’I owe it to the guys who died to do something’: Mark Wales Pt.1

Mark Wales joined the military as a wide-eyed 17-year-old recruit, and quickly rose through the ranks, eventually leading one of Australia's most elite special forces troops in some of the most dangerous combat environments on earth. He saw the war in Afghanistan evolve from targeted counter-terrorism into something far more complicated, and ultimately, far less certain.

In this episode of I Catch Killers, Mark opens up about what it takes to earn a place in the SAS, the psychological toll of repeated deployments, and how he watched the Afghan war slowly lose its sense of purpose from the inside. Mark speaks candidly about kill lists, mission creep, the counterinsurgency strategies that were doomed before they started, and the moment he knew the war was effectively over… long before the politicians admitted it. Gary and Mark also tackle the recent war crimes allegations, the complex environment that shaped those events, the chain of command responsibility that rarely gets discussed, and why, no matter how it unfolds, almost nobody comes out of this saga looking good.

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