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The Forum > Article Comments > Elite atrocities: Australia's Special Forces in Afghanistan > Comments

Elite atrocities: Australia's Special Forces in Afghanistan : Comments

By Binoy Kampmark, published 11/6/2018

Bensouda concluded 'that all legal criteria required under the Rome statute [of the ICC] to commence an investigation have been met'.

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Firstly we are in Afghanistan purely to bolster our relationship with the US. The Afghanistan people, even the Taliban do not have the reach, resources, nor inclination to do any harm to Australia. A two tour soldier I spoke with admits that those trying to do him harm just wanted the invaders out of his country, something he felt quite in sympathy with if the shoe had been on the other foot.

Secondly SAS soldiers are operating in our name. There were more than a few times Australian pilots refused orders given by the US command because of unacceptable risks to civilians. The SAS should be held to a similar standard. If any of them slip the leash and commit unacceptable acts then they should be appropriately dealt with, removed from service if needed.

There are those in our society, media, and particularly on this forum who are so utterly cowardly that they would accept indiscriminate killings and torture if it made them feel a little less fearful. They are the true disgrace in this equation.
Posted by SteeleRedux, Monday, 11 June 2018 8:56:29 PM
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Wow! Steely spoke to an SAS soldier & now knows all about it!

What a waste of space.
Posted by Hasbeen, Monday, 11 June 2018 9:15:29 PM
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Dear Hasbeen,

How's it going old salt? Here's the usual tip mate, try and read posts before you comment. No where did I say the person I spoke to was SAS.

Now what is your beef exactly? Oh yeh, that's right, you don't want any one in our armed services criticised unless it is by one of their own. Wonder how that would work out.

Now I can do little to calm your terror mate except to say condoning or even celebrating torture and extra-judicial killings aren't going to help no matter what you think. The only thing that will is for you to hop back aboard the yacht of yours and make yourself scarce again. We will send a message when we think it is safe for you to return.

Or maybe we won't.
Posted by SteeleRedux, Monday, 11 June 2018 10:24:56 PM
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The question that should be asked, is "What the Hell are we doing there in the first place?" We went in there under false pretenses, we reamain there just to appease our U.S. masters. These people have a right to run their own country without interference from outside. They should be allowed to go back to their tribal existence and our people should all come home. In Afghanistan, the Talibsn are just as legitimate as any other local group.

David
Posted by VK3AUU, Tuesday, 12 June 2018 8:50:38 AM
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To some extent, I agree with Steele Redux in that there are rules of engagement, and they need to be adhered to, and where the high-level commanders have misjudged a situation perhaps through insufficient information, it is the responsibility of the man on the ground. Deliberate killing of civilians or prisoners is not allowed under any circumstances and civilian casualties must be minimised.

On the flip side, given that many Taliban combatants deliberately mingle with civilians to hide, this makes civilian casualties impossible to avoid entirely.

Those who deliberately kill civilians or prisoners need to be punished.
Posted by Shadow Minister, Tuesday, 12 June 2018 12:38:40 PM
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The whole mess in the Middle East is an atrocity. We should not be there. Meanwhile, when you take young inexperienced men full of testosterone and belittle the compassion and soul in them, train them to be killers, unleash them in a hellzone where gratuitous violence is a normal day, THEN you have set the standard expected and have no right to complain about what happens when your creation can't stop being human. Worse is when the traumatised soldier is dumped back into society where he is expected to pick up where he left off.

Oh, and by the way - they are NOT there fighting for our freedom. We already have that.
Posted by HereNow, Tuesday, 12 June 2018 4:46:21 PM
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