Diggers and families of dead soldiers slam 9News for Taliban interview criticising ADF
A 9News report that treated the Taliban as a legitimate government with human rights grievances against Australia has been slammed by Diggers and the families of our fallen.
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Afghanistan veterans and the parents of soldiers who gave their lives in the war have lashed out at 9News for broadcasting a report that treated the Taliban as a legitimate government with human rights grievances against Australia, ignoring the wave of terror that the Islamic fundamentalist regime is unleashing against the Afghan people.
On Wednesday, 9News broadcast an interview with Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen rehashing accusations of war crimes by Australian soldiers serving in Afghanistan, with space also being given to the report in Nine-owned newspapers.
“Australia was part of (the) occupation, but they committed some of the worst and the brutal kind of human rights violations, by hacking fingers off dead bodies and killing farmers in Uruzgan and other provinces (where) they were based,” Shaheen told the network.
“They should be prosecuted as per the law, humanitarian law. So we do not have good memories of them, rather bad memories.”
In the wide-ranging discussion, which was reported in a number of Nine publications, including The Sydney Morning Herald, Shaheen also claimed the 41 Australian soldiers who died in Afghanistan lost their lives “in vain”.
“It absolutely blows my mind that, given their track record, the Taliban would have been asked their opinion on our nation’s service,” said Damien Thomlinson, who lost both his legs to an IED explosion in Afghanistan in 2009, adding that asking “an enemy that Australian soldiers fought for 20 years … for some sort of operational review is as ridiculous as it sounds”.
The claims were also too much for Ray Palmer, whose son Scott died in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan in 2010.
“When the Taliban come out and said these soldiers lost their lives in vain, and how they didn’t make any difference, that’s reprehensible,” said Mr Palmer, who was scathing of the decision to air the interview.
“For some in the media to say that the Taliban have changed, well, a leopard doesn’t change its spots.”
Mr Palmer’s sentiments were echoed by David McCarthy, whose son Sean, a signaller, died during operations in Afghanistan’s Uruzgan Province in 2008.
“The words human rights would be almost impossible to translate into Pashtun – they just don’t exist,” Mr McCarthy said.
A 9News spokesman noted the report gave airtime to Foreign Minister Marise Payne to rebut the Taliban’s remarks.
“9News has the greatest respect for Australians who have served and sacrifices they and their families made. However, as a media organisation we have responsibility and obligation not to ignore or censor these remarks,” he said.
“After the fall of Kabul, Australia’s legacy in Afghanistan has had significant examination … by our own forces.
“To hear what the Taliban have to say is to inform the debate here and we believe Australians have the right to hear this. We do not believe it diminishes our forces or the work done by them on the ground to support the Afghan people for over 20 years.”
Originally published as Diggers and families of dead soldiers slam 9News for Taliban interview criticising ADF
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