Rupert Everett apologises for calling troops "wimps"
Rupert Everett has apologised for his remarks
Tuesday, 10, Jun 2008 03:53
British actor Rupert Everett has been forced to apologise after describing soldiers as "wimps" who are "always whining about the dangers of being killed".
In an interview with the Sunday Telegraph, Everett claimed, "It's pathetic. The whole point of being in the army is wanting to get killed."
However, the actor today backtracked and apologised for his comments, especially for talking "flippantly" about torture.
Everett claimed his comments were intended for the "many in this country - and hundreds and thousands of others across the world - who have lost their brothers and sisters, their fathers and mothers to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and all the countless others".
He said he was trying to highlight that "we still go to war, but actually we haven't the stomach for it".
"My flippant and irresponsible behaviour arises from a deep frustration at the fact that we seem to be continually making war, dreaming up new ones, instead of doing everything we can to avoid them," the actor said.
Everett's original comments were published on the day three British soldiers were killed in a suicide attack while out on foot patrol in the Helmand province of Afghanistan.
The deaths took the total number of British personnel killed in Afghanistan since 2001 to 100.