Anti-war critics slam Howard's new intelligence inquiry
The following media release was issued by the Socialist Alliance on March 7, 2004:
Socialist Alliance anti-war spokesperson Pip Hinman said today that the PM's new intelligence inquiry would be a whitewash.
"Mounting pressure on the government to explain why it joined the Coalition of the Willing's preemptive attack on Iraq - particularly since no weapons of mass destruction have been found in Iraq - has forced this new inquiry", said Hinman. "But, with a former head of the ONA - Philip Flood - as chairperson, and the prescriptive terms of reference, this inquiry looks set to be nothing but an expensive whitewash."
The inquiry's terms of reference mean it will only focus on the Office of National Assessment's processes, and not on the main issue - an investigation into the government's actions based on the available intelligence in the lead-up to the Iraq war. Further, the inquiry will only report to the National Security Committee of Cabinet - the crooks who lied to take Australia to war.
Hinman also criticised the appointment of Philip Flood, a former ONA chief and a former ambassador to Indonesia between 1989-1993. According to John Pilger, Flood helped conceal a series of killings by the Indonesian military after the 1991 Santa Cruz massacre in Dili, East Timor.
The Socialist Alliance’s Luke Deer said that, despite its flaws, the full inquiry revealed how the government had lied to the Australian people.
"While the PM claims this report vindicates the government's decision to join the pre-emptive attack on Iraq, the opposite is the case, as what's already on the public record indicates", said Deer.
The report, based on information provided to the government by the ONA and the Defence Intelligence Organisation, concluded that the government's main arguments for war - that Iraq possessed WMDs in large quantities and therefore represented a "grave and unacceptable threat" to the region and the world - was wrong.
Socialist Alliance supports the Greens' call for a Royal Commission into the invasion of Iraq, and calls on the ALP too as well.
"The inquiry has to really be independent; it has to have the power to subpoena everyone - from the PM down. It also needs to have broad enough terms of reference to get to the truth about how the government used the intelligence. Anything else will be a waste of public money," said Hinman.
"We don't have to wait for another Howard cover-up. Socialist Alliance is encouraging everyone who opposed the war to make this year's federal election a referendum on Howard and his war on Iraq by voting his government out", concluded Deer.
Socialist Alliance members are active in anti-war coalitions organising protests on March 20 - the anniversary of the invasion of Iraq.
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