Article written by former SASR trooper in response to recent allegations against the Regiment
Thursday, 14 June 2018
The writer wants to remain anonymous, the way the SAS likes things.
He served 14 years in the ADF, 9 years as a Royal Australian Regiment infantryman and 5 years with the Special Air Service Regiment.
The Special Air Service Regiment seeks out and destroys Australia’s most dangerous enemies.
It targets the leaders of terror organisations who are shielded by suicidal, heavily armed Jihadis embedded amongst co-operative “civilians”.
Our enemies don’t like us and they do their best to kill us with no moral restraint and complete impunity. The Mujahideen don’t have much use for a Human Rights Commission.
The SAS cannot fight enemies like that by adhering to normal Western moral standards. If we did, it would be leveraged as a weakness by the enemy. We have to keep them guessing about our limits. I wouldn’t deploy if I was working with blokes who operated like predictable Mr Nice Guys.
The ADF is currently conducting a full-blown enquiry into “rumours of possible breaches of the laws of armed conflict” by Australian special forces in Afghanistan. We are alleged to have operated with “disregard for human life and dignity”. Fair enough. I don’t know one bloke I served with who has a high regard for the lives of terrorists. There’s nothing dignified about IEDs and their fighting methods either.
We are not sent out to deliver a personal dignity entitlement to our enemies. We go out to kill them.
Right now the Chief of Defence Force is doing immense damage to our troops deployed in Afghanistan.
Australian taxpayers are paying for ads in the Afghani press encouraging Afghanis to dob in Australian troops for war crimes. How idiotic is that? What a propaganda gold mine; and you can be certain the enemy will be using it against us.
The Australian enquiry will receive heaps of responses from the enemy, let’s face it they are embedded among the local Afghans.
And what will it achieve? How do you think Australian troops will respond to allegations against them from the enemy? This might be difficult for outsiders to hear, but even if boundaries have been overstepped, unless the entire patrol turned on each other there will be little chance of any evidence to support any claims made by the enemy or Afghan civilians.
SAS troops obey orders. We go where we’re ordered to go and act as we’re ordered to act. There’s no allegations that I know of that say SAS troops have failed to obey orders. Whatever’s been done has been the work of a highly disciplined team of professional, accountable soldiers operating within their own internal chain of command – and that goes all the way to the top. Smiling politicians are always on hand to get their photo taken and congratulate us on our results. Well God help any ADF leadership that tries to hang a few young troopers out to dry.
So what are we stuck with?
- A bombardment of allegations that will ALL have to be investigated at taxpayer expense.
- SAS unit members taken away from their duties to “help” the investigation and for interviews with investigators.
- The usual bags of tax payers money given to the enemy in compensation for alleged wrongdoing by us – even if unproven
- SAS tactics and operational security compromised by our own Government and Defence force due to a call for an open investigation and for transparency from left wing journalists to mention a few.
- Resentments amongst the SAS members and as is common practice much more secrecy, which is a certainty at the grass root levels.
The ADF’s investigation into the rumours has already been leaked to Fairfax and the ABC who’ve made the leaked material public.
As a result of Fairfax and the ABC’s reports, the Russians have now joined in to make life more difficult for us in the field.
On Saturday the Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement about “The crimes committed by Australian troops in Afghanistan”.
Using the ABC and Fairfax’s reports, the Russian statement said Australians have engaged in “systematic, unauthorized and groundless use of weapons, particularly against civilians.” It quotes the ABC as the source for “shocking facts about cold-blooded murders committed by Australian soldiers in Afghanistan”.
Total bullshit, created by our taxpayer funded broadcaster to be used by our enemies against us.
The ABC is always going on about Russia and scandals. Looks like they’ve made one of their own.
There are plenty of problems in Australian society.
There is definitely a problem in the ADF.
But it’s not the war fighters.
It’s our leadership and the tone they set – from the PM down.
Signed, John Anon.
13 comments
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The army especially are sent overseas on request by other countries by the government of the day.This is regardless of political persuasion of the goverment.
They are expected to protect other groups as well as themselves by;1)Neutralising(lovely euphemism)those who are attacking them.However,they must now follow certain rules of engagement which are a far cry from rules of engagement that have been in use up to the 1990s. 2)They must only sshoot when they are in danger of being shot at,or have already been shot at. 3)When a hand grenade is thrown at them the person who threw the grenade is no longer a threat.This was actually stated in the rules of engagement!!that is a “catch 22 situation”if ever there was one. 4)The powers thatbe are now asking for witnesses from a belligerent group of locals to state that Australians have been randomly shooting whoever annoys themwith no regard what so ever for those who done their duty as requested and placed a blanket blame on all members of that Unit regardless of time or place.That definitely stinks!
Well written, I served 28 years and had dealings with this very special organisation.
these bastards need to be sent to afghanistan with the men on the ground you watch the b s stop when one or two politicians and their yes men get killed or wounded
I served 26 years in the RAAF and have had dealings with my brothers and sisters from the Navy and Army and some ‘dealings’ with Special Forces personnel. Basically, most members of the public do not have a bloody clue about what goes on at the grass roots level in the military – but, oh boy, don’t they love to soak up the bullshit that the press and other nasty factions like to ‘invent’ about so-called mis-deeds by military personnel.
Instead of focusing on trying to prosecute military personnel for doing their job, focus on the many injustices that military personnel have had to put up with over many decades. Here’s just two that come to mind that I have personal knowledge of: the poor bastards during WWII who were mucking around with mustard gas and ended up with all sorts of horrific injuries as a result: these poor buggers could not get any compo until the 90s because they had to keep the dirty secret that we (Australia) would have used mustard gas against the Japs if they made it to mainland Australia. Example two: the Government’s ‘training lie’ in relation to the Rifle Company Butterworth’s real role – I’m not ex-Army, but I know the real role of the Company and I am bloody annoyed that so many Army personnel have been denied true recognition for what really went on at Butterworth during the 70s and 80s by these blokes.
Australia, if you want to be defended by Boy Scouts and Girl Guides holding lovely little ‘how to be nice’ rule books go right ahead and agitate for what you want; however, when the shit really hits the fan you want people with proper training, integrity, mateship, courage and a determination to get to the job done no matter what the personal cost. Unfortunately, most of our enemies do not play by the ‘laws of armed conflict’ as we know them: many are sheer terrorists and they rejoice in the fact that the public (our public) may lose faith in the military because of bullshit stories carried by the press.
And before anyone starts, no, I am not rubbishing the Boy Scouts or Girl Guides.
Dave Roockley
ex-RAAFie
Being they’re doing that job, must people got no fuking idea. Hard job for hard men.
I agree 100% with you. The same thought process runs through other Govt organisations, usually enquiries by persons who have come up through the ranks and all of a sudden want to watch out for their own arses, by forgetting they did, to survive but, will no longer admit to being in the same place, pretend they are clean skins and crucify the workers.
I am in total agreement with this letter their is no such thing as a clean war people point guns and fire and people Die, Accusing our soldiers of Possible breaches the big word is (POSSIBLE) to leak any information is disgrace and the Government should stand up for our defence personel and crack down on media leaks ie ABC, This Government has a lot to answer for with it’s wild heering investigations. Who would want to stab Australian Defence personel in the back particulary the soldiers on the front line this is an act of treason. We all know the media will sell their souls for a head line. ‘It’s about time some one was held responsable ‘ was this instigated by some one with their nose out of joint or somthing more sinister. Slandering our defence personel dragging (Australia’s) name into the mud giving our forces a bad name taking away all the trust they have earned over the years, Yes there is more to this than anyone can imagine. Wake up AUSTRALIA
Wr are with you mate, you do what is needed and forget these blood sucking dicks in govt and the press who undercut your bravery and heroism out there fighting for us, they disgust me
http://en.c4defence.com/AFP/Australia-Afghanistan-military-defence/118161/3
Reading through that shows that the Defence Force head Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin would appear to be the Chief of Defence Force that you speak of.
He is an Israeli by way of Israel’s 1950 Law of Return, as is PM Turnbull, and both could charitably be described as Dual Citizens.
As it happens, to underscore my point, on the Gaza/Israel border, since March 2, the Israeli Defence Force has shot dead 121 and wounded 13,000 Palestinians, with non having had crossed into Israel.
None of the Palestinians had weapons of any kind, whether small arms or rockets.
The Israeli part of the ACM and the PM clearly have no problem with any of that, but the Australian part of the ACM has concerns about ‘serious allegations ..must be examined independently from the chain of command’ in respect of the conduct of Australia’s Special Air Service Regiment while in Afghanistan.
How noble of him, and one assumes, by the silence of the PM, that the Australian part of him furiously concurs.
When will we send to war our troops armed with blanks for their rifles and tennis balls for grenades? They are sent to an extremely dangerous job, let them get on with without having their hands tied.
I’d much prefer to be protected by one of these amazing men, than by a policeman in the community… have total admiration and respect for the SAS, and the military as a whole. If these investigations do continue, then the men on the ground will be even more secretive…and rightly, and justifiably so… they have a job to do…eliminate the enemy..not smack their bottoms. As an Australian born and bred, I am so very proud of each and every one of them..They are keeping us safe. Something that the ignorant politicians, who’ve never faced an enemy in the field, are incapable of any real understanding…. Australians don’t want our Defence force to be “sissies”…. Please, show us that we have a strong military. That comes from leadership…quality leadership, and not one that comes from Political correctness…
Who would have thought it started with the ABC, typical of that bunch of Lemons. Leeches on the public purse, need a good shot of Insect spray. The ADF top Brass should be ashamed of what they are doing to their most loyal people. Disgusting way to treat the best of the best.
War is war. Collateral damage occurs and civilians do get killed as they are used as shields by militant forces. Our government should be supporting these elite troops and issuing a denial that any wrongdoings ever occurred. Which they probably didn’t commit anyway. Some terrorist in Afghanistan probably laid a bait and it got taken by our politically correct incompetent government. Great for propaganda.