BY ANDREW WILKIE
[Andrew Wilkie, a former Office of National Assessments analyst who resigned in protest at the government's support for the war on Iraq, gave the following speech to the protests outside US President George Bush's address to Australian parliament on October 23.]
Well, what a meeting of like minds we have in Canberra today. George Bush and Australian PM John Howard — two men with so much in common. Two men with so many personal achievements to reminisce about. Like:
- How they disregarded completely the popular opposition to the war in Iraq in a staggering exhibition of unbridled arrogance;
- How they invaded a sovereign country, without UN approval, for reasons that have now been completely discredited;
- How they hid behind UN Security Council resolution 1441 and Article 51 of the UN Charter to justify their illegal war, and now hide behind victors' justice to avoid prosecution as war criminals;
- How their war killed thousands and wounded, injured, maimed, orphaned and terrorised tens of thousands more;
- How they've pushed Iraq over the edge into near anarchy and managed to get close to 150,000 troops bogged down in a quagmire;
- How they've increased the risk of terrorism;
- How they've encouraged the further proliferation of weapons of mass destruction in countries needing to deter US aggression;
- How they lied every time they needed to spin their case for war, and how they've been lying ever since as they've laboured mightily to justify the terrible mess they've made; and
- How they continue to play the national security card for their own political purposes at every opportunity, regardless of how much this alarms ordinary people needlessly. Never an opportunity seems to pass when Bush or Howard aren't cynically manipulating the 9/11 or Bali tragedies for their own advantage.
Why, even the Rugby World Cup wasn't immune; Howard, like a champion gymnast, somehow managed to twist, spin and squeeze a reference to the Bali bombing into his opening screech. He must have been delighted to hear that Osama bin Laden singled out Australia for special attention in his latest videotape — a bit awkward though that it was because of Australia's involvement in Iraq.
Of course, the lies have turned out to be only the start of it, because the whiff of criminal behaviour now hangs heavily over both of their administrations — in the US, because of the leak to discredit the man who exposed the Niger uranium story as fraudulent; here over the still unexplained government leak to journalist Andrew Bolt.
Amazingly, I'm still to be contacted by the Australian Federal Police regarding this matter, so I can only continue to assume that the rule of law means nothing to Howard.
[On June 23, Bolt published an article in the Melbourne Herald Sun that quoted from a highly classified report Wilkie had written, in an attempt to discredit Wilkie. Wilkie did not leak the report, and would like to know who did.]
Of course, if Howard was a real friend of the US he'd tell Bush what Bush really needs to hear: that it's time to stop lying and acknowledge that the Iraq adventure is a political, foreign policy, humanitarian and military disaster; and that the time has come to swallow pride, admit mistakes, genuinely re-engage with the international community, start making effective efforts to sort out the mess and to pull back from all the other follies on the radar screen.
But of course, Howard won't talk straight like this because Howard is happy to keep undermining Australia's sovereignty by tying us too closely to US strategic interests; just as he'll keep compromising Australia's democracy by shifting decision making from Canberra to Washington, risk our security by encouraging Australia to assume the reliability of US security guarantees, and risk our broader interests by encouraging the US to pre-suppose Australian subservience.
Meanwhile, our wonderful Australian democracy is on the ropes. The imperious Howard government lies continually, much of the opposition is pre-occupied with its political fortunes, many people have grown despondent and given up caring, and those who still dare to care are slandered by the government and in the compliant media.
Why, even today, the parliament is closed to its people, we're denied our right to free assembly, the Australian media is refused its right to report unimpeded on the visit, and most of our so-called leaders are set to greet Bush like an American football cheer squad would.
Consolation is that all government's pay eventually at the polls for arrogance and dishonesty. Bush and Howard's mobs will be no exceptions.
From Green Left Weekly, November 12, 2003.
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