DEFENCE chief Angus Houston has ordered a
full investigation into video images posted on the internet showing skylarking Australian soldiers in Baghdad brandishing weapons.
I was alerted to this yesterday with receipt of a Defence Media release that the
Australian used as a basis for their front page ‘serious news’ type headlines. OK, slightly off-key, a bit tacky, maybe not very professional but all indications are that it is really a minor misdemeanor and should be handled at company/Major level and certainly shouldn’t be remanded past the Commanding Officer.
Brig
Jim Wallace, ex SASR officer and now a devoted christian sees it this way as well while predicably, a ‘never heard of him before’ academic, has been assailed in his ivory tower by the ABC to put the episode and Defence in a poor light.
He meets the requirement by stating;
… the offensive videos at the centre of the latest army scandal show soldiers see themselves as separate from the rest of the community. The soldiers found responsible for the video, in which one holds a gun to the head of a man in Arab dress and another is shown quickdrawing his handgun, could be thrown out of the army.
Identified as Social researcher at Flinders University and former infantry soldier Dr Ben Wadham he reiterates his point;
“Trophy shots are like an artefact of military culture – they show us that the military sees itself as separate from the broader community,” he said.
I wonder what regiment Ben served in….I’ve got a quid it was the local University Regiment as he gives the impression of considering himself a far more worthy person than us common infantrymen.
A bit tacky, as Ive said but it really doesn’t warrant headlines unless balanced with articles on the pressures that these guys operate under.
A beat-up.
UPDATE: CB has supplied the good doctor’s resume in
comments Nothing there to change my original thoughts.
UPDATE I: The good doctor has commented and I withdraw the put-down “I’ve got a quid it was the local University” as has seen real service in 2/4RAR. (read comments)