- A group of more than 40 former Australian diplomats and
defence chiefs has accused Prime Minister John Howard's government of deceiving
the Australian people about the reasons for invading Iraq.
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- The open letter on Sunday echoed similar statements issued
earlier in the year by retired US and British officials, making Australia
the latest of the pro-war allies to face criticism from its own former
diplomats.
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- The statement said the electorate had been misled over
the reasons for joining the US-led invasion of Iraq, and democracy could
not work properly if people could not trust their elected representatives.
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- "We are concerned that Australia was committed to
join the invasion of Iraq on the basis of false assumptions and deception
of the Australian people," the statement said.
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- Wrong reason
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- "Saddam's dictatorial regime has ended but removing
him was not the reason given to the Australian people for going to war.
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- "The prime minister said in March 2003 that our
policy was the disarmament of Iraq not the removal of Saddam Hussein."
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- It said Australia's involvement had raised the country's
profile as a "terrorist target".
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- The statement was signed by former defence force chiefs
Alan Beaumont and Peter Gration, former defence department secretary Paul
Barratt, former prime minister's department secretaries Alan Renouf and
Richard Woolcott as well as former ambassadors, including Rawdon Dalrymple,
Stephen Fitzgerald and Ross Garnaut.
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- Strong supporter
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- Australia has been one of the strongest supporters of
the Iraq campaign, committing about 2000 troops to last year's invasion
and maintaining about 850 troops in and around the country.
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- "Australian leaders must produce more carefully
balanced policies and present them in more sophisticated ways"
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- Australian ex-diplomats
- and defence chiefs
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- Howard has repeatedly denied misleading the public about
the invasion, saying intelligence at the time indicated Iraq had weapons
of mass destruction.
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- The signatories said they did not wish to endanger Australia's
alliance with the US, but asserted that it should be a genuine partnership
and not just a rubber stamp for policies decided in Washington.
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- "Australian leaders must produce more carefully
balanced policies and present them in more sophisticated ways," they
wrote.
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- In April, a group of former diplomats sent a letter to
British Prime Minister Tony Blair savaging "doomed policies"
in Iraq and the Middle East.
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- The letter was echoed by retired US diplomatic and military
officials in two separate letters in May and June accusing President George
Bush of undermining US credibility in the Arab world and calling for him
to be voted out over Iraq.
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