Seventeen years.
That’s how long after the alleged events in Afghanistan it has taken to bring criminal charges against Ben Roberts-Smith—Australia’s most decorated living soldier.
Seventeen years in which:
Memories fade
Evidence degrades
Witnesses disappear or become inaccessible
And Afghanistan itself has fallen back into the hands of the very forces we were fighting
At some point, justice delayed risks becoming justice distorted.
Even supporters of the prosecution must confront a basic question:
If the case was strong, why did it take nearly two decades?
From Hero to Villain—Which Was the Mistake?
Australia awarded Roberts-Smith the Victoria Cross—the nation’s highest military honour.
That’s not handed out lightly.
So which is it?
Did the nation get it wrong then?
Or is it getting it wrong now?
You can’t have it both ways.
Either due diligence failed when the medal was awarded—or the system is now retroactively rewriting history.
The Arrest: Justice or Theatre?
The way the arrest was carried out raises serious concerns.
A public airport arrest.
Filmed.
Media tipped off—particularly outlets that had pursued the story for years.
This wasn’t a quiet legal process. It looked like a production.
And that matters, because:
It risks prejudicing a jury pool
It creates a narrative before a trial begins
It shifts the perception from “accused” to “guilty in the public eye”
Justice should be blind—not broadcast.
Why Sydney? Choosing the Jury
Another uncomfortable question: why was the arrest made in Sydney?
Not Perth, where the alleged events relate.
Not Brisbane, where Roberts-Smith has lived.
Sydney.
There are suggestions this was about accessing a “broader” or more favourable jury pool.
If true, that’s not justice.
That’s strategy.
And it cuts to the heart of public confidence in the system.
Civilian Courts Judging War
Here’s the deeper issue.
War is not a courtroom.
In Afghanistan, soldiers operated in:
Split-second decision environments
Situations where friend and foe were indistinguishable
Conditions where hesitation could mean death
Yet now, years later, civilians—far removed from that reality—are asked to judge those decisions.
Even allies like the United States generally try their military within military systems, recognising the unique context of combat.
Australia, through international commitments, has moved toward civilian prosecution.
But the question remains:
Can civilian standards truly account for the chaos and ambiguity of war?
Commanders Walk Free—Soldiers Face Trial
Another troubling imbalance.
Investigations following the Afghanistan campaign have largely focused on rank-and-file soldiers—while senior command has avoided accountability.
That raises a fundamental fairness issue:
Who sets the rules of engagement?
Who oversees operations?
Who bears ultimate responsibility?
If failures occurred, they were not created at the corporal level alone.
The Evidence Problem
This case faces extraordinary hurdles:
No bodies
No forensic evidence
Conflicting testimony
National security constraints limiting what can be disclosed in open court
And yet the burden is beyond reasonable doubt.
That’s not commentary—it’s reality.
The Bigger Question
Let’s be clear.
If crimes were committed, they should be prosecuted.
A moral military matters.
But so does fairness.
So does context.
And so does the message we send to those we ask to fight on our behalf.
We train them to:
Close with the enemy
Make life-and-death decisions instantly
Operate in moral grey zones
Then, years later, we judge those decisions in black-and-white terms.
Final Thought
This case is now before the courts.
It will run its course.
But one question will linger long after the verdict:
Have we pursued justice… or created a precedent that will make future soldiers hesitate when it matters most?
Because in war, hesitation isn’t just a legal issue.
It can be fatal.
___________________________________________________________________________________
“Should Ben Roberts-Smith case ever have been brought?”
(You can find it here: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/should-ben-robertssmith-case-ever-have-been-brought/news-story/ef796b10ecba054bc09e779de9…)
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