Since the Brereton Report was released, there has been much said about the lack of understanding that the overwhelming majority of us have of what it is to serve in our defence force, of what it is to be at war.

We have been told that we cannot judge from the comforts of our living rooms.

There's some truth to all of this, and yet it falls down on one critical point: The accusations - credible accounts of killings that if proven amount to murder - were brought to light by other soldiers in our defence force.

They took the serious and difficult step of speaking out against their comrades because what they say occurred did not sit well with them - as it shouldn't with any of us.

In questioning investigations into these alleged war crimes, Senator Jacqui Lambie - who has made much of having served herself - is turning her back on those soldiers who took a stand.

Yes, the publicity surrounding the Brereton Report has no doubt distressed a great many current and former members of the Australian Defence Force who bear no guilt for any such crimes.

The reports do, fairly or otherwise, put a cloud over the ADF and over our country.

The way forward is not to put our heads in the sand or to make excuses, no matter how valid they may seem, for conduct that would be both indefensible and unconscionable.

As Tasmanian Greens Senator Peter Whish-Wilson said, in noting that it was because of special forces soldiers that the devastating allegations in the Brereton Report became known: "There are a number of troopers who are not happy about what's happened and they want to see justice."

We should all want to see, as RSL Tasmania president Robert Dick said, "justice run its natural course". That includes, for anyone accused, due process and the presumption of innocence until proven guilty.

Whatever the outcomes, those soldiers who reported their concerns were right to do so, and we show that by not - as some might prefer - sweeping it all under the carpet.