Why so eager to die grunt?
https://www.operationburnham.inquiry.govt.nz
https://www.hitandrunnz.com/list-of-those-killed-and-injured
ON ANY ANZAC DAY, SOMEONE IS SURE TO TALK ABOUT HONOUR.
The word is used as if it means little more than wearing a uniform and having been in a war. But honour has to be earned. It is about trying to adhere to moral principles and stand up to wrong, even when it would be easier not to. It requires a special kind of courage.
What follows is a story of dishonour. It is set in the later part of New Zealand’s 2001–13 war in Afghanistan, when the rosy PR could no longer hide the fact that the conflict was going badly. The New Zealand military had prided itself on its good relations with local people: respect, empathy, an ability to sit down and talk over a cup of tea, a little country there trying to help. Then, in August 2010, the first New Zealand soldier died in combat.
Years of effort have gone into hiding and denying what happened next. In response to that death, New Zealand's Special Air Service (SAS) planned and led an ill-conceived and brutal attack on two remote Afghan villages. This raid and the events related to it have been a festering secret inside the Defence Force ever since, creating remorse for some but mostly an impulse to hide what happened. There has been a tacit pact of silence. A senior military officer who was closely involved called it a ‘guilty secret’ and urged the authors to dig deeper; an ex-SAS trooper who was there still struggles with what happened; another said that ‘the [SAS] guys know civilians were killed on that raid. They’re not happy about it.’ But others, up to the highest levels of government, have shown no concern and instead have joined in the cover-up.
Some parts of the story have already come to light over time, each time officially denied or ignored. Nicky Hager included it in his 2011 book on the Afghanistan conflict, Other People’s Wars, but only fragments had emerged by then. In 2014, on Maori Television, Jon Stephenson did a more detailed current affairs exposé called ‘Collateral Damage’, but still most of the story remained hidden. When, in late 2014, the authors discovered that they were both continuing to work on the story, they decided to combine their efforts.
August 2009
National government agrees to send NZSAS back to Afghanistan.
June 2010
British court maintains block on British troops handing prisoners to NDS secret police owing to ‘real risk’ of torture.
3 August 2010
Attack on New Zealand patrol team in Bamiyan province, Lieutenant Tim O’Donnell killed.
4 August 2010
US commander, General David Petraeus, issues combat rules for all US and allied troops on limiting civilian deaths.
c. 4–10 August 2010
Human intelligence and phone monitoring to identify insurgent group.
c. 10–20 August 2010
NZSAS arranges JPEL authorisations and plans raid.
20 August 2010
Defence Minister Wayne Mapp and Chief of Defence Lieutenant-GeneralJerry Mateparae visit troops at Bamiyan provincial reconstruction team base.
21August 2010
NZSAS briefings at Camp Warehouse. Mapp calls John Key. Helicopters depart for raid.
22 August 2010
NZSAS raid, Operation Burnham, on the villages of Naik and Khak Khuday Dad, villagers find casualties, insurgents visit, funerals.
23 August 2010
Defence Force and Afghan news website report civilian deaths. ISAF military command issues news release saying 12 insurgents dead, no civilian deaths.
24 August 2010
New York Times publishes story, ‘New case of civilian deaths investigated in Afghanistan’.
27 August 2010
Hundreds of people demonstrate in Baghlan about raid.
29 August 2010
ISAF investigation says possible civilian casualties, apologises to families.
c.1 September 2010
Second NZSAS raid on Naik village.
January 2011
NZSAS detain Qari Miraj in Kabul, beat him, hand him over to NDS secret police. In the following days Qari Miraj is tortured.
February 2011
National government announces 12-month extension of NZSAS deployment.
8 March 2011
Jerry Mateparae announced as next governor-general.
20 April 2011
TVNZ reveals NZSAS raid hunted for Tim O’Donnell killers. Defence Force responds that no civilians were harmed.
20 May 2011
Targeted killing of insurgent Alawuddin at his home in Turmush.
23 May 2011
Targeted killing of insurgent Qari Musa and several others.
2011
Informer for New Zealand military, Mullah Shafiullah, killed by Taliban.
31 March 2012
NZSAS contingent withdraws from Afghanistan. Twelve personnel remain at ISAF Special Operations Forces HQ in intelligence and planning roles.
21 November 2012
Targeted killing of insurgent Abdullah Kalta and five others.
April 2013
New Zealand provincial reconstruction team contingent withdraws permanently from Bamiyan.
30 June 2014
Maori Television documentary on NZSAS raid. Defence Force and government deny NZSAS involvement in civilian deaths.
