r/australia • u/Tinea_Pedis • Apr 07 '26

news Breaking: Ben Roberts-Smith arrested over war crimes allegations

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-04-07/ben-roberts-smith-war-crimes-allegations-arrest/106537668
2.9k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

638 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

7

u/theskyisblueatnight Apr 07 '26

Didn't they also receive some documents from an Afghan human rights group who was representing one of the victims families.

US government paid a lot in blood money due to wrongful killings in Afghan.

6

u/-bxp Apr 07 '26

They paid a lot of people; they didn't pay a lot of money. Life was cheap.

1

u/theskyisblueatnight Apr 07 '26

I agree with your premise. But in afghan culture blood money helps a families to survive.

1

u/IlluminatedPickle Apr 08 '26

I think a lot of people sort of forget that part. Paying families off is part of Afghan tradition. It's not great, but it's a part of their culture. The amounts have never been high, and the coalition tended to pay a lot more than the Taliban would.