"SYDNEY -- An Australian judge dismissed defamation lawsuits against newspapers brought by a veteran of the war in Afghanistan who has been at the center of debates over the conduct of the country's soldiers in the conflict and treatment of its veterans.
Ben Roberts-Smith, who had won Australia's highest military honor for fighting in support of U.S. troops in Afghanistan, sued newspapers, including publishers of the Sydney Morning Herald and the Age in Melbourne, after articles in 2018 reported he killed unarmed Afghans and pressured others to commit human-rights abuses.
According to court papers filed by Roberts-Smith, the allegations in the articles included that he murdered an unarmed Afghan civilian by kicking him off a cliff and getting soldiers under his command to shoot the man; gunned down a man with a prosthetic leg, which he took back to Australia and then encouraged soldiers to use as a novelty drinking vessel; and pressured a newly deployed soldier to kill an elderly, unarmed man.
Roberts-Smith, who was a member of the special forces, contended the articles were false and defamatory. The newspapers stood by their reporting. In a summary of his decision on Thursday, the judge found the newspapers "established the substantial truth" of many of the 14 allegations against Roberts-Smith -- a legal bar that the newspapers needed to clear for the case to be dismissed.
Lawyers for Roberts-Smith didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.
"The series of stories at the center of this trial will have a lasting impact on the Australian Defence Force and how our soldiers conduct themselves during conflict," said Nine Entertainment, the publisher of Sydney and Melbourne newspapers that were defendants in the case, adding that the judge's ruling is a critical step toward justice for the families of the victims.
Australia, one of the U.S.'s most important allies in the Indo-Pacific region as Washington works to counter China, has been grappling with the legacy of its involvement in Afghanistan. Public scrutiny intensified in 2020, when a government inquiry found credible information that Australian special forces unlawfully killed 39 prisoners, farmers and other civilians. In response to the report, which recommended that certain honors for some soldiers that served in Afghanistan be revoked, the government established a special agency to help investigate potential crimes.
According to a 2020 court document in the defamation case, police informed Roberts-Smith that he was considered a suspect in an investigation into some of the same alleged war crimes reported by the newspapers. The document said no charges had been brought against him.
This year, Australian authorities charged a former soldier who was deployed to Afghanistan with a war crime, the first prosecution of its kind in Australia. The soldier was publicly identified; a lawyer for the soldier couldn't be reached for comment at the time.
The debate over Australia's military conduct comes as Washington deepens its security alliance with Australia.
The U.S. is also helping Australia develop nuclear-powered submarines under the three-way Aukus partnership with the U.K.
In parliamentary testimony this week, Gen. Angus Campbell, chief of Australia's military, said he received a letter from a U.S. defense attache that raised the possibility that allegations of war crimes in the 2020 government report may impact the U.S.'s ability to work with Australian special forces.
The U.S. Embassy in Canberra didn't have an immediate comment." [1]
A war is never a walk in a park. We lived through huge firebombing, nuclear attacks, Agent Orange use. In the time of the woke our military has to think how to ignore court condemnation that you are creating discomfort for children.
1. World News: Afghan-War Veteran Loses Suits Against Australian Papers. Cherney, Mike.
Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]. 02 June 2023: A.16.
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