According to CNN, Australia’s most decorated soldier has been detained for war crimes related to his service in Afghanistan more than a decade ago. Ben Roberts-Smith, arrested on charges of committing war crimes, denied the accusations in a public statement on Sunday and said he was proud of his service.
We wonder what service Smith was proud of. There is nothing to be proud of in killing people, whether civilian or soldier. As a soldier, he should oppose war, but his pride in killing innocent or not-so-innocent people already shows a lack of sanity.
Roberts-Smith, 47, who was released on bail this week, denies the killing of five unarmed Afghan civilians between 2009 and 2012, but he may soon be waving the Australian flag and giving patriotic speeches.
Let us state our opinion: This man also knows that many innocent civilians, including those guilty, were killed in Afghanistan, but he believes he did it for his country or his army. So, according to him, he was following orders and didn’t commit a crime by killing civilians. This doesn’t make him guilty for carrying out orders.
Frankly, what we don’t understand is this: Why would a soldier, after a decision by the authorities to go to war, go to a country he doesn’t know and fight against people he doesn’t know, and why would he constantly defend his service to the country by killing others? For example, Smith may not even know the civilians he allegedly killed in Afghanistan; he might even be friends with them if he saw them in normal life. But in war, everyone, living or dead, is seen as an enemy and becomes a target to be eliminated.
If Smith goes to prison after the trial, one thing will be very clear: those who sent him to war will live comfortably, retire, and history will remember them. He, on the other hand, will spend his life in prison, thinking he did a service.