Operation SLIPPER

Jamie Larcombe was just nineteen
When he signed up for the Operation
The Generals called ‘SLIPPER’
Code for global war
In Afghanistan, Middle East and the
Gulf of Aden
No medals will bring Jamie home,
That boy from Kangaroo Island
– Last Train to Mirabad by Ian Curr

Recently the Australian Federal Police (AFP) have been raiding both the ABC and News Corp looking for information about an Afghan vet who has revealed war crimes by Australian Generals. There have been many stories in the press about the AFP’s wide-ranging “new” powers of search but we are more concerned about the victims of these war crimes.

The whistleblower/source now faces life imprisonment after these raids by the AFP of the ABC and News Corp … just look how readily both organisations complied with search warrants giving up private files to police.

And read how pissed off the whistleblower was with the ABC:

“I gave Dan Oakes (ABC) the information in 2016 … He ran a different story. My story was about bad leadership and bad generals. He ran a story about bad soldiers [not generals as I wanted]. ”

He was upset about the rules of engagement set by the Generals. And, he said “the ABC was “reckless” in publishing documents online that … led to his arrest:

“At the time I was pretty angry because (the ABC) published the document on the internet and it was pretty obvious where it had all come from. People in Defence could work out that the common link with the documents was me”

What happened to the maxim: ‘Never reveal your source’ when it is not safe to do so.

AFP Search Warrant

I have seen only pages 1 & 2 of the search warrant issued under CRIMES ACT 1914 – SECT 3E ‘When search warrants can be issued’ and I fancy I can hear the words of Rumpole ringing out in the Old Bailey:

“Your honour, the search warrant is so hopelessly vague as to be incomprehensible.

In this case the good Constable Brumby expects to find in the ABC studios in Ultimo, Sydney, electronic information about Operation SLIPPER that relate to an indictable offence. That may well be, but surely it is a fishing expedition when you consider the breadth of Operation SLIPPER.

That operation was conducted by the Australian Defence forces from 2001 in Afghanistan, the Middle East and the Gulf of Aden. Many people were killed as a result, no doubt a number of innocents and otherwise.

The Search Warrant should be struck down as being frivolous, vexatious and an abuse of process.”

Let this be a lesson to journos both here and abroad: “Keep your USB’s in a safe place!”

__oOo__

Sapper Jamie Larcombe and an Afghan interpreter were killed as part of Operation SLIPPER that the whisteblower says involves war crimes ordered by Australian Generals. Operation Slipper began in 2001 and involved more than 33,000 members of the Defence Force, public service and Federal Police who were deployed to Afghanistan and the Middle East.

During the mission, 41 ADF personnel were killed and another 261 wounded. How many innocent people killed was never counted but a few are mentioned in the Afghan Files.

Ian Curr
6 June 2019

Reference
Whistleblower at centre of ABC raid stands by Afghan leaks