Defence Minister Richard Marles on Thursday said that a number of high ranking Australian Defence Force (ADF) members who served in Afghanistan have been stripped of their awards, as recommended by a four-year inquiry into alleged Australian war crimes. Marles told Parliament that he wrote letters to “relevant commanders” who oversaw units accused of war crimes to communicate his “decision in relation to medals awarded to them as part of their service during periods proximate to the incidents which are at the heart of the Brereton Report.” Marles said his decisions were “consistent with the fi…