Thread

Fact checking former SOTG member Heston Russell on @SkyNewsAust this week.

“As a special operations task group alone, we removed 11,000 insurgents from the battle space, & we are now discussing 25 alleged murders in the Brereton Report” - Russell https://www.skynews.com.au/details/_6249310553001

- In 2020, the @nytimes reported the Taliban has "somewhere between 50,000 and 60,000 active fighters & tens of thousands of part-time armed men and facilitators, according to Afghan and American estimates." That number is likely significantly higher than when SOTG was operating.

- Uruzgan's population, according to the 2011 census, is around 380,000.

- SOTG may well have apprehended 11,000 Uruzganis, but the vast majority were not insurgents. They were mostly unlucky men swept up in SOTG's drag-net.

- The Brereton Report documented 39 alleged murders, not 25.

- Since the Brereton Report was released, the @AfghanistanIHRC has documented a further 122 wrongful deaths.

“Our Australian Defence Force personnel performed magnificently, and what we did at our level was fantastic" - Russell

- The actions of some SOTG members & units is linked directly to Tb recruitment. 95% of Uruzgan, where SOTG primary area of operations, is now under Tb control.

“One [murder] is bad, but let’s talk about the law of ratios here, that’s a pretty bloody good job...” - Russell

- The #BreretonReport alleges that among a total of 3,000 SOTG members, 19 were murderers.

"...where are those good news stories?" - Russell

- One single journalist was given access to SOTG. "Good news stories" therein have, since, either been found to be false or their credibility highly questionable.

Via @CAugustElliott CC @elphick_karen