as an unregistered Armory…then the penalty is increased substantially…get the Old Bailey and the axeman ready.

        This message has been brought to you courtesy of The Ministry of Silly Walks.

  4. Boy some people just have no sense of humour.
    Ive used pictures of Bin Laden in the past and have been asked for one to use. Ive also used Holders and even Prez Obslamas picture and folks have laughed at them.
    Its not like one was using a picture of Christ
    Although that wouldnt offend me if someone did.

    • Good thing they didn’t use a picture of mohamed . They would probably get jail for that.

    • Tried using the Obsama targets. The big ears were so distracting that’s all I could hit. Switched to Swilary but had to shoot at the back of it’s head. Damn that bitch is U G L Y.

    • Jay, with the witch hunts that are going on in America right now I wouldn’t admit that I was using Obama’s and Holder’s picture for target practice. Your just libel to get on the government’s radar and those people won’t be taking it as a joke.

      • If you own a registered firearm. Have a firearms/CCW permit you are already on the only list that THE Tyrannical WING OF Our Government Needs. Keep Your Powder Dry.

    • I wouldn’t publicly use a pictured target of any government official at a range, ever. That’s just asking for a load of legal trouble. Especially not a president. That’s a way to get a visit from the secret service rather quickly.

    • always liked the one of the black guy running with the television set…still have some of those around here someplace….

  5. No one has addressed what I believe to be the most important issue – How well did the Para’s shoot?

    • Not that well at all. I saw the video posted on Instagram by username @AliBunkallSKY. Not the level of marksmanship I would expect.

  6. “You got a license for that egg, mate?” Seriously England, 28 days for an eggsault, what the hell.

    • They don’t seem terribly dangerous, but look what an egg can do to the paint on a car and you begin to understand that they hit like a rock before disintegrating.

  7. Meanwhile, here in the good ol’ USA, a military person must be careful what he/she says about senior public officials (the President, state governors and the like), since any disrespectful speech or actions (such as using their image for target practise) would be a violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice and could land a violator in the Leavenworth Disciplinary Barracks to contemplate how politically correct they should have been to serve and potentially die for their country.

    BTW, I hope the Paras got lots of X’s when they shot up that photo. The UK’s labor/socialists are a bunch of snivelers, just like our Dem/Liberal/Progressive crybabies. When I go target shooting, I don’t use a photo of my ex for target practise, but I do visualize her face on the target – it improves my accuracy.

    • While I’m quietly laughing about this story, I really don’t think it’s too much to ask that members of a military – ours or anyone else’s – exhibit professionalism and discipline, and that they be reprimanded when they don’t.

  9. Well it seems in the land of no civilian gun ownership, low and behold, the government still does indeed have the only, full auto weapons. How about that!

    So only the government needs to have semi-auto weapons? So only the government needs to have fully automatic weapons?

    And we sent thousands of arms to the English during World War II. Because they didn’t have any guns in the first place, they confiscated them. And they we’re afraid the Germans were going to invade.

    I understand that at the end of World War II the British government tossed all those weapons into the ocean.

  11. I followed a group of WV national guard onto a range way back when. Jay Rockerfella had just moved to WV, switched parties and bought the governors mansion. The targets they used?

    Campaign posters of jay and his wife, sharon. The majority of the hits were on her breasts.

  12. Jewish paratroopers? I call either cognitive dissonance or poor editing. What’s up with that. F-K-A.

  13. TT!! Maybe they should his photo silkscreened to the seat of their pants. Or the soles of their boots.

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