Howard Faces Iraq War Scrutiny as New Documents Surface
John Howard defends Australia’s Iraq War decision amid newly revealed cabinet papers detailing the rationale behind the military involvement
Australia, Iraq, John Howard, Saddam Hussein, War, WMD
Canberra: So, John Howard is back in the spotlight over the Iraq War. He’s saying that Australia’s choice to invade was based on bad intel, but not out of malice. He’s defending the 2003 decision to send troops, especially now that some old cabinet papers have come to light.
These papers show that the invasion aimed to topple Saddam Hussein, but the big reason for going in—those supposed weapons of mass destruction—never turned up. In fact, by early 2004, even the US admitted that their reasons for going to war were shaky at best.
Howard expressed disappointment over the faulty US intelligence that led Australia to join the invasion. He mentioned that he still believes the decision was made in good faith, based on what they thought was solid national intelligence.
Even though no actual stockpiles were found, he insists that there was evidence showing Iraq could quickly put together WMDs. He said, “We were wrong, in fact, but not maliciously.”
A 2004 inquiry pointed out that Australian intelligence didn’t accurately assess Iraq’s WMD programs, but they did make the best guesses they could with the info they had.
Estimates of the war’s human cost vary, but many sources say over 100,000 people died directly because of it. When asked if he pushed for war, Howard said he was just looking out for Australia’s interests.
He believed it was crucial to stop terrorists from getting their hands on WMDs from Saddam. He thought Iraq had both programs and stockpiles at the time.
In a letter from then-defence minister Robert Hill, released recently, he mentioned that Iraq could be a model for political and economic reform in the Middle East. Hill was worried about violence from insurgents but also saw the potential for a stable Iraq to help keep oil flowing.
However, minutes from a National Security Committee meeting showed that things were getting riskier as the Iraqi Interim Government was about to take over. They decided to reduce the number of Australian civilian advisers in Iraq.
One adviser, Trevor Flugge, was still there to help with Australia’s business interests. He had previously led the Australian Wheat Board, which was a major supplier to Iraq. But there were allegations that the board had been paying kickbacks to Saddam’s regime, leading to inquiries from various authorities.
There were concerns that the US might use these claims to take over Australia’s wheat market in Iraq. A royal commission later found that the Wheat Board had paid nearly $300 million to Saddam in disguised fees. Flugge was found guilty of not looking into these payments after he learned about them.