Dutton apologises to cleared SAS troops

[Black Orchid]

Defence Minister Peter Dutton has apologised to any special forces troops wrongly accused of war crimes in Afghanistan.

A group of 13 soldiers has been told there is insufficient evidence for their cases to be referred to investigators after being told last year to prove why they shouldn't be sacked.

Mr Dutton said he wanted to send a clear message when he took over the portfolio that he would have soldiers' backs.

"If people have been wrongly accused and they've now been cleared of that then I do apologise for what they've been through, what their families have been through," he told Sydney radio 2GB on Thursday.

>snip<

Mr Dutton in April overturned Chief of Defence Angus Campbell's decision to strip meritorious unit citations from more than 3000 special forces soldiers.

One of the 13 soldiers, who was told there was not enough evidence to refer the allegations to investigators, is in Afghanistan assisting with rescue operations.

https://7news.com.au/politics/dutton-ap ... -c-3784097

Not a word from ScoMo who jumped in feet first to try to tar and feather them without due process.

[Valkie]

There needs to be more than an apology to tgese brave men who put their lives on the line, whereas the woke morons that accused them have done nothing but been cowards.

Sack every one of them involved.

[Valkie]

Still not good enough.

He should be sacked and his pension revoked.

A sorry saga for cleared soldiers
EDITOR-AT-LARGE
MATTHEW BENNS

DEFENCE Minister Peter Dutton has apologised to 13 SAS soldiers accused of war crimes in the Brereton Inquiry who have now had their dismissal notices quietly withdrawn because of a lack of evidence.

“Clearly if people have been wrongly accused and they have now been cleared of that then I do apologise for what they have been through, what their families have been through,” Mr Dutton told Ray Hadley on 2GB.

The 13 were told last week there was “insufficient information” to support allegations of war crimes raised in the Brereton Inquiry and that the notices to show cause why they should not be dismissed were being withdrawn.

Mr Dutton said the impact of the allega tions “reverber ates across the Australian De fence Force community”.

Veteran suicides spiked in the month after the report’s release and there are calls for the new royal commission into veteran suicide to widen its scope to include the conduct of the inquiry and its report.

Mr Dutton said he “has the back” of the rank and file military and wants the country to be “proud of the work” of the SAS and ADF in Afghanistan.

In November, after the Brereton report was released, ADF chief Angus Campbell made a public apology to the nation about the SAS soldiers’ alleged conduct and then-Defence Minister Linda Reynolds described their actions as “cold-blooded murder”.

Ms Reynolds backed out of appearing on Hadley’s show yesterday and wrote in instead saying “I have never accused any individual” of war crimes. Hadley demanded on air: “When will you apologise?

In April Mr Dutton stepped in to stop the 3408 members of the Special Operations Task Group who served in Afghanistan being stripped of their unit citation. The removal of the award was a key recommendation in the Brereton report.