Australian SAS trooper charged with murder

[lornemalvo]

An Australian SAS trooper is being charged with the murder of unarmed Afghan civilians. Are they right to pursue this? This bloke is their most decorated soldier, including being awarded the Victoria Cross. I'm not sure what to think about it.

[DeadShed]

Getting medals doesn’t mean you can murder people. Until the trial is over we don’t know what happened, but, yes, everyone should be held to account for their actions no matter how decorated they are.

With regards to the case, the fact that the public defence amounts to “it’s a witch hunt!” says a lot to me. The defence in court might be very different, but it does come across as the statement of a lawyer trying to manage public perception rather than state innocence of their client.

[Collectingbrass]

I'd have a read of what Wikipedia has to say about the defamation suit that brought this about (that he lost, and lost the appeal on) before considering leaping to his defence.

Personally I find it noteworthy that several troopers under the same combat pressures and fatigue testified against him in that suit.

[BikeBikeBIke]

Collectingbrass said:

I'd have a read of what Wikipedia has to say about the defamation suit that brought this about (that he lost, and lost the appeal on) before considering leaping to his defence.

I've seen literally no-one leap to his defense. This case doesn't seem like a grey area, nor do most other other similar cases in Afgan that all seem to involve special forces, US/UK/Australian.

[Derek Smith]

Collectingbrass said:

I'd have a read of what Wikipedia has to say about the defamation suit that brought this about (that he lost, and lost the appeal on) before considering leaping to his defence.

Personally I find it noteworthy that several troopers under the same combat pressures and fatigue testified against him in that suit.

The testifying against him might be the reason for the prosecution.

I grew up after the war and there were lots of stories from those who'd been in combat of the enemy assisting soldiers they'd been fighting with earlier. My father's battery shot down a low-level reconnaissance airplane over the Solent, and gave the slightly injured pilot food, drink and chatted about family. They kept in touch and he came to my dad's funeral in 1979.

And the stories were about enemy forces. If the accusations are true, we're talking about civilians. Dear me.

[Super Sonic]

Already a thread on this.
Australia s most decorated soldier arrested - Page 1 - News, Politics & Economics - PistonHeads UK https://share.google/UxleKdsijAG1YTgQo