Hastie’s words the most credible so far on SAS

Finally, after a week of blame, Andrew Hastie delivers a reasoned response to the revelation SAS soldiers had allegedly murdered innocent Afghan civilians (“My great shame ... but our boys were left in a degrading war”, 24/11). Hastie’s personal knowledge of the war in Afghanistan should make us all sit up and listen.

Australians should be shining the torch of blame a little higher up the chain of command. This is how accountability works. It starts with the alleged perpetrator and goes up through the ranks. It stops at the government, whose decision it was to start a fight with an unknown enemy for an unknown reason with an unknown outcome.

Hastie says, “We should always guard against the reality of people doing bad things when they are left unaccountable.” That statement should be the opening sentence of any inquiry into the behaviour of our fighting troops.

Lynda Morrison, Bicton, WA

Andrew Hastie has written a fine, authoritative and deeply insightful response to the Brereton report (“Honour before glory”, 24/11). We are fortunate to have an archetypal Marcus Aurelius warrior/soldier as a representative in our national parliament, with such an understanding of military and security issues.

Nonetheless, the matters raised in the Brereton report go to the very value we place on the lives of our soldiers and to the viability of their missions in foreign lands. Our government is as much on trial in this as are our soldiers in the SASR.

Vicki Sanderson, Cremorne, NSW

I commend and thank you for publishing the article “Honour before glory” by Andrew Hastie and the story about him on your front page. I have met Hastie informally once and I am very aware of his CV. He is one of the most credible to have written and commented on the SAS findings so far, having actually experienced the conditions in Afghanistan over some years as a soldier in the thick of it.

Peter M. Wargent, Mosman, NSW

Andrew Hastie’s sadness about Afghanistan will be widely shared. My eldest brother flew in the Korean War with the UK’s RAF and was always reticent to talk about experiences such as the loss of close colleagues. So are many who have experienced war first hand, as has Hastie. Returned servicemen should never again be disgracefully reviled as so many were after Vietnam. No one excuses the murder of civilians, including children, but this was the doing of a tiny coterie of wanton soldiers and was not representative of the vast majority of those who serve with honour. Overwhelmingly, our soldiers do the right thing, even in the face of extreme provocation. It is imperative we maintain faith in our armed forces, who protect our precious democratic freedoms, often at the cost of their lives.

Ron Sinclair, Bathurst, NSW

Andrew Hastie’s thoughtful, erudite, reasoned and compelling article should be compulsory reading for all federal politicians — and Defence.

I am astonished at the number of people whose unarticulated position is that war can be wished away or made inoffensive. What, exactly, do they think our forebears fought for and, at the non-professional level, why did scores of them volunteer without hesitation in our world wars? That the powers-that-be should be talking in advance of legal process about cancelling past honours for all as a response to the misdeeds of some speaks volumes about what is wrong with our understanding.

Leni Palk, Unley, SA

Knowing the Governor-General, David Hurley, to be a man of principle he will face a dilemma if he is asked to revoke honours and awards for SASR members. He will have to ask himself if he has a conflict of interest or if the public perceives him to have a conflict. The conflict relates to the fact that he was Chief of the Defence Force during some of the time when alleged atrocities were carried out in Afghanistan — an unwinnable and dirty war to which the government committed troops. I have no doubt the Governor-General will not involve himself in such a disrespectful act of taking away honours and awards given to soldiers who had no part in any alleged atrocities or, indeed, those named in the Brereton report as they have not been convicted of any wrongdoing.

L.J. Young, colonel, retired, former Army judge advocate and Defence Force magistrate, Randwick, NSW