Source : Perth Now news
Australia’s most decorated soldier and accused war criminal Ben Roberts-Smith has travelled to Canberra to commemorate 25 years since the start of Australia’s involvement in the war in Afghanistan – the country in which police allege the former SAS soldier was involved in the killing of unarmed men.
The Victoria Cross recipient currently faces five counts of war crime murder following his arrest by Australian Federal Police in April.
The charges relate to the alleged killings of five unarmed men while Mr Roberts-Smith was deployed to Afghanistan between 2009 and 2012.
He has not entered any pleas, but has consistently denied any wrongdoing in relation to the allegations, which were the subject of his unsuccessful Federal Court defamation suit against Nine Newspapers.
Donning his medals, Mr Roberts-Smith attended the service at the War Memorial on Sunday to mark 25 years since the establishment of Operation Slipper, the first of several Australian Defence Force operations during the war in Afghanistan.
More than 35,000 Australians served in Australia and the Middle East Area of Operations (MEAO) following the September 11 attacks in New York.
Those personnel were involved in a range of activities, including initial counter-terrorism and counterinsurgency operations, as well as mentoring of the then-Afghan Army and humanitarian support.
They included Warrant Officer (Retd) Mick Enchong and his two children, Flight Lieutenant Jason Enchong and Sergeant Tara Enchong, who the War Memorial said are believed to be the first father, son and daughter trio to deploy into an area of operations when they served in Afghanistan on Operation Slipper in 2012.
The family reconnected ahead of Sunday’s event.
“We are delighted to have highlighted this story in our new Afghanistan gallery,” AWM director Matt Anderson said.
“A family of over 100 years of service has paid an incredible service to this country.”
Anthony Albanese is scheduled to address the event.
Also in attendance is SAS veteran and Coalition frontbencher Andrew Hastie — who testified in Mr Roberts-Smith ‘s defamation trial — as well as former prime ministers John Howard, Tony Abbott, Scott Morrison and Opposition leader Angus Taylor.
In total, 37 Australians died during service in Afghanistan.
They included Lance Corporal Stjepan Milosevic, Private Robert Poate, and Sapper James Martin, who were killed when an Afghan army sergeant, influenced by Taliban propaganda, opened fire on them while they were off-duty at a base in Uruzgan province.
The United States, with support from a broad coalition of allies, invaded Afghanistan to route the terrorist group al-Qaeda, as well as topple the extremist Taliban government, following the September 11 attacks.
However, despite more than two-decades of combat, infrastructure, and civilian activities – including by Australia – the capital Kabul again fell to the Taliban during the untied States’ hasty 2022 withdrawal.
Neither Australia nor the United States have diplomatic relations with the de-facto Taliban regime, however, any change in power remains unlikely.
Mr Roberts-Smith’s bail conditions were varied earlier this year so he could attend the opening of the War Memorial’s multimillion-dollar new wing in June.
He did not attend due to illness.
The Department of Veterans’ Affairs will also release a coin to all attendees on Sunday.
