Phil Taylor: Casualties of our secret war

New Zealand is one of the most secretive democracies regarding SAS activity. It guards information far more tightly than the United States, Australia or Britain.

Critics, including the Herald, say this is unnecessary. Although Prime Minister Helen Clark may feel obliged to maintain strict secrecy to protect the lives and operations of special forces, other countries kept their citizens reasonably briefed without putting them at risk.

Investigative journalist and researcher Nicky Hager believes New Zealand could be open about where they operated, what went on and how many people were killed without compromising the safety of the soldiers or the effectiveness of their mission. He concludes it serves the Government's purpose not to have the debate that such information might spark.

Last month, the Government announced that the third rotation of 50 SAS soldiers had returned home and it was unlikely further war-making troops would be sent.

But even a question mark hangs over this. Reports suggest that Britain wants New Zealand input for a counter-insurgency force it is planning for Afghanistan to replace 4000 US troops planned to be withdrawn early next year. Canada and Australia were also being asked to help.

The Prime Minister subsequently confirmed an informal approach was made to defence officials.

The refusal to confirm New Zealand's activities in Afghanistan is in marked contrast to Australia's approach, where its Prime Minister John Howard has been a cheerleader for Operation Enduring Freedom, code name for the offensives in Afghanistan and Iraq following the terrorist attacks of September 11.

Australia announced and publicly celebrated the medal-winning efforts in Afghanistan by its special forces, while New Zealand found out via reports in the US that two of its contingent were nominated for the US bronze star medal, awarded for meritorious service in direct support of combat operations.

Hager says there is no doubt many people have been killed because of the actions of our SAS troops and he suspects that is why the Government prefers to shut down debate. While Howard publicly farewelled and welcomed home Australia's SAS troops, Clark did so in private, taking the precaution of not travelling to the unit's base in her usual parliamentary limousine.

So what was the role of New Zealand's SAS troops in the Afghan chapter of US President George W. Bush's "war on terror"?

Though the New Zealanders are respected for their ability as long-range trackers they are likely to have been well down the pecking order. US special forces Navy seals, Army Delta Force commandos and Green Berets, US Rangers and the CIA's Special Operations Group competed among themselves for the prime jobs in a crowded field.

The war in Afghanistan was a war of special forces rather than regular divisions. Other special forces in Afghanistan included Canada's Joint Task Force Two, the German KSK and operators from Poland, Denmark, France, Italy, Lithuania and Norway.

Relationships with the US counted and New Zealand's anti-nuclear policy and the consequent demise of ANZUS put it down the order. Australian commanding officer Gus Gilmore lobbied hard for good jobs for his SAS contingent, Ian McPhedran reveals in his book on that country's special force, The Amazing SAS.

"The politics of the Coalition operation," writes McPhedran, "meant that niche units such as the SAS had to convince the Americans that they could offer not only a unique but useful capability.

Fortunately, the Australians had already built up solid relationships with their US counterparts through various special forces exchanges and appointments to key offices in various US commands."

McPhedran, chief defence writer for News Ltd, told the Herald he suspects the New Zealand SAS worked in self-contained units on more routine jobs.

"I don't think they have been at the pointy end of the job as much as the Aussies because the Aussies had managed to do all that liaison work with the [Americans] early on to get those really good jobs."

Hager agrees: "We shouldn't assume that they [the SAS] are doing high-powered stuff, or even that they are doing very important stuff."

There might have been times when the United States planners wanted New Zealanders for key tasks because of such things as their tracking expertise but generally he believes they were getting the low-priority jobs.

"At least in the first year or two there was a strong sense among them [SAS troops] that they were there for diplomatic purposes rather than eyeball-to-eyeball with Osama bin Laden, because they were not being used very well. They were kicking around," he says.

Weekend Herald inquiries indicate they have operated out of Bagram, north of Kabul, and Kandahar, near the Pakistan border.

Their work has involved long-range tracking operations, in which groups of four or five, each with a specialist skill such as medicine, signalling or explosives, go on information-gathering missions which may lead to arms caches or insurgents.

This involves observation of "hot areas", monitoring movements, and searching travellers, the bread-and-butter work of special forces.

Their orders, whether on stand-alone missions or joint operations, came from US commanders.

They did play a significant strategic role in one of the biggest battles, Operation Anaconda, in eastern Afghanistan in March 2002. Though few bodies were discovered, the US estimated more than 1000 al Qaeda and Taleban fighters were killed.

It was for intelligence work during this battle and its aftermath that two New Zealanders, Mike Hickman and Darby Allen, were nominated for bronze stars.

They operated from Coalition Task Headquarters at Bagram air base, tracking enemy forces and identifying targets, buildings, roads and bridges.

Jets from distant aircraft carriers are then sent to destroy them with precision-guided missiles.

In an article in the Sunday Star-Times, Hager said SAS soldiers stationed in the mountains directed air attacks during the assault in the Shahi Khot valley by "illuminating" targets with pulsing infrared marker beams.

"The objective of Anaconda was extermination rather than taking prisoners. Other special forces, including the Australian SAS, were deployed to cut off escape routes."

The Defence Force rated the prospect of fatalities among New Zealand troops as "moderate to high" but it appears none lost their lives.

Two SAS soldiers were injured last year, one shot, one hit by shrapnel, and another was injured in a vehicle accident.

Of the combat injuries, the Defence Force said the soldiers were involved in "direct action missions" but refused to give further information, other than the two men were recovering.

Media reports at the time, quoting unofficial sources, said they were wounded during a "fire-fight" with insurgents. 
 

Casualties of our secret war

* Special Air Service (SAS) soldiers. Third rotation of 50 soldiers returned home last month with no plan of a fourth rotation. Believed to have operated mainly in the east and south, near the Pakistan border. Two were injured in a battle in June last year, a third in a vehicle accident.

* 100-plus defence staff based in Bamyan as part of a reconstruction team working in the province of Bamyan, northwest of Kabul.