Twenty-five years after Australia first sent troops to Afghanistan in the wake of September 11, the nation paused to reckon with what that long commitment meant — and what it left behind. More than 35,000 Australians served across two decades; 47 did not return. The commemoration in Canberra was both a tribute to sacrifice and a mirror held up to history's ambiguities, attended by a decorated soldier whose valor and alleged crimes exist in unresolved tension. The freedoms those troops helped build — schools for girls, medical care for villages — have since been dismantled by the Taliban, leavi
Albanese honours Afghanistan troops as Roberts-Smith attends 25th anniversary event
47 Australian personnel died and 263 were wounded; tens of thousands of civilians estimated killed during the war.
We changed that little part of the world for good
Mark
Why does Roberts-Smith's presence at this event matter? He's been accused of war crimes, but he's also a Victoria Cross holder. Isn't it possible to honor the troops without honoring him?
Mimi
That's the tension the story sits in. The commemoration is genuinely about the 35,000 people who served and the 47 who died. But Roberts-Smith's attendance—with a judge having to vary his bail conditions to allow it—makes it impossible to separate the celebration from the controversy. He's the most decorated living soldier, so his presence is almost inevitable at an official event. Yet it complicates the narrative.
Luke
The source doesn't tell us what Albanese or anyone else said about Roberts-Smith specifically. We know he was there, we know he denies the allegations, but there's no statement from him, no acknowledgment of the accusations from the prime minister. That's a gap worth naming.
Mark
What about the soldiers themselves? Do they feel conflicted about the war's outcome?
Mimi
Mathew Bell's account is revealing. He talks about the progress they made—schools, medical services, freedom—with genuine pride. But he's also aware that the Taliban has reversed all of it. He's not bitter exactly, but there's a recognition that what they fought for didn't hold.
Luke
And we should be careful here. Bell's perspective is one soldier's memory. The source doesn't tell us whether this is representative or whether other veterans feel differently. We know the troops remain "intensely proud," but that's a characterization from the reporting, not a survey.
Mark
So the real story is that Australia spent twenty years and lost forty-seven people to establish freedoms that lasted only until the US left?
Mimi
That's part of it. But it's also about how a nation honors that sacrifice even when the outcome is ambiguous or tragic. The commemoration happened anyway. The soldiers showed up. They spoke about what they did with pride, even knowing what came after.
Luke
The source says tens of thousands of civilians were killed, but doesn't give a specific number. That's important context—the scale of civilian casualties is much larger than Australian casualties, but we don't have precision on it. That matters for understanding the full cost.
The Pulse
- Australia's most decorated living soldier, Ben Roberts-Smith, attended the Canberra ceremony under varied bail conditions while facing accusations of murdering five unarmed detainees — his presence impossible to ignore.
- Prime Minister Albanese invoked the fires still burning at Ground Zero to explain why Australia entered a war it was not yet directly threatened by, framing the deployment as a defense of shared democratic values.
- Veterans like former lance corporal Mathew Bell carry vivid memories of sniper fire, roadside bombs, and a mate badly wounded — alongside genuine pride in the schools opened and services delivered in their small corner of Afghanistan.
- The Taliban's swift return to power after 2021 has erased much of what Australian troops helped build, particularly for women and girls, casting a long shadow over what 'mission accomplished' could ever mean.
- Commemorations were held simultaneously across the country — Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne — as a generation of veterans confronted a legacy that is proud, painful, and still unresolved.
Twenty-five years after Australia first sent troops to Afghanistan in the wake of September 11, the nation paused to reckon with what that long commitment meant — and what it left behind. More than 35,000 Australians served across two decades; 47 did not return. The commemoration in Canberra was both a tribute to sacrifice and a mirror held up to history's ambiguities, attended by a decorated soldier whose valor and alleged crimes exist in unresolved tension. The freedoms those troops helped build — schools for girls, medical care for villages — have since been dismantled by the Taliban, leaving veterans to carry pride and grief in equal measure.
On a bright spring Sunday in Canberra, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese stood before veterans, families, and dignitaries at the Australian War Memorial to mark twenty-five years since Australia entered the war in Afghanistan. The occasion was solemn, but complicated: among the crowd was Ben Roberts-Smith — the nation's most decorated living soldier and a man facing accusations of murdering five unarmed detainees. A judge had varied his bail conditions to allow him to attend.
Albanese framed Operation Slipper, launched in October 2001, as a response to September 11 — a moment when the world felt upended and Australia chose to stand for something beyond its own borders. Over the following two decades, more than 35,000 defence force members deployed to the conflict. Forty-seven died. Two hundred and sixty-three were wounded. Tens of thousands of civilians were estimated killed during the war.
Roberts-Smith attended alongside his partner and was joined by former prime ministers Howard, Abbott, and Morrison. He denies all allegations, but the contrast between his Victoria Cross and the accusations he faces cast an unmistakable shadow over the day.
For those who served on the ground, the weight of memory is personal. Mathew Bell, deployed in 2012 at twenty-four to a forward operating base west of Tarinkot, spoke of girls attending school and medical services reaching villages. He also spoke of a close mate badly wounded by a roadside bomb, and of his section pinned down by sniper fire. 'We changed that little part of Afghanistan for good,' he said.
The legacy, however, is contested. The Taliban's return to power has reversed the progress Australian troops helped establish — particularly for women and girls. Commemorations were held across the country, from Sydney's Hyde Park to Melbourne's Shrine of Remembrance. What remains is a generation of veterans carrying pride and grief for a country that moved in a direction they did not anticipate.
On a Sunday in Canberra, under bright spring sunshine, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese stood before hundreds of veterans, their families, and dignitaries at the Australian War Memorial to mark twenty-five years since Australia entered the war in Afghanistan. The occasion was solemn and ceremonial, but it carried an undercurrent of complexity: among the crowd was Ben Roberts-Smith, the nation's most decorated living soldier, a Victoria Cross recipient, and a man facing accusations of murdering five unarmed detainees during his deployment. A judge had agreed to vary his bail conditions to allow him to attend.
Albanese framed the deployment—Operation Slipper, which began in October 2001—as a response to September 11. "In New York, fires were still burning at Ground Zero from the attacks a month earlier," he said. "The world felt upended." Australia, he argued, went to Afghanistan not because it was yet directly threatened, but because the nation saw what was at stake: a way of life, a set of freedoms, that belonged to Australians as much as to Americans. Over the following two decades, more than 35,000 defence force members would deploy to the conflict. Albanese described their service as a fight for "who we are as a people."
The human toll was substantial. Forty-seven Australian personnel died as a result of their service in Afghanistan. Two hundred and sixty-three were wounded. Tens of thousands of civilians were estimated killed during the war. Deployments continued until Australia's withdrawal in 2021, followed months later by the departure of US forces and the swift return of the Taliban to power.
Roberts-Smith attended the event alongside his partner, Sarah Matulin, and was joined by former prime ministers John Howard, Tony Abbott, and Scott Morrison. The governor general, Sam Mostyn, and opposition leader Angus Taylor were also present. Roberts-Smith denies the allegations against him, but the contrast between his military honors and the accusations he faces cast a shadow over the commemoration.
For those who served on the ground, the memory of their work carries a different weight. Mathew Bell, a former lance corporal, was deployed in 2012 at age twenty-four to a forward operating base in the badlands west of Tarinkot. More than a decade later, now thirty-eight and a father of two, he spoke of his unit's achievements with pride. "We changed that little part of Afghanistan, that little part of the world for good," he said. Girls attended school. Medical services reached villages. There was freedom. Bell's role was to patrol among the local population, keeping the Taliban at bay in territory he describes as a hot area where stepping over the line meant entering Taliban-controlled land. One of his close mates was badly wounded in a roadside bomb explosion. His section was pinned down by sniper fire on more than one occasion.
The war's legacy is contested. Despite the controversy surrounding Australia's military involvement and its long-term consequences, the troops who served remain intensely proud of what they accomplished on the ground. Yet the reality they left behind has shifted dramatically. The Taliban government has reintroduced authoritarian control, including strict suppression of women's and girls' rights—a reversal of the progress Australian soldiers helped establish. Services commemorating the twenty-five years of deployment were held not only in Canberra but also at the Anzac Memorial in Sydney's Hyde Park, the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, and other sites around the country. The Australian deployment took many forms: reconstruction efforts, training, humanitarian aid, democratic governance support. Operation Slipper was followed by Operation Highroad between 2015 and 2021, and the Kabul airlift in August 2021. What remains is a generation of veterans carrying memories of sacrifice and accomplishment in a country that has since moved in a direction they did not anticipate.
Notable Quotes
We changed that little part of Afghanistan, that little part of the world for good. There was freedom. Not the oppression we're seeing now under the Taliban government.— Mathew Bell, former lance corporal, deployed to Afghanistan in 2012
We went because we saw what was at stake, and we went on the principle that September 11 was an attack on a way of life that belonged just as much to us.— Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, at the 25th anniversary commemoration
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Politics & Governance