Findings of Brereton s SAS inquiry should be tested in court
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In terms of risk, few contracts are more unequal than the one between a nation s government and the soldiers it sends abroad to fight its wars. It is one of the reasons our society has devoted such resources and public space to commemoration of those soldiers sacrifice.
But it is also one of the reasons that it has always been difficult for us to accept the idea of war crimes, which are based on the laws of war, which in turn say that those we have determined to be our enemies and the foreigners they live among are owed some consideration from those we send to fight them, even as that deadly fight continues.
Courts are the place to test Brereton s SAS report
Editorial
Normal text size
Advertisement
In terms of risk, few contracts are more unequal than the one between a nation s government and the soldiers it sends abroad to fight its wars. It is one of the reasons our society has devoted such resources and public space to commemoration of those soldiers sacrifices.
But it is also one of the reasons that it has always been difficult for us to accept the idea of war crimes, which are based on the laws of war, which in turn say that those we have determined to be our enemies and the foreigners they live among are owed some consideration from those we send to fight them, even as that deadly fight continues.
Call for royal commission into alleged Afghanistan war crimes
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Call for royal commission into alleged Afghanistan war crimes
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A former head of the defence force is backing a call for a royal commission or its equivalent to further probe the findings of the recently released Brereton report on war crimes allegedly committed by some Australian special forces in Afghanistan.
Admiral Chris Barrie is querying the report’s conclusion that “responsibility and accountability [for the alleged crimes] does not extend to higher headquarters”.
Former chief of the defence force, Admiral Chris Barrie, in Canberra.
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by Ally Foster 16th Dec 2020 11:36 AM One of Australia s top special forces soldiers has stood down after a shocking photo emerged of him drinking from a prosthetic leg belonging to a dead Afghan man. Warrant Officer John Letch, Command Sergeant Major of Special Operations Command, has stepped down from his duties and is now considering his options following the photo controversy, according to The publication also revealed former Special Air Service Regiment and Special Operations Task Group commander Jono Beesley has stepped down following the publication of the Brereton Report. A pixelated photo of Warrant Officer Letch drinking out of the fake leg of a dead man in Afghanistan was published by