Tag: SAS in Afghanistan

The Green Party is calling on the Government to establish an independent inquiry into new evidence that New Zealand’s SAS soldiers in Afghanistan have been passing over prisoners who have later been mistreated or tortured, actions which may be in breach of the Geneva Convention.

John Key’s decision to leave SAS troops in Afghanistan despite the long-planned March 2011 withdrawal date is a disappointing concession to pressure from the United States, Green Party defence spokesperson Keith Locke said today.

The Prime Minister should not alter the original timetable for withdrawing New Zealand’s special forces from Afghanistan, Green Party defence spokesperson Keith Locke said today.

New Zealand should not extend its commitment of SAS forces to Afghanistan beyond the planned end date in 2011,  Green Party Defence spokesperson Keith Locke said today.

5. KEITH LOCKE (Green) to the Minister of Foreign Affairs: Has he received any advice on whether a law curtailing women’s rights in Afghanistan has been “brought into line with the expectations of the international community” as he was promised by Hamid Karzai; if so, what was that advice?

KEITH LOCKE (Green) : I move, That the House take note of a matter of urgent public importance. That matter is the commitment by the Government of special forces to Afghanistan. The Green Party is strongly opposed to the Governments decision to send the SAS back to Afghanistan. We do not want our soldiers fighting and dying in an unjustifiable war that is not helping the Afghan people. It is very important that we have this debate today, because we as a Parliament should always debate the sending of New Zealand combat troops overseas to participate in foreign military conflicts. We should never lightly risk the lives of our soldiers, and we should never lightly participate in armed conflicts, which inevitably result in much death and destruction and have a huge impact on the lives of local people.

In around two weeks time the government will make an important decision on whether to send New Zealand's SAS troops back to Afghanistan. The government has in front of it a very significant foreign policy decision. At stake is whether New Zealand continues on a path towards a more independent foreign policy, constructively engaged in peacemaking and peacekeeping, or whether it falls back into a more subordinate role in a Western alliance structure led by the United States.

6. KEITH LOCKE (Green) to the Prime Minister: Will he be withdrawing New Zealand’s successful provincial reconstruction team from Afghanistan, and instead sending a deployment of the New Zealand Special Air Service; if so, why?

Any decision on whether New Zealand Special Forces should return to Afghanistan must be postponed pending an inquiry into whether there was mistreatment of prisoners the NZ Special Air Service (SAS) handed over to American forces in an earlier deployment, said Green Party MP Keith Locke.