WHISTLEBLOWER EXPOSING AUSTRALIAN WAR CRIMES JAILED!
May 16, 2024Meet David McBride, the whistleblower who bravely exposed the harrowing reality of Australia’s SAS war crimes in Afghanistan.
Despite facing prison time, he remained steadfast in his commitment to truth and justice.
McBride’s actions led to the uncovering of atrocities and a long-overdue reckoning within the military.
There was credible evidence of war crimes. A pattern of extrajudicial killings. And one incident labeled possibly the most disgraceful episode in Australia’s military history. In all, the inquiry implicated 25 soldiers in the murder of 39 Afghans. So what did the police do? Well, they raided the national broadcaster.
In his words: “We can’t put innocent people in jail to appease the press, nor can we pin medals on serial killers”. And for exposing that truth and the cover up. The man many people regard as the real national hero in all of this is in jail.
As we reflect on his unwavering bravery, let’s stand in solidarity with whistleblowers like David McBride who dare to challenge the status quo and uphold the principles of truth and justice! We are all #DavidMcBride
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English Script:
Soraya Lennie: Murder, torture, summary executions. These are just some of the things Australia’s lauded special Forces are accused of doing when they were deployed in Afghanistan between 2007 and 2013. But finally, more than a decade after these crimes occurred, someone’s gone to jail. No, not the guy who executed at point blank range, a farmer cowering in a wheat field. And no, not the guy who allegedly machine gunned a one-legged unarmed man, then drank beer out of his prosthetic leg. The first man Australia sent to jail over war crimes allegations is the whistleblower.
David Mcbride: I might have broken the law, but I did not break my oath to the people of Australia and the soldiers who keep us safe.
Soraya Lennie: Military lawyer David McBride was sentenced to almost six years in prison for leaking sensitive documents that exposed a slew of war crimes allegedly committed by Australia’s SAS in Afghanistan. McBride did two tours as a legal officer and has always admitted he leaked the documents. Well, let me explain why. McBride saw claims of war crimes against certain members of the SAS. But time after time military investigators dismissed the allegations. And instead of stopping the killings, senior officers gave them medals. One of the soldiers, Ben Roberts-Smith, was celebrated as a national hero. But then a few journalists started asking questions. And according to McBride, the military panicked and finally started to prosecute people. The problem was they were the wrong soldiers, McBride says they were being blamed to cover up all the past inaction. He sent a formal complaint to his superiors. He even went to the police and the defense minister. They dismissed his concerns. So he leaked the documents to the national broadcaster. And what did the military do? Well, around this time, it started an internal investigation known as the Brereton Inquiry. And in 2020, the inquiry concluded that basically McBride was right. There was credible evidence of war crimes. A pattern of extrajudicial killings. And one incident labeled possibly the most disgraceful episode in Australia’s military history. In all, the inquiry implicated 25 soldiers in the murder of 39 Afghans. So what did the police do? Well, they raided the national broadcaster. And what about the soldiers who are accused? About five years after these allegations became public, police charged the soldier in this video with a war crime of murder. So far, no one else has been charged. And the journalists who reported on the leaked documents? They’ve been awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia. As McBride told me before his trial, he was motivated by a sense of duty, both to the truth and to the public. In his words: “We can’t put innocent people in jail to appease the press, nor can we pin medals on serial killers”. And for exposing that truth and the cover up. The man many people regard as the real national hero in all of this is in jail.
