Australia deprives officers war crimes Due to accusations of war crimes in Afghanistan that they may have overseen, Australia has stripped senior defense leaders of their military decorations. Defense Minister Richard Marles announced in parliament on Thursday that they will forfeit their distinguished service medals, in accordance with the recommendation of a historic investigation that claimed certain elements of the force had an unbridled “warrior culture.” In 2020, the Brereton Report was made public and contained “reliable evidence” that 39 persons had been unjustly killed by elite Australian soldiers in the Afghanistan War. Mr. Marles stated, “This will always be a national embarrassment.” “At the same time… [this is] a demonstration that Australia is a nation that holds itself accountable to the Australian people and the rest of the world.” Marles also stressed that the vast majority of Australian defence personnel who were deployed to Afghanistan between 2001 and 2021 had given “sacred service” and praised those who helped expose the alleged wrongdoing. The decision does not affect those under investigation for war crimes themselves,