Australia's SAS deployment to Afghanistan has already produced allegations of war crimes. But now the ABC has been leaked video of one:
Four Corners has obtained video which shows a Special Air Service (SAS) operator shooting an unarmed Afghan man three times in the head and chest while he cowers on the ground.
His death took place within three minutes of the soldiers arriving in the village.
An Australian Defence Force (ADF) investigation later ruled the killing was justified because it was in self-defence.
The killing was one of a series of cases uncovered by Four Corners that may constitute war crimes.
A former member of the same SAS squadron, who was on the 2012 deployment to Afghanistan and has been shown the vision, described the killing to Four Corners as a "straight-up execution".
And there's more context from an SAS whistleblower here.
I have not watched the video, because I am not into snuff. But if the description is accurate, then this soldier needs to be prosecuted for murder. And the superiors who helped sweep it under the carpet need to be prosecuted for perverting the course of justice. Of course, that will never happen - the ADF will cover it up, as usual. And given the way Australia has been going, we'll probably see the ABC raided by federal police again, and prosecuted for exposing government secrets or some such bullshit.
And of course, there's an obvious question: the NZ SAS cooperates closely with its Australian counterpart. Have they been infected by this murderous culture? Have they committed similar crimes? And if they had, would any of them be brave enough to do the right thing and leak it?
