Claims need answers
The lights were burning in the Beehive last night as an army of staff speed-read the explosive new book by Nicky Hager and Jon Stephenson.
The book claims a military coverup and potential war crimes in relation to a bloody raid on an Afghan village following the death of a New Zealand soldier in 2010.
These are deadly serious questions. If true, the implication is that New Zealand soldiers may be guilty of war crimes. But it is not the first time they have been raised.
Hager and Stephenson allege elite New Zealand troops in Afghanistan were involved in a botched raid that killed six civilians, including a 3-year-old girl, in two isolated villages.
The NZ Government claimed at the time insurgents were killed and has always denied there were civilian deaths at the hands of NZ soldiers.
Crucial to Hager and Stephenson’s claims is their assertion that they have fresh sources and documents supporting the allegations in the book.
In the initial hours following the Hager-Stephenson book launch, there was silence from the Beehive. Staff would have been frantically checking the book’s claims that their information came from directly within the military and sources close to Government. The crucial quote appears to be one attributed to former Defence Minister Wayne Mapp, in which he allegedly referred to the raid as ‘‘our biggest and most disastrous operation, a fiasco’’.
It suggests a level of access to the inner circles of Government. Mapp has not responded to a call seeking comment.
The New Zealand Defence Force has repeated its statement from 2011 that allegations of civilian casualties had already been investigated and found to be unfounded. That statement leaves open the possibility that there may have been deaths at the hands of other nations.
Hager and Stephenson argue that it is not enough for New Zealand to wash its hands of the actions of other nations in a raid led by our soldiers and based on our intelligence.
NZDF’s statement might suggest the door to an inquiry is already closed. But the subsequent Government response is not so quick to close that door.
Attributed to a spokesperson for the acting defence minister, it would only note that the matter had already been investigated and ‘‘I am advised by the [NZDF] they stand by what they said at the time’’.
This suggests Government ministers are aware of the gravity of Hager and Stephenson’s claims.
They won’t want to be seen to have dismissed the book without weighing up its claims carefully.