Rumsfeld, Cheney, Bush and born again Blair vs the Australian Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Wilkie ex of Australian Intelligence who advised us that despite all intel and UN advice that there was no evidence of any WMDs in Iraq. Who should we believe John Howard who is now apologising for being dumb. He and the USA were all dumbed out by the info but the decision to invade but it was still right. Or the majority historical opinion that the power vacuum it created and we are experiencing today was not justified by bullshit but what?. Whose word should the true integrity of that decision be decided the participants, historians or Andrew Bolt who says history should take a back seat from the point of his birthin 1959. The man is a media warmonger after all
Howard says Wilkie an ex ADF intelligence officer ex LNP member is wrong despite being embarassed. Malcolm Fraser said it then and is still saying it now.
Independent MP says former prime minister should be ‘deeply ashamed that he lied’ over the 2003 invasion of Iraq
MP Andrew Wilkie “I was shocked to see that John Howard is only embarrassed, almost embarrassed for himself. What he should be is deeply ashamed that he lied to the Australian public 11.5 years ago, and took us into an unnecessary war, a war that has killed countless Iraqis and other people, which effectively destroyed that country and created the conditions for the rise of not just the Islamic State but other groups,” Wilkie told reporters in Canberra.
“Look frankly I’m disappointed that the prosecutor at the international criminal court hasn’t thought to hold John Howard responsible for conspiracy to commit mass murder.”
Howard argued the 2003 invasion did not play a major role in the rise of Isis which now holds large swathes of Syria and northern Iraq.
Wilkie said Howard should have made a “compelling humanitarian” case for dealing with Saddam Hussein in 2003 and told the voters the invasion was about Australia’s bilateral relationship with America, not WMDs.
When asked again if he was suggesting Howard was partly responsible for the rise of Isis, Wilkie responded “I’m not suggesting it, I’m stating it as fact”.
“If we had not gone to war 11.5 years ago, and destroyed that country and created this security vacuum, then the circumstances would not exist for Islamic State to have emerged and to grown strong and to conquer the land that it does. So yes, they are responsible.”
olddogthoughts 