Special Forces troops accused of war crimes are calling on authorities to either charge them or let them go after a covert AFP police operation was derailed. A covert Australian Federal Police operation has been derailed with a listening device found by their target...
War Crimes Inquiry
VIDEO: Calls to stop stripping Afghanistan veterans of service medals over war crimes
Following his joint media release on the 2nd December Martin Hamilton-Smith, National President of the Australian SAS Regiment Association (ASASRA) was interviewed on ABC TV. In it he explains why Veteran associations want any penalties linked to the outcome of the...
Media Statement – ADSO Calls for Due Process and Presumption of Innocence
Yesterday the Australian Special Air Services Association, the Commando Association and the Returned and Services League of Australia issued a joint statement calling on the Federal Government to direct the CDF to respect the presumption of innocence for soldiers...
Have the ADF Chiefs lost the Plot?
The ROYAL AUSTRALIAN REGIMENT ASSOCIATION totally supports the comments made in yesterday's joint statement by the Australian Special Air Services Association (ASASA) National Chairman Hon Martin Hamilton-Smith and Commando (CDO) Association National Vice President...
Elite soldiers blast Defence chief Angus Campbell over handling of Afghanistan war crimes report
By defence correspondent Andrew Greene Veterans’ groups are demanding the Albanese government pull rank on the Defence chief to prevent him revoking medals over command failures in Afghanistan, before any alleged war crimes are proven in court. Key points: The...
Officers escape punishment for SAS soldier ‘crimes’
The Chief of the Defence Force, General Angus Campbell, has shelved any punishment for seven senior army officers who failed to prevent war crimes on their watch in Afghanistan, and has exonerated a further 21, saying they should “learn from their...
Opinion: Shame of Brereton Inquiry has been Laid Bare
Read the editorial of "The West Australian" - Tue 24th Aug 2021 Reports that a Special Air Service Regiment soldier accused of Afghan war crimes has "quietly" been cleared of the allegations and redeployed to Afghanistan to aid with the rescue mission is just the...
Commentary – Defence is avoiding scrutiny on its long-awaited response to the Brereton inquiry
If Defence is determined to learn the lessons of the past, why isn’t it being upfront with the public on its response to the Brereton war crimes inquiry? Justice Paul Brereton’s report last November laid bare the most shameful chapter in the Australian Defence Force’s...
Opinion: ADF – Ideological grenade tossed into the mix as distraction
AS the inimitable Sir Humphrey Appleby once opined, “Minister, two basic rules of government: Never look into anything you don’t have to. “And never set up an inquiry unless you know in advance what its findings will be.”. It should have been the first caution given...
Opinion: Time to Take a Deep Breath
In the days of the Roman Empire, there were times when one in every ten soldiers would be executed, then and there without trial, yet the unit maintained its identity and lived to fight another day. Fortunately, such decimation by execution is long gone. However,...