By Islam El-Sakka
A previously unpublished military report has found that some Australian Special Air Service (SAS) officers knew soldiers under their command were planting weapons on dead Afghan civilians to portray them as combatants, but did nothing to stop the unlawful practice.
Report Details Breakdown of Command
The executive summary of a 2021 investigation by the Inspector General of the Australian Defence Force (IGADF) into the “cultural context” of the special operations command describes a “breakdown of command” and the erosion of military discipline during operations in Afghanistan, which “resulted in episodes of potential and actual egregious behaviour.”
Officers Failed to Act on Throwdowns
The report states that officers with actual knowledge of misconduct, including the use of “throwdowns” to fabricate fraudulent reporting, or rumours of misconduct, did not take effective action to investigate and address these issues. The unlawful behaviour revealed “a breakdown of command” and ineffective leadership.
Culture Enabled Misconduct
The investigation found that the SAS regiment developed an uncontrolled “warrior” ethos, exacerbated by the long, grinding nature of the Afghan conflict and repeated dangerous deployments. An “inversion” of the chain of command allowed senior non-commissioned officers to dominate junior officers, resulting in “learned helplessness” among officers.
Alcohol Tolerance Signaled Impunity
The report cites the consistent allowance of alcohol consumption by SAS soldiers while on deployment in Afghanistan – in defiance of orders imposed on others – as a strong signal that the rules did not apply to them.
False Reporting Concealed Actions
Soldiers wrote false battlefield reports laced with standardized phrases such as “manoeuvring to a position of tactical advantage” to describe civilian movements as direct participation in hostilities, which justified engagement under rules of engagement and assisted perpetrators in concealing their actions.
Report Previously Withheld
Defence had previously refused to release the report despite freedom of information requests and an attempt to force its disclosure in the Senate. The report was commissioned by former defence force chief and SAS officer Angus Campbell in 2021 following the Brereton Inquiry, which found credible information that Australian special forces personnel murdered 39 Afghan civilians and prisoners.
