War crimes in Afghanistan – “They had such a thirst for blood. Psychos. Absolute Psychos “

Australian special forces reportedly committed war crimes in Afghanistan, killing at least 39 civilians and unarmed prisoners. This is the result of an investigation report presented Thursday after four years of investigation. Among other things, high-ranking commanders forced young soldiers to kill defenseless people, Australian general Angus John Campbell said. The results of the investigations were based on the most serious violations of military codes of conduct.

According to the report, the victims included prisoners, farmers and other Afghan inhabitants. They were captured before they were killed and were therefore under special protection under international law. “There is credible information that their commanders have ordered new soldiers to shoot a prisoner to get their first kill as a soldier. That was it ‹bleeding› called “, reads the report that investigated the accidents between 2005 and 2016. The murder should have been justified by the reenactment of battle scenes with foreign weapons or equipment.

The crimes have come to light since 2015 when the Military sociologist Samantha Crompvoets conducted interviews with Australian special forces. Crompvoets was indeed interested in the culture and cohesion of special units, but in countless conversations the soldiers also told her about the atrocities in Afghanistan. They apparently trusted the independent sociologist and took the opportunity to relate their experiences to a neutral person.

Operations were therefore, even internally, it was strongly contested for a long timeMany soldiers have seen their honor and integrity violated by the misconduct of their colleagues. In special units, however, there is a culture of silence, the elite troops remain in close contact and really only talk about their experiences. But the crimes in Afghanistan have apparently overstepped the boundaries to the point that many soldiers have broken their silence. They no longer wanted to be accomplices of war criminals and probably had the hope that their troops would find the right path.

14 year old young man killed

Crompvoets could hardly believe the stories at first, but their research revealed more and more incredible feats. Soldiers told her how a special unit arrested two 14-year-old boys and decided without further ado that the civilly dressed youths belonged to the Taliban. The two boys suffered a cut in the throat, other members of the troop dumped the bodies into a river. “These special forces were so hungry for blood. They were psychopaths. Absolute Psychos “, a soldier said.

According to other reports, the unarmed suspects were killed by soldiers despite the surrender. In one situation, special forces used a man who was standing with his arms up as a “target” and shot him twice in the chest. As he passed, a soldier shot the Afghan in the head again without stopping.

Crompvoets writes in his report that special forces have their own rules. This is known and accepted to some extent, so soldiers often have beards and hairstyles that would not be allowed in other units. Furthermore, command structures were not respected, recruits were conducted too freely, abuse of power was the order of the day and, according to reports from former soldiers, many were too often deployed at the front.

Television images give certainty

One Report from the Australian television station ABC it also unearthed an “official mafia”. Apparently the particularly unscrupulous NCOs, who also had the respect of the highest ranks, set the tone. Those who opposed them were humiliated to the point of voluntarily resigning themselves, sometimes before the eyes of the generals, as ABC shows.

ABC’s “Killing Fields” program gave the latest certainty about atrocities in Afghanistan in March. A reporter obtained video footage exchanged by a group of elite soldiers. It showed how an Afghan is captured by a service dog in a cornfield. The man is unarmed, he has red prayer towels on his hands. A soldier asks for permission to “kill” Afghans on the ground. Shortly after three shots are heard, the civilian is dead and the soldiers continue indifferent.

Crompvoets’ accusations and denunciations were no longer suddenly rumors, assumptions or suspected acts of revenge by disappointed ex-soldiers, but true. The images also shocked Australia and the military. But not the special units. Everyone knew this, as several soldiers told ABC reporters. The regiment is more important than the individual and the integrity of the regiment is paramount. The cases were hidden inside the special unit.

The “ghosts of the jungle” in Vietnam

The Special Forces Special Air Service Regiment was founded in Australia in 1954 on the model of the British SAS. Their first missions were in Indochina in 1965 and later during the Vietnam War. Today there are officially three such “squadrons”, the existence of a fourth squadron has never been officially confirmed. Each of these three squadrons is in turn divided into three units: air, sea and land forces. The three “squadrons” rotate each for twelve months and are compared with the US Navy Seals or the German border guard GSG 9 – they also train regularly with them and with the British SAS.

The Australian SASR first achieved fame during the Vietnam War, they were called “ma rung”, “ghosts of the jungle”. They have since traveled with American troops to many places, such as Somalia, the Gulf wars or Afghanistan. They are appreciated by the partners of the alliance, the American generals praised the readiness of the SASR to fight in the highest tones. The special forces were the first Australians to support the United States in their “Operation Enduring Freedom”.

The elite troops also bear the brunt of the war. In Afghanistan, they made up about five percent of all Australian soldiers, but half of all killed came from their ranks. They flew by helicopters directly to the disputed areas, were on the front lines in combat, tracked down the Taliban and freed hostages. Most of them did it heroically, as the ABC report says. A minority lost their bearings in the bloody war.

The second season will be dissolved

Soldiers are often rewarded multiple times, but will now lose some of these medals. With the publication of the investigation report it was decided to completely cancel the second season of the SASR. This “squadron” was deployed in Afghanistan at the time of most war crimes reports. The squadron’s approximately 90 soldiers have to fear for their personal rewards and are also prosecuted for their crimes. The trials could drag on for years.

Military sociologist Crompvoets recommends re-tying special units to the army so that there can be no subculture with its own rules. SASR forces are currently training in Perth while the command post is in Canberra, practically on the other side of the continent. Special units should be retrieved and, as it were, put on a leash. It is also in dispute that units should be withdrawn from frontline combat and re-deployed specifically as small reconnaissance task forces or behind enemy lines.

But Crompvoets is confident the change can be successful if the fallible soldiers are resolved. Most informants would have been ashamed of their comrades. He felt a lot of pain in the conversations, pain for war crimes, but also because the unit’s reputation had been damaged. Many SASR soldiers weren’t the “hyper-masculine, bloodthirsty” type and would have welcomed a change in culture.

REUTERS / Anf

Posted today at 2:58 pm