British inquiry underscores Australian complicity in Iraqi war crimes

Under oath, former British government officials and military commanders have testified that from the day Bush took office, it was well known that the new administration was intent on war with Iraq. The September 11, 2001 terror attacks on New York and Washington supplied the pretext. Within days, as the invasion of Afghanistan was being prepared, a campaign was launched to fabricate a case linking Iraq to the 9/11 atrocities. The Chilcot Inquiry has been told that in a meeting with Bush at the president’s Crawford ranch in April 2002—11 months before the invasion of Iraq—Tony Blair agreed that Britain would take part.

A review of the actions of the Australian Liberal-National Party government of the day, headed by Prime Minister John Howard, demonstrates that it was no less complicit in the plotting and preparation of the unprovoked war of aggression on Iraq. The Howard government’s role in the so-called “coalition of the willing” paralleled that of the Blair government.

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