Scott Morrison warned us that we would be shocked by the Brereton report on alleged war crimes and this is one promise he has kept.
The Aussie diggers are revered figures, the epitome of the quintessential national virtue of mateship. But now we learn there is credible evidence that some 19 have cold-bloodedly murdered at least 39 unarmed Afghan prisoners, farmers and other civilians, and then conspired to cover up their crimes.
How could this happen? Well, all too easily, according to Justice Paul Brereton and his team of forensic sleuths. The Australian Defence Force, and more particularly the Special Air Services Regiment, had simply lost control.
It had fallen into a self -centred warrior culture based on status, power and competitiveness. Short cuts became common, and then rules deliberately broken. And once the law had been swept aside, it was open slather.
Perhaps the most appalling example was the practice of blooding, presumably adopted from the barbaric English pastime of fox hunting, where naïve young initiates were urged or even ordered to make their first kills to emulate their already criminalised more senior comrades.
This is the kind of primitive savagery which was supposed to be wiped out by the Geneva Conventions on the rules of war, but has been constantly eroded by successive conflicts, some undeclared, and many more concealed through propaganda campaigns based on secrecy and lies.
We knew at least some of what went on in Vietnam and in Iraq where torture and atrocities were condoned, mainly by the Americans but at times with the connivance of their allies, including Australians.
It seems a kind of death wish was involved – killing was not only acceptable but celebrated, and beneath it a belief that it would be better to go out in ablaze of glory than walk away from the thrill of the slaughter.
This, of course, is the attitude that wins Victoria Crosses – there is always a large element of recklessness in the sort of courage that leads to unimaginable peril. And it is why we are so ready to forgive the occasional oversight. This is in no sense an excuse, but at least part of the explanation of how, from whichever angle you look at it, war is hell.
But this time it has gone much further and too far. The ADF chief General Angus Campbell has drawn a heavy line, apologizing to Afghans and Australians alike, promising repentance, reparation and recompense and when the investigation is completed,, retribution.
It will take more than the odd press conference to renew the once honourable reputation of our diggers – who, Campbell rightly says, are just as horrified as the rest of us at what has been revealed and the tarnishing of their prized names.
So it is to the credit of the ADF and the SAS, and to the media, the whistleblowers and all the investigators, and yes, to the politicians, that the disasters have been confronted openly and firmly, and there is a determination to deal with it. The swamp has not yet been drained, but a genuine start has been made.
And for this, at least, Australians can be justly proud.
Mungo MacCallum is a veteran political journalist and commentator. His books include Run Johnny Run, Poll Dancing, and Punch and Judy.
mungomccallum@staging-johnmenadue.kinsta.cloud
Comments
9 responses to “We were warned about the Brererton report – it is still shocking”
Equating VCs with “the thrill of the slaughter” is a little over the top.
In Vietnam, Wheatley refused to leave a wounded comrade: “He had the clear choice of abandoning a wounded comrade and saving himself by escaping through the dense timber or of staying with Warrant Officer Swanton and thereby facing certain death. He deliberately chose the latter course”.
Nor was Keith Payne’s: “Payne, by now wounded in the hands and arms and under heavy fire, covered the withdrawal before organising his troops into a defensive perimeter. He then spent three hours scouring the scene of the day’s fight for isolated and wounded soldiers, all the while evading the enemy who kept up regular fire. He found some forty wounded men, brought some in himself and organised the rescue of the others, leading the party back to base through enemy dominated terrain.”
In Afghanistan,
Daniel Keighran’s was to protect a wounded comrade (amongst other actions): “During one of these occasions when his patrol sustained a casualty, again on his own initiative and in an act of exceptional courage, he moved from his position of cover to deliberately draw fire away from the team who were treating the casualty.
Nor was Mark Donaldson’s: “Donaldson was a member of the Special Air Service Regiment (SASR) when he exposed himself to enemy fire to protect injured troops and then rescued an interpreter under heavy enemy fire in the Battle of Khaz Oruzgan during Operation Slipper, ”
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[Declaration: I have not served in the ADF and have no friends serving in it]
Individuals in war commit atrocities. In the case of blooding, an unarmed prisoner loses his life and a soldier’s moral status is irretrievably compromised and diminished. And all this is done with the backing of state power and authority. Words seem inadequate to capture just how appalling all this is. Yet now it seems, the individuals in question may be charged with ‘crimes’, while the state power that looks the other way while atrocities are being committed, tries once again to wash its hands of responsibility and guilt. I hear a rising gabble of voices seeking to explain, rationalise and justify what has happened, but there really are no excuses, and no palliative words or phrases can assuage the collective guilt we all share.
“It had fallen into a self -centred warrior culture based on status, power and competitiveness. ” Sounds like the way LNP governs at the state and federal levels especially where those down on their luck and koalas are involved.
“and for this Australians can be justly proud” Are you serious? The entire war crimes matter is a false flag to distract public debate away from the far more serious crime of Australia’s violent war of aggression against a nation that had shown no animosity toward Australia. Parliamentarians and senior ADF personnel are guilty of a violent war of aggression that since October 2001 has laid to waste a nation already racked by the terror of the US directed mujahideen (proxy militia from outside Afghanistan) that sort to overthrow consecutive governments that the US opposed. Indeed the media in its silence on this situation and indeed its support for the war is complicit and as equally guilty.
Well written.
We can be proud of confronting this appalling outrage. Here in Indonesia an estimated half-million
citizens considered communist or sympathisers were slaughtered in 1965 and 66. The official line claimed the
killings were spontaneous acts of fury following an alleged Communist coup. Now thanks to outstanding research by Australian academic Jess Melvin we know the army was responsible. Regular calls for an open inquiry are rejected and HR activists slandered as covert Reds. The nation remains morally crippled by its
refusal to confront the military and the past.
Through the Defence Signals Directorate, Commonwealth of Australia had full knowledge of the entire situation, and through ADF financing and training of Kopassus, is complicit.
One of those whistleblowers is facing criminal charges. Why haven’t these charges been dropped immediately. Surely his actions have been more than vindicated.
On a recent visit to Canberra, I took an Uber from the national museum back to my hotel. During the ride the driver and I engaged in the usual chit-chat when there are only two in the car.
“First time in Canberra?”
“Yes.”
“How do you like it?”
“I wish I had more time. That’s a great museum you have there.”
“Have you visited the War Memorial?”
“No. I detest the glorification of war.”
No more chit-chat.