Sarah Stephen, Sydney
"A journalist recently asked me whether the average Australian cared any more about the unravelling case for war", Andrew Wilkie told a Stop the War Coalition public meeting on February 15. "It's true that some have taken PM John Howard's advice and moved on. But others are affected by the scale of deception, which is so big that it's almost incomprehensible — invading a sovereign state for reasons that have been totally discredited."
A former Office of National Assessments (ONA) intelligence analyst, Wilkie resigned in protest at the Howard government's lies over the reasons for invading Iraq. Since then, he has become a passionate campaigner for truth in government.
"The government argues that the blame lies with foreign intelligence. This is misleading because Australian intelligence organisations are provided with all intelligence assessments from overseas organisations, and we reprocess that from scratch. If there was a failure overseas, there has also been a failure here."
Green Left Weekly asked Wilkie about the leaked findings of a report by a joint parliamentary committee into Australia's pre-war intelligence. "It's part of a deliberate government strategy to shift the blame to the intelligence agencies", Wilkie told GLW. "A compliant committee has said the right things, and the government is now conditioning the public with these leaks to take the heat out of the revelations.
"I have felt for a long time that it will be a whitewash. And that's for a number of reasons: Firstly, the head of the committee, David Jull, told the media a week before beginning to take evidence that he expected the committee's findings to back up government's case for war. And secondly, because of the membership of the committee, which is mainly government ministers, but also includes [Labor parliamentarians] Robert Ray and Kim Beazley who are even more pro-war than Howard!"
Wilkie is also concerned that the report is being distributed widely within the government and bureaucracy before it has been released publicly. While he agrees that it can be important to check for security breaches before the report is published, he is doubtful that this is the reason:
"The claim of having to access the report for breaches to national security has already unravelled because, in Senate estimates hearings this week, it was reported that the report was distributed widely within the department of prime minister and cabinet. [ONA head Peter] Varghese told the Senate that they were providing comments on the accuracy of the report! If it wasn't so tragic it would be funny."
Wilkie argues that there is "more than a whiff of mischief" in the recent appointment of Varghese, who was Howard's former foreign policy adviser. "Varghese, being a well-regarded foreign affairs official, may well be the best choice; but the government should be more concerned about the integrity of the selection process ... Varghese is now perfectly positioned to fall on his sword and take the blame, letting the government off the hook."
The February 14 Melbourne Age reported that the director of the Defence Intelligence Organisation, Frank Lewincamp, had said that the threat posed by Iraq did not justify invasion. Wilkie said he found this "an extraordinary development".
"Lewincamp has distanced himself from some claims which the Age attributed to him, but none of that should distract us from the fact that he has agreed he said some of those things. It is a staggering admission that the government's position was wrong. It is heartening because it backs up some of my claims."
Asked why an independent inquiry could mount a better investigation, Wilkie said: "It needs to be independent, which would give it credibility and freedom from manipulation; and it needs to be staffed by people who have both an understanding of how world of intelligence works, so they can research issue properly, and the security clearance to review all information, including raw intelligence assessments, and compare it with government statements.
"The terms of reference need to cover two things", Wilkie added, "the performance of the intelligence agencies, but perhaps more importantly the way the government used that intelligence."
From Green Left Weekly, February 25, 2004.
Visit the Green Left Weekly home page.