More "sexing up" of the Iraq threat
Aussie Infidel
to be universal amongst the "Coalition of the Willing".
Foreign Minister Downer's comment below, "It would be different if he
produced documents or evidence that the Australian Government had been
misleading the Australian people, but he has produced no evidence because no
such evidence exists." is interesting from two points of view. Firstly, if
Andrew Wilkie had taken documents from the ONA, it would have been a serious
crime. Secondly, the Australian Prime Minister had already been proved to
have lied to his people on the degree of support promised to the USA. He
claimed repeatedly that he had not promised unconditional support for a US
attack on Iraq and that our involvement was conditional upon the UN
sanctioning of military action, but in a leaked communication to the PM of
New Zealand he stated that he had, and asked that the information not be
made public, because it was not what he had said publicly. Sprung!
On top of similar revelations from the US and UK, it must be getting harder
for the pro war posters to deny that the case for war, based on Iraq's
potential threat, was manufactured. Just another chess move.
AI
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s929821.htm
PM's office 'sexed up' Iraq threat, inquiry hears
A former intelligence officer says the Howard Government "sexed up" the
threat posed by Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.
Andrew Wilkie, the former intelligence analyst, told the parliamentary
inquiry into information on Iraq's weapons program, the Government
deliberately skewed the truth to justify going to war.
"One of the most effective ways the Government exaggerated the threat was by
taking the ambiguity out of it," he said.
"For want of some subtle little changes, the threat was rebuilt, in other
words it was sexed up."
Mr Wilkie accused the Government of lying and fabricating evidence and he
says it was clear dishonesty.
"Before we knew it the Government had created a mythical Iraq, one where
every factory was up to no good and where weaponisation was continuing
apace," he said.
Prime Minister John Howard has vehemently denied the accusations.
"I deny that absolutely. What we said was consistent with the intelligence
assessments we received," Mr Howard said.
Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer has also dismissed Mr Wilkie's
claims.
Mr Downer says Mr Wilkie's testimony lacks credibility.
"I think it's sad when someone goes before a parliamentary committee, with
parliamentary privilege, and makes a whole lot of allegations without a
scintilla of evidence," he said.
"It would be different if he produced documents or evidence that the
Australian Government had been misleading the Australian people, but he has
produced no evidence because no such evidence exists."
He said the more "hysterical" Mr Wilkie's claims get, the less credible they
are "and the more he damages himself".
But Labor's Kevin Rudd has defended Mr Wilkie.
"He's not some screaming leftie, this is serious critique on behalf of a
person who has seen the intelligence material come in at one end of the
system and seen at the other end of the system what John Howard has said
about that intelligence material," he said.
The committee will hear from Australia's intelligence agencies before
reporting in December.
'Exaggeration'
Mr Wilkie quit the Office of National Assessments in March because he
believed the Government was deliberately misleading the public about the
case for war.
Earlier, he said the Government lied about Iraq's weapons programs.
"I will go so far as to say that the material was going straight from ONA to
the Prime Minister's office and the exaggeration was occurring in there," he
said.
Mr Wilkie says the Government ignored gaps in intelligence reports about
Iraq's banned weapons, so that its public statements were in step with the
United States and Britain.
He says Iraq may have been producing chemical and biological weapons on a
limited scale before the war and he concedes evidence of the weapons
programs may still be found.
He told the inquiry the Government misled the public, creating a mythical
Iraq where every factory was producing banned weapons.
"The Government was prepared to deliberate exaggerate the Iraqi WMD [weapons
of mass destruction] and terrorism threat so as to stay in step with the
United States," he said.
Butler puzzled
Former United Nations chief weapons inspector Richard Butler has questioned
why the United States has not revealed what it has learnt from interrogating
senior Iraqi officials about the country's banned weapons program.
Mr Butler was one of the first witnesses to appear before a federal
parliamentary inquiry examining the accuracy of intelligence about Iraq's
weapons of mass destruction.
He says he cannot explain why banned weapons have not been found since the
war in Iraq ended.
But Mr Butler says officials who surrendered to US authorities, including
Iraq's former deputy prime minister, know the answers.
"What arrangement has been made with Tariq Aziz? He knew everything," Mr
Butler said.
"Certainly [former presidential scientific adviser] Amir [Hamudi Hasan]
al-Saadi did.
"Why aren't they putting us out of our misery by telling us the truth of
these matters?
"Have they already told the United States but the United States for some
reason isn't telling ... others. I'm making no accusation, I'm puzzled."