Last month, the publication of the so-called Brereton Report about alleged war crimes by the Australian Special Air Service (SAS) in Afghanistan ostensibly resulted in the dismissal of at least 10 senior SAS members.
The Australian Defence Department sent “show cause” notices last week to two senior Special Air Service (SAS) soldiers who were pictured partying with a killed Taliban* militant's prosthetic leg in a bar in Afghanistan in 2009, the Daily Mail cited unnamed sources as saying on Thursday.
In the image, the two are seen posing with the prosthetic leg as they apparently stick out their tongues and wave their hands in a haka-like posture.
Both soldiers have served in the SAS for decades and one of them reportedly took the leg from a killed Taliban militant's body.
The reported developments come after Warrant Officer Class 1 John Letch, a 50-year-old veteran of SAS overseas deployments, voluntarily retired after the leak in early December of another pixelated photograph of the same leg.
Letch was pictured drinking beer out of the fearsome trophy in an unofficial pub set up inside an Australian special forces base in Afghanistan's Uruzgan province in 2009.
The Daily Mail reported in this vein that shortly before retiring, the officer allegedly lectured troops on army ethics and integrity, which he said “are central to everything” the SAS does and “every decision” they make.
This was preceded by media reports about the Australian Department of Defence…
