There鈥檚 plenty to reflect on in the lead-up to ANZAC Day. For some, including several of the past surviving soldiers from World War II who became outspoken anti-war activists, April 25 is a day to interrogate, not laud, Australia鈥檚 participation in war.
Over the last few days, new allegations about the brutal behaviour of Australian special forces officers in the war on Afghanistan have emerged.
It appears that many officers took part in the cruelty. The Age,听The and听60 Minutes听have published images allegedly found听in a plastic container in the听garden of Australia鈥檚 most decorated听corporal,听Ben Roberts-Smith.
The images show at least one of these elite soldiers dressed in a Ku Klux Klan outfit holding up a noose, and others drinking from a war trophy 鈥斕齮he听prosthetic leg of an alleged Taliban fighter.
In an effort to stop whistle blowers, Roberts-Smith is suing the media, with the support of , who also happens to be the Australian War Memorial chair.
Information previously leaked by whistleblowers led to the Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force authorising an investigation. The by Major General Paul Brereton, released last November, looked into the conduct of Australia鈥檚 special forces, including the alleged murder of 39 Afghan people.
But since then, nothing much seems to have happened. A was set up last December, but it apparently . A Senate estimates meeting was told that finding the right people had proven difficult.
A culture of secrecy has prevented the truthful reporting of Australia鈥檚 precise role in the long-running Afghanistan war. Since 2001, only embedded journalists were allowed to enter the country and, typically, the reports centred on how 鈥渙ur鈥 valiant soldiers were needed by the United States-led 鈥渁nti-terrorist鈥 effort to bring democracy.
The propaganda was pitched at a very low level, but the 9/11 attacks听had conjured an atmosphere in which the quest for revenge had been accepted. Racism also played a big part.
As the war dragged on, and the Western alliance added Iraq to the list of 鈥渢errorist-supporting鈥 countries, questions started to be raised about the war鈥檚 鈥渆nd goal.鈥 Democracy and women鈥檚 rights were nowhere to be seen听and war weariness had started to set in as increasing numbers of US soldiers were returning from Iraq and Afghanistan in body bags.
Traumatised returned US troops started to organise and tell the truth about the mission. Australian soldiers were initially reluctant to speak out, due perhaps to the comparatively small numbers of troops sent by Australia to Afghanistan. 听
But 听now some are. David McBride, a former military lawyer, has put his neck on the line. He faces if found guilty of blowing the whistle on the 鈥渦nethical, harmful and highly politicised leadership which fostered a culture of impunity in Afghanistan鈥.
If everybody who has knowledge about what happened in Afghanistan stays silent, no charges can be laid due to a lack of evidence.
Last year Brereton recommended that charges be laid on those found guilty of killing civilians or the summary execution of detainees. 鈥淣one of these are incidents of disputable decisions made under pressure in the heat of battle,鈥 .
Prime Minister Scott Morrison did not agree. And now he has given Peter Dutton, a former cop renowned for his cruelty, the defence portfolio. Dutton has rushed to assure the ADF that he 鈥渉as their back鈥.
Meanwhile, former Liberal defence minister Christopher Pyne is听,听while making a living as an arms industry lobbyist. His deputy Andrew Hastie has told military personnel thattheir 鈥渃ore business鈥 will always be the 鈥渁pplication of lethal violence鈥. And the Labor opposition听recently committed听to further boosting Australia鈥檚 growing arms industry听and maintaining the US-Australia war alliance at its .
The stakes are high.
An antidote to the imperialists鈥 patriotism is Major General Smedley Butler, whose 1935 book , is well worth a read. He was the most decorated marine in US history but, by World War I, was considered too 鈥渦nreliable鈥 to be sent to the front. He later spelled out that war was simply a 鈥渞acket鈥 to make profits.
鈥榃ar is a racket. It always has been.
鈥業t is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives.
鈥楢 racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of the people. Only a small 鈥渋nside鈥 group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few, at the expense of the very many. Out of war a few people make huge fortunes.鈥
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