Authors Nicky Hager (left) and Jon Stephenson during the launch of their book, Hit & Run, in Wellington on March 21.
Authors Nicky Hager (left) and Jon Stephenson during the launch of their book, Hit & Run, in Wellington on March 21.
The death of Lieutenant Tim O'Donnell, a decorated SAS trooper, on August 10, 2010, in an ambush of his patrol by Taleban fighters in Bamiyan Province, Afghanistan, was, like all such military deaths, a tragedy.
Such tragedies have ripple effects on those living -- his family -- who will experience his loss for years.
That same ripple effect may also have affected a number of Afghan families due to events which took place 12 days later, when O'Donnell's comrades conducted a series of raids on two Afghan villages in the mistaken belief that Lt O'Donnell's killers were present therein, and not miles away.
Faulty intelligence led to an attack by our SAS troops -- supported by US helicopter gunships -- that resulted in the deaths of six Afghan civilians and the wounding of 10 other civilians.
These events form the substance of the book Hit and Run by Nicky Hager and Jon Stephenson.
The facts remain under dispute by our SAS commanders, in that the authors of Hit and Run posit that the raid on the two Afghan villages, resulting in civilian deaths, may constitute a war crime.
Hager and Stephenson have asked for an official inquiry which Bill English et al have thus far refused.
In addition to attacks on the motives of the two investigative journalists -- shooting the messenger -- the Defence Force seeks to undermine the factual basis of the book by claiming that while an attack by our forces did take place on August 22, 2010, it was in a different location.
The raid was directly authorised by our then Prime Minister, John Key. Afterwards, the Ministry of Defence, under Wayne Mapp, refused to acknowledge that any civilian deaths occurred -- until 2017 when Mr Mapp changed his tune, even though his successor, Jonathan Coleman, maintained the story that no civilian deaths occurred at the hands of New Zealand troops.
Jay Kuten
The latter is probably technically -- but only technically -- correct. Most of the damage and the killings could be accounted for by the support US helicopter gunships. But as this was a New Zealand operation, those gunships were responsible to the New Zealanders on the ground.
Why should we care about events far away, seven years ago? Why call for an inquiry and stir up the grieving of the O'Donnell family, who have already buried their son in honour to his country?
If the attack authorised by Prime Minister Key occurred in response to the death of Lt O'Donnell, it would be considered retaliatory or revenge killing. Such action, days after the initial New Zealand death, is unjustified as self defence and is subject to consideration as a war crime.
It's no surprise the call for an inquiry has been resisted. Beyond the singularity of the attacks on the two villages, the book charges alarmingly that the SAS has effectively permeated the highest reaches of the Defence Force; that the SAS lobbied both Nato and the Government to be allowed to return to Afghanistan in 2010 after their initial deployment ended in 2004.
If true, that would make the SAS a praetorian guard, beyond civilian control.
Inquiry is necessary in order to address the question of why we are still in Afghanistan. The flimsy legal basis for the American invasion of Afghanistan, the Taleban's refusal to hand over Bin Laden, has long since elapsed.
New Zealand's presence, alongside Nato, lent legitimacy to the invasion, according to United States General David Petraeus. But it's nearly 16 years on, and the legitimacy of occupation is wearing thin. Clear-eyed military experts (US Defence chief James Mathis, for one) acknowledge that the Taleban, an indigenous Afghan force, is winning.
An inquiry would have to answer why we are still there. We need to demand that our leaders stand up and face facts, facts that may prevent further deaths of New Zealanders and Afghans.
Jay Kuten is an American-trained forensic psychiatrist who emigrated to New Zealand for the fly fishing. He spent 40 years comforting the afflicted and intends to spend the rest afflicting the comfortable.
