Stuart M

No one should ever claim the EU is not malign after reading this. judiciary.house.gov/sites/evo-subs…

You also have presumption of innocence and a requirement to find beyond reasonable doubt in criminal trials. Agree? "We can't go to that country, we don't have access to the crime scenes... we don't have photographs, site plans, measurements, the recovery of projectiles, blood spatter analysis... we don't have access to the deceased. There's no post-mortem." bbc.com/news/articles/…

@SaiKate108 As a former lawyer you should know all of these claims whilst genuine are irrelevant LOAC are there for a reason. Executing prisoners is not ok, do you agree?

It’s personal for Veteran Sam Bamford who goes ballistic over the arrest of decorated war hero Ben Roberts- Smith. He describes the horror of losing 3 mates shot by Taliban soldiers who had infiltrated the Afghan army working along side the AFD. With the first responders to make the scene safe being Ben Roberts-Smith and his team. ‘You don’t get to send us into that type of war zone and then judge us for what happened over there when we get home.’

@D3Shabat @FUDdaily Indeed, its nothing more than rather obvious propaganda.

@FUDdaily Got halfway through the first episode and decided the show was degenerate garbage not worth watching.

Seems like the natural destination of the precise degeneracy the show revels in.

Are you suggesting it's acceptable to imprison someone without evidence? "The OSI has been tasked with investigating literally dozens of murders alleged to have been committed in the middle of a war zone in a country 9,000km from Australia," he said. "We can't go to that country, we don't have access to the crime scenes... we don't have photographs, site plans, measurements, the recovery of projectiles, blood spatter analysis... we don't have access to the deceased. There's no post-mortem." The guy may or may not be guilty, but you need to prove that beyond reasonable doubt. bbc.com/news/articles/…

@WilkieisBack66 Are you suggesting that it is ever acceptable to carry out the extrajudicial killings of unarmed individuals, combatants or civilians, once they have been captured? Compound this with the manner in which they were alleged to have been killed - tell us that this is ever justified.

I’m not intimately acquainted with the details of this case against the Australian former SAS Corporal Ben Roberts-Smith VC, other than which I have heard in the media. As a retired military Officer, I agree that there is no place for criminal behaviour in the military, however, when it comes to COIN warfare where a man or a boy is a combatant one minute and a civilian the next, the stress on Security Forces to make the right decisions every time are overwhelming. Throw into that mix, adrenaline, fear, the knowledge that your fellow soldiers have been murdered or assassinated by Taliban sleeper agents in an act of perfidy, then the lines between what is acceptable to you and I, versus the man on the ground begin to blur. All Western armies judge their personnel to the highest standards, our expectations of their conduct and operational efficiency is enormous. During my time serving in the SADF/SANDF, my troops and I were committed to work in three very different military theatres of operations over my service period. 1. Urban COIN operations in the townships of South Africa, where, just like in Northern Ireland and Afghanistan, your enemy combatants do not wear a uniform, they do not engage with the rules of war or even the rule of law. They are terrorists and their aim is confusion, terror and destabilisation. 2. Rural COIN operations, similar to an urban environment, the enemy combatants use the local population as a shield for their operations, either by being a member of the Local Pops or by extreme violent intimidation against the Local Pops. Violence so graphic and horrific that I dare not detail on X what that entailed. 3. Conventional Warfare operations - just like WWII, where we had aircraft, artillery, armour, infantry, sappers, logistics etc. deployed against an enemy with exactly the same resources. The enemy was formed into Brigades, wore uniforms and behaved like a conventional military, albeit the one I was fighting against was directly supported by Soviet “Advisors” and 50,000 Cuban soldiers fighting alongside the Angolan Army. All three theatres of war had challenges, however COIN warfare where the line between combatants and civilians is blurred, has varied challenges for commanders on the ground and their troops that in my opinion and experience can be costly when errors of judgement are found or considered found to be made In South Africa, on urban deployments in the Townships, I as a Company Commander or Platoon Commander was subject not only to military law and conduct, but my actions and commands were subject to civilian law, as were the actions of my troops. Any subjective “error” could see me tried in a civilian court, not as a soldier (with military protection) but as a civilian, almost accused of vigilante behaviour. Hardly a motivation tool for soldiers serving in those circumstances, nor a tool that could be used as an effective “force multiplier”. I was considered by my superiors and peers to be a very aggressive military leader, pushing my soldiers to achieve enormous success, but if we were to be judged by armchair experts who have never been exposed to life threatening danger, I fear I may have operated very close to, or even touched the line at times. We were constantly questioned by “The Reasonable Man” test, as in what would a reasonable man’s actions be in the circumstances we found ourselves in? Noble, admirable to hold one’s soldiers to this standard, however, let’s also remember that reasonable men are seldom found in life and death situations for extended periods of time. In SA post 1994, I was able, like many other former SADF soldiers to look any accuser in the eye, knowing my conscience was completely clear. Whatever the outcome for Roberts-Smith, I hope there’s no political agenda or modern guilt driving a guilty verdict. Governments ask their soldiers everything. Isn’t it fair to protect them from political persecution? #Veterans #Afghanistan

@MaxWatersNZ @DrewPavlou It's a jury trial, not judge only.

@DrewPavlou I wish I had your confidence. You have plenty of judges in Australia who will convict him on no evidence at all or even in the face of contrary evidence.

Bookmark this tweet: Ben Roberts-Smith will win in court and then run for One Nation at the next election. Australian Office of Special Investigations director Ross Barnett on the Ben Roberts-Smith allegations: “We don’t have access to the crime scenes. We don’t have photographs, site plans, measurements, the recovery of projectiles, blood spatter. We don’t have access to the deceased. There’s no post-mortem report, there’s no official cause of death, there’s no recovery of projectiles to link to weapons that might have been carried by members of the ADF.” Tell me how you prove beyond reasonable doubt that he committed war crimes when that's the dog shit evidence brief. He's going to be acquitted, it's obvious.

@Mr_Andrew_Fox @aus_pill But you have to prove beyond reasonable doubt based on admissible evidence.

@aus_pill And yet 21 of his fellow operators testified against him and will do so again. You have no idea what a huge step that is, and 21 of them have taken it. All I need to know.

Ben Roberts-Smith > 6’7, 250lbs (200cm, 110kg) > Taliban described him as the ‘big soldier with blue eyes’ > Fought with crusader’s cross patch > SASR, Victoria’s Cross recipient

Stopping men from using the ladies loos isn't quashing anyone's rights, and if you the think Trumps a pedo bring the evidence to the cops or stfu. As for your vile murderous views on killing the unborn, maybe that explains why you are so cozy with islamic dictatorships, they share your murderous inclinations.

@StuartM1827017 @SecRubio But it’s the USA that’s been quashing trans rights. The USA that has a pedophile President and refuses to investigate the largest ever sex trafficking ring. The USA taking away women’s rights to make decisions for their own bodies. Why do you hate women and children so much?

Met with New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters today to discuss cooperation on critical minerals supply chains, the Iran conflict, and ways to advance security and prosperity in the Pacific Islands.

@AndersAxelson1 @johnkonrad Where did I say he was ever more than a corporal?

@StuartM1827017 @johnkonrad He remained demoted long after he left the SAS!

Something is really bothering me about the Ben Roberts-Smith case. Nobody likes being a hypocrite. Unlike most, I actually go for a walk when I suspect myself of being one. On one hand, this prosecution stinks of liberal bias. Out of thousands of potential war crimes cases the social justice warrior police chief could have pursued, she picked THE most decorated soldier on the entire continent. That isn’t justice. That’s a public humiliation ritual. On the other hand, I do believe actual war criminals should stand trial regardless of rank or honors. And I know what’s coming: “John, Roberts-Smith already lost the 2023 defamation case. Justice Besanko found he committed the murders.” Yes. On the balance of probabilities. 51 percent. That’s the civil standard. Criminal conviction requires 99 percent. The same fragile evidence that barely cleared a coin flip is now supposed to send a man to prison for life. Here’s why my post is not hypocrisy. When the school got hit in Iran weeks ago, I said mistakes aren’t war crimes, but if it was intentional or grossly negligent, someone should be court-martialed. That strike is recent. Physical. Investigable. The Roberts-Smith allegations are 20 years old. And here’s what the Brereton Inquiry, for all its 510 witnesses & four years of work, could never get: No crime scene access. The Taliban didn’t let investigators into Uruzgan. No Afghan witnesses interviewed. No secured scene. No blood-spatter analysis. No DNA No autopsies. No recovered bodies. No weapons tied to victims. The investigators themselves admitted they “lacked access to Afghan crime scenes and were missing the physical evidence that would normally anchor a murder prosecution.” So what’s left? Memory. Twenty-year-old memory from men in the fog of war. The science is unambiguous. Countless research studies confirms memory is reconstructive: later suggestion, media exposure, and repeated questioning distort it. This is the textbook misinformation effect. Confidence and accuracy decouple within months, let alone decades. Studies on soldiers who suffer PTSD show the gaps get even larger. I admittedly don’t know 🇦🇺 law but US courts admit decades-old testimony but warn juries it is inherently fragile, not scientific proof. Australia is treating it as load-bearing concrete. The media says “20 former soldiers testified against him.” Fine. Was all their testimony actually against him? How clear was it? Did 20 people watch him murder a civilian in broad daylight? And even if they did, you still have to prove the dead man wasn’t Taliban. In Uruzgan. In 2009. Without a body. Some will say I’m being pedantic. Yes. I. Am. Because Ben Roberts-Smith was charged with murder, and under war-crimes law the same act can be framed as murder, willful killing, or killing a person hors de combat depending on the framing. How it gets framed sets precedent for every future war. And here’s the question nobody in Canberra wants asked: Why is the trigger-puller in the dock while the officers who wrote the rules of engagement, approved the missions, and signed the after-action reports keep their pensions? The Victoria Cross winner hangs. The chain of command walks. Past “War crime” cases with more hard evidence remain “unsolved” That isn’t accountability. That’s a scapegoat ritual. You do not get a Victoria Cross just for killing. You get it for extraordinary gallantry, valour, self-sacrifice & devotion to duty in the presence of the enemy. And here is what Australia just told every soldier watching: the reward for a VC is fame which will make you a target for future show trials built on 20-year-old memories, prosecuted by a police chief with no combat but more ribbons on her uniform than you. If murder can be proven without hard evidence decades later. That isn’t justice even if he is guilty. Proof of guilt matters. That’s a Marxist humiliation ceremony leading to national strategic disarmament by lawfare.

@AndersAxelson1 @johnkonrad That tells us he wanted to stay with the best unit in the army, and a lot of soldiers take a demotion to get into that regiment. Rank matters little, only ability. Had he stayed regular or transferred to regular from SAS, he likely would have been above staff sergeant.

@johnkonrad There are about sixteen ranks in the Army. He never made it past Corporal, the second rank from the bottom. That should tell you something.

@SquirrellyNuts @SecRubio I'm talking about your defacto support of Iran. Why do you gate the LBGTI community so much that you want to see them dead?

@StuartM1827017 @SecRubio I’m unclear whether you’re talking about the USA or Iran

@SquirrellyNuts @SecRubio Wow. Imagine being you, using international law as shield for a theocracy that executes gays for being gay, murders rape victims for being raped and where pedophilia is essentially legalised.

@SecRubio The people of New Zealand don’t support your illegal war on Iran. You are committing war crimes daily

@GlobalTrlr @benoitlabrecque @cdrsalamander "We should kick the UK off of Diego Garcia. The Seabees built it, the US pays for it. I would say similar to airspace and even bases in Europe"

@benoitlabrecque @cdrsalamander We have never once done it or even threatened it.

Do we need to discuss what Europe did during the Kosovo conflict? Would you like to discuss this with the people of Novi Sad? "for missions that target ... bridges, power plants, or other civilian infrastructure, citing concerns that such strikes could harm civilians and constitute war crimes..."

Finland tracked every gender-referred adolescent in the country for up to 25 years. Their psychiatric needs didn't improve after 'gender reassignment'. They surged. A landmark peer-reviewed study just dropped. Here's what it found. 🧵

Indeed, Neo-Gothic would have been a better fit to go with the arts centre. Or is it 60-70's brutalist? or just some glass, steel and concrete structure? The idea that there is any coherent heritage concept or 'guidelines' in Christchurch is and always has been bullshit from the get go and can be seen on google street view.

@cjsbishop Cheap, lazy attempt to stir politics. And as ever from your coalition described misleadingly. It’s not about the building in itself, or the RMA per se, it’s about that it sits in a heritage precinct. They have guidelines. As it literally says, “The wrong kind of heritage”.

Honestly this sort of stuff makes me want to cry. Brooksfield Homes design and build beautiful homes in Chch. They spent 18 months arguing with the Council over it, costing $500,00 to $800,000. Just disgusting. thepress.co.nz/nz-news/360964…

Rear Admiral Chris Parry; "he experienced regular operational tours and combat operations in Northern Ireland, the Gulf and the Falklands, where he was mentioned in despatches for his part in rescuing 16 SAS from a glacier in South Georgia and the detection and disabling of the submarine Santa Fe. rusi.org/people/parry-c…

@DrChrisParry it's clearly not.

Not from any aircraft that has flown in the past 15 years.

I like the enthusiasm, but I will be very surprised if any party adopts this, or if they do, screw around with it to make it meaningless or amend it so as to make it an Orwellian weapon against freedom of speech. The core issue is that in the non US English speaking Westminster system nations the political parties fundamentally do not believe in freedom of speech. FofS is an impediment to ideology and its political implementation, and that is best shown by Premier Minns of NSW in Australia. Premier Minns ". I recognize and I fully said from the beginning that we don’t have the same freedom of speech laws that they have in the United States, and the reason for that is that we want to hold together a multicultural community and have people live in peace, free from the kind of vilification and hatred that we do see around the world." Of course it doesn't have to be multiculturalism, any ideology will do, because the principle remains the same; A society with the Westminster System that has freedom of speech is a society that will challenge core fundamentals of political power in that system. The last thing that those who hold power want to happen is the public being able to freely challenge ideas, as that runs the risk of challenging the system that embodies power and the people who wield power and their right to it. It should go without saying that no one who holds power wants to lose power, individually or collectively. grabien.com/story?id=562806

"Henry VI, Part 2 (Act IV, Scene 2), where his character Dick the Butcher tells his rebel henchman: “The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers”. Ahh, sweet reasonableness.

It is a huge failure of operation Epic Fury, planners should have anticipated the need to leave a single Iranian F-14 intact so that the downed crew could have exfiltrated themselves.

In the 1970s Ben Stein interviewed major TV producers/writers to ask why their portrayal of US culture was so distorted. Businessmen were evil. Real life crime was always depicted inaccurately, favoring instead the Marxist narratives on race, class, and culture of the new left.

Until recently, Hamideh Soleimani Afshar and her daughter were green card holders living lavishly in the United States. Afshar is the niece of deceased Iranian Major General Qasem Soleimani. She is also an outspoken supporter of the Iranian regime who celebrated attacks on Americans and referred to our country as the "Great Satan." This week, I terminated both Afshar and her daughter's legal status and they are now in ICE custody, pending removal from the United States. The Trump Administration will not allow our country to become a home for foreign nationals who support anti-American terrorist regimes.

@elonmusk He missed ! SG1 wins again!

Absolutely