Sky News host Peta Credlin says Australian soldiers can't "fight barbarism with barbarism" but rather be better than the enemy they face following the release of the Brereton report into alleged war crimes conducted by ADF personnel.
Ms Credlin applauded senior military commanders for choosing to speak up rather than "make these rumours go away" and instead resolved to get to the bottom of the bad, as well as the good, that Australian troops have done in Afghanistan.
"When it first seeped out, towards the end of 2015 that Australian Special Forces might have been guilty of atrocities in Afghanistan, it must have been tempting to sweep it under the carpet," she said.
"After all, they were our heroes and they were fighting a vicious enemy with no respect for the rules.
"A country ruled by the Taliban, where terrorists sheltered and trained and where the dignity of human life, women and girls, was non-existent.
"It's quite right, it really is, that all those hit by these allegations should swiftly be charged, and be given the right to defend themselves.
"If found guilty, beyond a reasonable doubt - the usual criminal standard in matters like this - they must then face the full consequences of the law."
Ms Credlin said the killings were not conducted in the heat of battle but rather deliberate after-action killings of enemies in custody.
"We could not have gone into Afghanistan in order to uphold the rule of law and to protect civilian lives if we don't hold ourselves to that same standard," she said.
"The dangers to our soldiers' own lives, and the atrocities that were perpetrated against them, cannot justify atrocities in payback.
"Australian soldiers have to be better than that. We can't fight barbarism with barbarism – even though context may be a mitigating factor in any sentencing."
