Yahoo News Marine A case has dented the confidence of troops on the battlefield, comrade says
The Marine A case has dented the confidence of troops on the battlefield and the Ministry of Defence must now work to restore the trust of soldiers, one of his comrades has said.
Sergeant Rob Driscoll, who was leading a nearby patrol when Sergeant Alexander Blackman, 42, shot a wounded Taliban insurgent, said he he did not understand why the Marine had been "so badly treated".
He made the comments as Blackman prepares to be sentenced on Friday for diminished responsibility manslaughter after his murder conviction for shooting the Taliban fighter in Afghanistan was quashed.
If the new sentence is below six and a half years, he will be released immediately on the basis of the three and a half years he has already been in prison.
Sgt Driscoll said he hoped there would be "common sense" applied to the sentencing.
He said: "I genuinely don't think that it ever should have happened.
"I just don't understand why he has been so badly treated and I am anxious to see how he will be treated now.
He added: "I think that it has all had a really significant impact on efficiency of our Armed Forces. There are young lads still in the Marines that will have these considerations to make and I am not sure how that will effect our operational capability.
"The damage has already been done and I think that the MoD has a duty, society has a duty, and Parliament has a duty toward the Armed Forces and that needs to be addressed.
"It is really important now because soldiers of today are very different to the soldiers of yesterday. Half of the people in my unit had degrees, they are thinking soldiers, they are intelligent people and the whole thought process is different to my grandfather's era when they did it for Queen and country.
"You undermine their trust in the system and that has an impact on efficiency. That's the next conversation that that everyone needs to be having - we need to combat the mistrust in the system.
"I see it in the police, I see it in the special forces and I see it in the conventional army and that undermines everything.
Marine A, Sgt Alexander Blackman, in pictures
"We all want Al to get out, but then we have to look at how we motivate our young men and women to go to war again.
"Do we want these guys and girls to be on the front line thinking 'I don't want to take this shot because of what might happen'?"
