Defence in industrial-level denial

Peter Dutton. Picture: AFP

Peter Dutton is stamping his authority on the defence portfolio by the day. His decision, a week out from Anzac Day, to allow Special Operations Task Group members to wear their meritor­ious unit ­citations “with pride” will be welcomed by most Afghanistan veterans.

Chief of the Defence Force Angus Campbell’s decision to strip the citations from more than 3000 special forces veterans as a mark of their “collective responsibility” for war crimes was always a flawed one.

The alleged murders of Afghan civilians and prisoners were, as Justice Paul Brereton found, committed and concealed by “a small number of patrol commanders, and their proteges”.

If there was to be some form of collective punishment, special forces commanders should have been at the front of the queue to receive it.

Dutton’s citation ruling was expected but is still a blow for Campbell, who was treated deferentially by former defence minister Linda Reynolds.

Dutton has rightly made it clear to Defence personnel, through this newspaper, that “the government has their back”.

Heightened security threats, including the possibility of a great power conflict over Taiwan, mean Australia’s service men and women must be ready for whatever lies ahead.

Soldiers accused of war crimes are being investigated, and will face prosecution if there is sufficient evidence against them.

Yet unless Defence deals with the Brereton inquiry’s broader ramifications, it risks long-term damage to its moral foundations and international credibility.

In the five months since the Brereton report was released, there has been stony silence from Campbell and Chief of Army Rick Burr on the issue of command responsibility. They were mugged by events last week when a 2009 photo emerged of a senior officer cavorting with junior soldiers in the unauthorised Special Air Service Regiment bar at Tarin Kowt.

The officer is the first directly linked to a cultural ­decline within the elite military unit. Incredibly, he was scheduled to take up a key role leading cultural reforms across the nation’s special forces.

The now-colonel has since been issued with a “show cause” notice to say why he should not be sacked.

But why did it require the publication of a pixelated photo of the officer engaging in a simulated sex act for Defence to look seriously at his behaviour?

By now, Defence should have vetted every still-serving special forces officer who was deployed to Afghanistan to determine those whose conduct fell short of expectations. Instead, its senior leaders are engaged in industrial-level arse-covering.