politics

April 15, 2026

From war hero to war criminal: One man’s fate is breaking a country’s politics in half

For the Australian right, Ben Roberts-Smith is a beacon of virtue. For the left, he is a murderer. Both will use him as a culture-war grunt

From war hero to war criminal: One man’s fate is breaking a country’s politics in half

TL;DR

  • Ben Roberts-Smith, Australia's most decorated soldier, faces charges of war crimes for alleged murders of unarmed Afghan civilians between 2009 and 2012.
  • A previous defamation trial found allegations of Roberts-Smith's complicity in murdering Afghan civilians to be true, tarnishing his reputation and that of the Australian military.
  • Roberts-Smith's criminal trial will be a divisive 'culture war' spectacle, with politicians from both ends of the spectrum taking entrenched public positions.
  • The case highlights wider issues regarding the conduct of Australian troops in Afghanistan and the accountability of upper echelon military commanders.

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