The sentencing verdict of David McBride gives rise to question that, if unaddressed, will haunt the Australian Defence Force (ADF) forever.

Justifiable anger is so easy to come by these days that any more reasons are gratuitously excessive. Nevertheless, they are not only intruding on daily life but to such an extent and significance that they must be acknowledged and confronted. Indeed, various rulings and statements by the prosecution in the case brought against David McBride make this unavoidable. But with it comes the wellsprings of genuine indignation and ire – fear, sadness, disappointment, betrayal. Reading the proceedings all are present in this recent display of justice miscarried.

In the light of the many commentaries on the case, and the limitations of length, the intention here is not to reprise all of its contentious aspects; rather, it is to draw attention to three aspects which, unaddressed will haunt the Australian Defence Force (ADF) forever.

These are [1] the ruling that personnel in the ADF have no higher duty than to obey lawfully given commands to the exclusion of all other considerations; [2] that this duty relegates the public interest to the point of non-existence, and [3] that 1 and 2 are examples of a bankrupt understanding of politics, society, and psychology in states declaring themselves to be democratic.

Accordingly, the sentencing of David McBride to a long period of........

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