The allegations against Australian SASR Victoria Cross recipient Ben Roberts-Smith—of murdering prisoners, desecrating corpses, and all kinds of other stuff—are quite the case study in the dangers of hero-worship of SOF operators theage.com.au/national/burie…
“Roberts-Smith dug a hole in the backyard of his house in the Sunshine Coast hinterland & buried the USB drives inside a pink plastic children’s lunchbox to hide them from both police & military investigations...he placed a rock on top to mark the spot.” theage.com.au/national/burie…
“leaked recordings of [Roberts-Smith] suggest he is confident that he can see off those seeking to hold him accountable. As long as his employer...keeps funding his cause, he says, he will not only win, he will ‘f—ing destroy’ his enemies.” theage.com.au/national/burie…
What goes unexplored in this story is maybe the most important thing about Roberts-Smith—the effect he had on the behavior of the rest of his SASR squadron. The Brereton report found that senior NCOs like him were viewed as “demigods” and role models. theage.com.au/national/burie…
Roberts-Smith was a senior NCO in 2 Squadron, the SASR unit disbanded last year at the recommendation of the Brereton report because it was responsible for the bulk of credible SOTG war crime allegations.
SASR officer pictured here wearing a 2 Sqn shirt: theage.com.au/national/burie…
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