Captain Andrew Hastie, 32, has revealed in his first public speech to the WA Liberal Party that he ordered the investigation into his own troops and was personally cleared of any wrongdoing.

“It is true as reported that I wasn’t at the scene of the incident when it happened. I was in fact above and away in a helicopter orbiting overhead,’’ he said.

“When I became aware, I did what I was required to do and promptly reported the incident up the chain of command

YOUR Sun newspaper.

In his address, Mr Hastie directly confronted media reports that he was the commanding officer He confirmed that he had not been at the scene at the time, but was instead in a helicopter overhead.

of a troop of soldiers investigated after amputating the hands of Taliban fighters to use for identification.

Make up your mind J/F which way u want it.

doog, please correct you wording and sentences and ask your question properly.

Dear JF Aus,

These are the words of Mr Hastie;

“I can say with great confidence that those soldiers involved directly with the incident were acting in what they believed to be the appropriate process laid out by defence.”

If he himself believed that at the time they were acting in the 'appropriate process laid out by defence' then why did he report the incident?

The answer seems to be that he was not aware that his troops held a view of acceptable behaviour contrary to his.

As the Captain in charge of this troop of 30 men that surely falls within his area of responsibility.

A direct question for Mr Hastie might be 'Do you believe removing the hands of a fallen foe is acceptable behaviour for members of the ADF to engage in?'

'If not then how was it that members of a unit under your direct command came to hold the view that it was acceptable which directly resulted in halting Australia involvement in an ongoing operation for a week and for a member of your unit being still under investigation? Do you accept any responsibility for that occurring?'

I think Bill Shorten should absolutely answer questions about what occurred while he was in charge of his union and to be held to account. Why should this be any different?

Captain Hastie did not remove the hands and he was away from the incident when it happened.
If the taliban had uniforms and dog tag identification under rules of war there would probably be no need for fingers.

Did Capt Hastie know it was ok at the time? If he did, why would he report the matter? Is it a rule to report removal of hands for identification under such circumstances?

As for Bill Shorten, the alleged rape is a separate issue to union funds and it wod be best if he completely cleared the air on the matter if he wants to be the PM.

JF Aus,

"If the taliban had uniforms and dog tag identification under rules of war there would probably be no need for fingers."

Since when is it necessary to collect "fingers" off dead bodies for identification?

If ID is "so" important, why are their no DNA kits provided?

"And" what are the chances of prints being successfully recovered from dead hands somewhere down the track? - the lapse of time, its effect on the dead tissue, and atmospheric conditions are hugely important here - not to mention contamination.

JF Aus - can you provide this forum with details of the "data base" which would supposedly give information to our forces for the "iffy" identification by fingerprint of the detached hands of fighters?

Or do you just believe any old story trotted out to glide over the controversy?

Poirot,
I understand our forces might seek positive identification in some cases to establish if they have killed the leader or some other key individual they have been seeking.
The Taliban are dressed as civilians, obviously without identification, this is no clearly defined war.

Obviously if our forces have hit their key man they stop wasting time looking further. They obviously stop using helicopters looking for people who are confirmed dead by fingerprinting or whatever other means. Do you understand Poirot? Nobody I know of except you Poirot, has indicated they fingerprint all dead Taliban.

Did I mention a data base? I think they could match print data after they raid the home or base where the target was frequenting prior to death.
Probably they use DNA for serious cased like Bin Ladin.

I am not a defence expert but I am becoming somewhat of an expert from reading people like yourself Poirot, using whatever non sense you can spin to discredit members of the present government. Are you one of Shorten's union army mentioned in some papers?

Why Poirot are you not ripping into the Taliban and their bombs that blow the genitals off human beings? They even kill innocent girls that dare go to school?

Why not commend Hastie for having the guts to be a sitting duck target up there in a helicopter.