Opinion | Australia’s war crimes in Afghanistan show the cost of celebrating the military

A report has revealed evidence that Australian troops covered up the murders of victims who were ‘non-combatants or no longer combatants’

For some, the findings will be hard to reconcile with the deification of the military and the Anzac spirit that is so intertwined with Australia’s national identity

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Australia has spent billions on its military involvement in Afghanistan, but its true cost is only now coming to light. Photo: Getty Images

Published: 8:30am, 27 Nov 2020Updated: 8:30am, 27 Nov 2020

Australia has fought alongside the United States in every major American military action of the last century, from World War I to the Middle East. And Canberra has spent billions on involvement in Afghanistan, after following Washington’s lead, but we have no idea what it truly cost.

Some indication has been provided by reports of Australian troops’ behaviour there, which have trickled out in recent years thanks to the work of journalists and whistle-blowers. The country’s federal police last year raided the offices of the ABC, the national broadcaster, over a series of articles on precisely this topic.

At the time, managing director David Anderson said the raid was “an attempt to intimidate journalists for doing their jobs”. He’s not wrong.

Then came the Brereton Report, released publicly on November 19. Even a bare-bones presentation of its findings is nauseating. There is evidence Australian soldiers committed war crimes in Afghanistan. There is “credible information” they murdered 39 innocent civilians, and cruelly treated another two – the latter a war crime involving the infliction of “severe physical or mental pain or suffering”.

Redacted parts of the report by the Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force Afghanistan Inquiry. Photo: AAP Image via Reuters

Most damningly, while these alleged incidents may have taken place amid Australia’s longest war, none of them took place in the heat of battle. The victims, according to the report, were “non-combatants or no longer combatants”, their murders covered up by techniques including planting weapons on bodies.