Defence chief Angus Campbell says he’ll be accountable for Afghanistan war

Angus Campbell says he’ll be held accountable for his year in charge of troops in the Middle East, backs use of body cams on operations.

Defence Force chief Angus Campbell delivered the findings from the Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force Afghanistan Inquiry last Thursday in Canberra. A landmark report has shed light on alleged war crimes by Australian troops serving in Afghanistan. Picture: Mick Tsikas/Getty Images

Defence force chief Angus Campbell has vowed to be held accountable for his role in the Middle East, including in 2011 when he was responsible for all Australian forces deployed to the region, and endorsed the use of body cameras on soldiers to bring “objectivity” to operations.

The Brereton inquiry, which was released last Thursday and found 25 former and current special forces soldiers were involved in 39 alleged murders of unarmed Afghans, recommended the mandating of an appropriate helmet or body camera to be used by special forces.

“It is a very good idea,” General Campbell told the ABC’s Insiders program. “It creates a degree of objectivity and a capacity for learning, development and record keeping that is a separate pathway to other review mechanisms which also need to be strengthened.

“That material would then become a digital archive, permanently and securely held so that if claims were to arise, they would be able to contribute to understanding to what may have happened.”

Acknowledging the command and control arrangements for special operations in Afghanistan were “too dispersed and too distant”, General Campbell said he would consider on a case-by-case basis what happened and who should be held to account.

“Ultimately, I‘m going to be held to account to make sure that this report is dealt with thoroughly and I’m held to account also for my duty and my performance in the Middle East as the commander in the Middle East in 2011,” he said.

“There is no shortage of officers, senior non-commission officers and soldiers, who are looking at this report and reflecting on their part in this story and it is not a good story at all.”

Asked if the war in Afghanistan was worth it, General Campbell said that was up to the Australian people but he defended the mission as one to prevent the country being a base for international terrorism.

“We went there with another 50 countries. We worked to develop the Afghan national security force, to fight the Taliban forces and to offer reconstruction opportunities and the development of the civil government in Afghanistan,” he said.

“There is a very considerable legacy there to the point where now you see the government in negotiations to find a way to peace for a country that‘s been ravaged by war for almost 40 years.”

A political debate also emerged over what the Australian War Memorial should do with portraits or items of special forces soldiers who the Brereton report found should be referred to the Australian Federal Police for possible prosecution over alleged war crimes.

Independent South Australian senator Rex Patrick said the Defence department could engage with the war memorial to sensitively discuss any relevant material that should be removed.

“If Justice Paul Brereton’s found a prima facie case of inappropriate conduct then it is proper to remove those portraits and so forth, to remove that material,” Senator Patrick said.

Liberal MP Warren Entsch declared no items should go: “We get somebody faced with some form of crime, or who has been charged with a crime – I thought there was a thing called presumption of innocence?”

An AWM spokesman said the organisation had begun reviewing the Brereton report. All exhibitions were developed by its dedicated team of historians and curators.

Chief of Army Rick Burr would not comment on whether he thought media mogul Kerry Stokes, who is also chair of the AWM council, could fund the legal defence of special forces soldiers accused of alleged war crimes while remaining in his war memorial position.

Lieutenant General Burr told Nine’s 60 Minutes on Sunday night he would remain on the war memorial board, which all three Defence service chiefs are invited to join.