Australia strips medals from military commanders over Afghanistan war crime allegations

MELBOURNE, Australia — Several serving and former Australian military commanders have been stripped of medals over allegations of war crimes committed during the Afghanistan war, Defense Minister Richard Marles said Thursday. “The allegations which are the subject of the Brereton Report are arguably the most serious allegations of Australian war crimes in our history,” Marles told Parliament. “Had we known what had occurred, would the medals have been granted?” Opposition lawmaker Andrew Hastie, who as an SAS captain commanded troops in Afghanistan in 2013, said Australian political leaders and the military hierarchy should also be held accountable for war crimes. But a whistleblower and former army lawyer, David McBride, was sentenced in May to almost six years in jail for leaking to the media classified information that exposed allegations of Australian war crimes.