‘Lateline’ is on the TV, and its part 1 of a two-part program regarding Mentoring Team Alpha in Afghanistan…and I think of the Australian men killed in Afghanistan since 2001.
I reflect on my five years in Iraq and the men killed there. I think of the ‘superb’ BCR (battle casualty rate) of 12.5% of the 22,5000 Counter Insurgency personnel we trained in Iraq; hell how good is that! Only 2,812 (point 5) men killed. Bloody proud of that I am. Damn shame about the hundreds of thousands of women and children killed in Afghanistan and Iraq, but I guess they have to pay a price.
So there we are, Australians in combat being killed and wounded while we fight to bring democracy, freedom and justice to Iraq and Afghanistan. Justice for people in those countries…like removal of secret commissions, not convicting and punishing people without seeing evidence, enforcing the UN Human Rights expectations of all men and women. Noble and worthy causes.
It’s a crying shame this type of justice doesn’t exist in Australia any more. Forget the bikies – they are the fall guys. NO, don’t forget them. They are Australians and we are allowing our elected servants of the people to remove their fundamental rights.
OK, if these actions (against bikies) are acceptable, get our troops out of harm’s way now. How dare you Politicians put my brothers in arms (I’ll be in trouble now because ‘brothers’ is a bikie word, too) in harm’s way, when you shamelessly remove the rights they are fighting for for people overseas from Australians in our own country.
– Bradley Parfitt, CLA member, Brisbane