Christopher Pyne: My pride in Australia’s military is intact but seriously shaken by Brereton report

While one war crime is one too many, the ADF members accused of them number 25. Spare a thought for the other 26,000 who only thought to serve.

The report of Major General Paul Brereton, the Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force, into alleged war crimes carried out by some members of the Special Air Services Regiment of the Australian Army in Afghanistan between 2009 and 2012 was published in its redacted form last week.

It’s findings, and the wall-to-wall coverage in the media since, makes for sobering reading.

Of course, our first thoughts go to the 39 victims who allegedly suffered or were killed.

Our second thoughts should be to those left behind in their families and their friends who are still most likely coping with the aftermath of growing up without a father, a brother, a partner or trusted friend.

There can be no excuse for the extra judicial killing of non-combatants or prisoners of war except acting in self-defence.

There will be reasons proposed to explain how certain people can be pushed to the limit where they create an unreality of their own. Some of those reasons have been proffered in the coverage I have read since last Thursday. No doubt all of this maelstrom will continue to be debated during the course of examination of evidence, the laying of charges and their prosecution.

Nothing would excuse the heinous actions of the accused 25 SASR personnel, should those allegations turn out to be true.

Brereton has been conducting his inquiries for five years. It has been an exhaustive process. As a former minister for defence and before that defence industry, I was briefed routinely on the progress of the inquiry.

Obviously, much has crystallised in the work of the inquiry in the past 18 months since I left public office.

As a minister in the portfolio for three years, I was shattered by the findings of the report.

I could see on the faces of the Chief of the Defence Force, General Angus Campbell, and the Chief of the Army, Lieutenant General Rick Burr, the terrible impact this matter has had on two of our finest soldiers.

Our ADF is one of the best of its kind. Everywhere you travel overseas as a minister in the defence portfolio, you are constantly told what a superb reputation our ADF enjoys – for bravery, capability and behaviour.

As the son of a Korean War veteran, the great-nephew of a soldier killed at Gallipoli on Anzac Day 1915 and another great-uncle killed in the Battle of the Somme, and the grandson of a World War I veteran, I have always felt great pride in the history of our nation’s military service.

I still feel that pride. It has been shaken in the last few days. Nothing can remove this stain on that history cast by the findings of the Brereton Report.

Nothing can remove this stain on that history cast by the findings of the Brereton Report. Picture: Department of Defence

The Australian government sent us into the Afghanistan conflict in 2001, immediately following the terrorist attack on the Twin Towers in New York on September 11 by al-Qaeda, whose members had been trained and were based in Afghanistan. We answered the call of our ally, the United States of America, under the auspices of the ANZUS Treaty. We were one of the very first countries to do so. Eventually, 40 other nations joined the US-led coalition.

The Afghanistan War has been waged for 19 years so far.

It is the longest conventional war in which we have been engaged.

Our objective there was to disrupt and degrade the al-Qaeda network – and that has been achieved.

Our second objective was to rebuild the legitimate Afghan government, military and civil society. That too has largely been achieved.

There are still very real challenges in Afghanistan but it is a quite different place today than it was 20 years ago. More than 26,000 servicemen and women of the ADF have served in Afghanistan. It’s a tremendous number.

Twenty-five of their number have been accused of war crimes.

While one war crime is too many, spare a thought for the other 26,000 who only sought to serve and face no accusations of wrongdoing.

Their service has now been marred by the alleged behaviour of the few.

There will be conversations happening all over the world amongst those who served, questioning themselves, their comrades in arms and their superiors to whom they look for leadership.

We cannot let the alleged behaviour of the few smash the reputation of the many.

The “top brass” of the ADF and the non-uniformed public servants who make Russell Hill work have not sought to shirk their responsibility.

They have already indicated that the individuals accused will be referred for prosecution; the government has indicated a special office will be created in the Department of Home Affairs to manage the cases; Number 2 Squadron of the SASR will be disbanded permanently so that the Order of Battle will forever record the absence of that number of the four squadrons that make up the SASR; there will be further reforms within Defence to training and command structures.

In what has been a ghastly year, we can add this blight to the menu of shocks we have endured.

But endure we will, and grow and improve, so that a crisis like this never happens again.

Lest we forget.