ABSTRACT
I stumbled into my research on the military. One morning, while living in Australia, I happened upon a short article in the newspaper entitled “Troops Give Cash to Afghan Victims” (Banham, 2009). The gist of the article was that new legislation had been passed that would allow senior officers in Afghanistan to make cash payments of up to AUD 250,000 to ‘inadvertent’ civilian victims of the Australian Defence Forces. I was immediately intrigued. Surely it was not usual practice for soldiers to carry wads of money on the battlefield? Other questions came quickly to mind: How were distinctions between civilians and insurgents being made? Why were these monies being paid out? And what were the effects of these payments?
