20th March 2021 is 18 years since Australia made the decision to join the United States in the disastrous war of aggression against Iraq. No Australian public Inquiry into the reasons and political responsibilities for that decision has been held and one is very much needed as war clouds are developing in South East Asia and a decision to join the US in another war may be around the corner.
18 years ago, on March 20th 2003, Australia joined the United States, the UK, Denmark and Poland in a military invasion of Iraq, a sovereign country, in flagrant violation of the United Nations Charter, with no authorization by the UN Security Council and based on lies propagated by the political leaders of those countries.
The invasion and subsequent war devastated the country, causing over 500,000 Iraqi deaths and the destruction of civil infrastructure leading to loss of electricity and water supplies and leaving homes, schools and hospitals in rubble. Hundreds of thousands were forced to abandon their homes and flee the war zone. The government of Saddam Hussein had been a firm opponent of Al-Qaeda, but following the invasion Iraq became a virtual training camp for Islamic extremists.
How did the leaders of the five countries participating in the invasion seek to justify this war of aggression?
The United States George W Bush administration repeated endlessly that Saddam Hussein and his government had to be removed because Iraq allegedly possessed so-called “Weapons of Mass Destruction” and supposedly threatened its neighbours, the United States and the world. It was also claimed that Iraq was developing nuclear weapons. The U.S and its allies claimed that to make the world safe, Saddam Hussein and his government had to be removed. Much later, one of Bush’s inner circle said that ”we considered a number of possible reasons but the removal of the weapons of mass destruction and stopping Iraq’s nuclear program was considered to be the most plausible reason to market the war actions to the public”. The Bush administration also sought, by constant repetition, to create a public perception that the Iraqi government was connected to Al-Qaeda and the 9/11 attacks even though they knew that no such connection existed.
UK Prime Minister Tony Blair repeated and embellished Bush’s war rhetoric as did Australian Prime Minister John Howard. This continued even as the 500 United Nations weapons inspectors in Iraq were reporting that no weapons of mass destruction or evidence of a nuclear weapons program could be found. Indeed, in the years since the invasion no such evidence has ever been found.
Given that the official justification for the U.S invasion of Iraq was founded on lies, what were the real reasons?
James O’Neill, in an article published in July 2016 by Australians For War Powers Reform, put it this way:
“The (US Vice President) Cheney Task Force with its maps dividing up Iraq’s oil riches among western oil companies was one motive for waging an unjustified and illegal war of aggression. Meeting the wishes of the Israelis as set out in the 1982 Yinon Plan was another. Saddam Hussein’s decision to trade oil in other than US dollars was also a crucial factor.”
James O’Neill’s view that Iraqi oil was one of the real reasons for the invasion is supported by the following report in the Sydney Morning Herald of 21st December,2002:
“As the United States’ Secretary of State, Colin Powell told the world that Iraq was in “material breach” of its Security Council obligation, a notice went out from his department convening a meeting of the Future of Iraq, Oil and Energy Working Group. The meeting, hosted by the State Department this weekend, is to discuss the restoration and modernization of Iraq’s oil fields in the “post Saddam era”.
In Australia, following the invasion of Iraq, the Brisbane Courier-Mail of 25th March 2003 reported that:”BHP Billiton could join the oil rush expected to follow a US -led victory in Iraq.”
Despite the largest anti-war demonstrations ever seen in Australia, with upwards of 600,000 taking part, John Howard pressed on and introduced a resolution into the House of Representatives on 18th March 2003 seeking authorization for Australian military action in Iraq. The resolution relied in part on assertions that Iraq continued to possess and develop weapons of mass destruction.
In the UK, more and more people realized they had been lied to by their leader Tony Blair, with one placard at an anti-Iraq war rally rendering Blair’s name as “B.Liar”. Pressure mounted for an Inquiry into why and by whom the UK had been taken into this disastrous and criminal war. This led to the establishment in 2009 of the public Chilcott Inquiry.
In its report, published seven years later, this Inquiry into the invasion and unsuccessful search for weapons of mass destruction found that the threat posed by dictator Saddam Hussein was overplayed, intelligence was flawed, postwar planning was inadequate and the legal basis for the invasion was unsatisfactory.
In Australia in August, 2012 eminent Australians, led by former prime minister Malcolm Fraser called for an independent inquiry in to the decisions which led to Australia joining the US -led invasion of Iraq. Mr Fraser in an ABC interview said an inquiry in Australia is overdue. He said “Going to war is a really serious matter…We know that the war was begun on a lie; we know that evidence was fabricated. We know that, certainly in Britain and the United States, they knew that claims about Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction were in many respects false and yet they still went to war on that basis”.
But no such inquiry was initiated by the government.
In October2015 Independent Federal MP Andrew Wilkie demanded that the Australian Government be held to account over the 2003 invasion of Iraq. His call came after former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair admitted the war contributed to the rise of Islamic States. Mr Wilkie called for an Inquiry similar to the Chilcott Inquiry in the UK.
No such inquiry has eventuated.
James O’Neill, in his July 2016 article “The Case for an Australian Iraq War Inquiry is Compelling” says: “Ignoring the evidence and an overt willingness to join US foreign policy misadventures has led to one of the greatest policy debacle in Australian foreign policy history. It has resulted in the deaths of more than one million Iraqis and millions more displaced and their lives destroyed…. That the principal perpetrators of the Iraq War, Bush, Blair and Howard have thus far escaped accountability for waging a war of aggression in unconscionable. Australia must have a Chilcott type inquiry and judicial processes must follow their inevitable conclusions.”
20thMarch, 2021 marks the 18th anniversary of the illegal and devastating invasion of Iraq.
The political processes and decision making that led to Australia’s involvement in the Iraq War are still to be assessed and understood. The need for an Inquiry is even more pressing now that war clouds are building up in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait. Australia may be faced with a decision to either join the US in a war with China or remain neutral.
These issues are currently being examined by IPAN’s People’s Inquiry into the Costs and Consequences of Australia’s Involvement in US-led wars. Submissions are being sought from individuals and organisations. For details see www.independentpeacefulaustralia.com.au
Bevan Ramsden is a former telecommunications engineer, TAFE teacher and member of the NSW Teachers Federation. He is a long-time peace activist and advocates for Australia’s independence. He is a former member of the coordinating committee of the Independent and Peaceful Australia Network) IPAN) and current editor of its monthly e-publication, Voice.
Comments
15 responses to “The blood-for-oil Iraq war demands a robust public inquiry”
Thank you for reminding us of the lack of a public inquiry into Australia’s involvement in the Iraq War. It seems a good idea to draw public attention to this lack of full transparency at every anniversary of the Iraq War.
If a public commemoration is held on 20 March each year in the city I live in, I would certainly attend! It seems right that we each do our best to discourage future unwarranted involvement in wars outside Australia.
Anyway, I hope you continue to remind us on 20 March each year.
The son in law of Saddaam had fled to the west. He told his handlers that Saddaam was dead. We got 9/11 for various reasons. One was to allow the attempt to reinstate control over Iraq. Yes, Saddaam was ‘our’ man.
Q8 was where the west killed Shia conscripts while Guards units destroyed the marsh arabs, also Shia.
So much bullshit accepted by semi intelligent people as history.
Yes there were WMDs. Gas supplied by the USA ans safely sent to Judea before and during the first days of hostilities.
The trial of “Saddaam” was without sound…. lookalikes look alike, but may not sound alike.
Do people think at all?
When less than three thousand died in the twin towers event, more than 500,000 had to die in Iraq due to America’s illegal invasion of pure wrath.
.
When 500,000 died in the US due to a virus made far worse through the negligence and incompetence of a president,
nothing happened.
3,000 verses 500,000.
Saddam was hung, but the everyone in the ‘coalition of the killing’ got away with it.
Such is the extreme bias that comes out of US administrations and a great many Americans who support this. Such is vassal state Australia.
Then there is Saudi Arabia the source of most of the 9/11 hijackers.
Then there is Saudi Arabia, the source of Wahhabism, the same extreme Sunni Muslim religion as ISIS followed after Wahhab the prophet who went on a similar rampage in the 19th Century.
Then there was Robert Fisk who discovered that Saudi Arabia was bankrolling ISIS.
Then the US and UK and France and now Australia have been selling enormous quantities of weapons and military equipment to Saudi Arabia. Obama led the charge.
Then there’s Yemen.
The war was always about the oil and wiping out Saddam and his Scud missiles. He fired them at Saudi Arabia and mistakenly fired them at Israel. Israel did not retaliate, the missiles were highly inaccurate. But the US vengeance was to come. So in fact oil and Israel and because Saddam tried to kill G.W. Bush’s daddy (so he said) are the reasons for 500,000 Iraqi deaths, a modest figure because many others say it was much more. How many died after years of US sanctions held against Iraq prior to the war as well? 500,000 children died alone it is said but America has spent a great deal of effort trying to dispute that. They Saddam lied but then they also say everyone lies except themselves.
America thought Saddam had chemical weapons because they sold him them in the first place when they backed his war against Iran.
There’s only one real bully in the world, and it is the US.
No, it is those who own most of the USA and most other countries. Banking is dominated by them, which is why the media loss making, continue their siren song.Stop blaming millions of innocent dopes in one nation or another.
WAKE UP!
Your raves are barely coherent except maybe to yourself.
“Stop blaming millions of innocent dopes in one nation or another.” When did I do that?
Apart from the fact that when I refer to America I mean successive administrations, the dark forces behind them, and Americans who support US exceptionalism to dominate the world, you for some reason think blaming the entire world’s banking system is somehow better.
I would acknowledge that there are are overlaps with countries and banking, but the thesis in this article is correct as far as I am concerned.
Explain what anything I say is wrong, just don’t override with the bigotry of telling people to wake up just because you think you know better. And it reinforces the nature of US aggression and bullying. The fact is you produce no evidence to substantiate your claims in the least.
Sorry I am too busy raving… you should take a rest and understand why manners are an indication of standards.
You still make little sense
I suppose you mean I have to respect manners and you can go around telling people with upper case letters to “wake up” as if they know nothing compared to you.
So you have decided out of revenge to mark as many of my posts even on different articles with a negative tick. You just reinforce everything I said in the first comment. It’s how Trump would act too.
Pity you can’t see what people complain about with America being the bully here in Australia, and elsewhere but hey that’s normal and I’ve personally known that since Vietnam.
It is ever thus. Reading, “How to Plan a Crusade”. Even the ‘spontaneous’ Crusades were planned – sometimes two years in advance. It was a land grab with no intention of liberating Jerusalem. Too hard, and no-one in Jerusalem wanted to liberated anyway.
Bush was an oilman, Obama was an insurance man, Trump and Biden are ‘anyman’s’.
The Australian establishment belongs to banks, carpetbaggers, thieves, armament manufacturers and our politicians are commodities to be bought and sold. Australia has a rich mercenary history and… dare I say it? We are at number one and number two in the world’s oldest professions.
Of course Howard is guilty of sending Australians to war on spurious grounds. I have no proof of actual corruption – such as money in a brown paper bag – but surely, someone had a return on investments out of Australia’s involvement in Iraq. And no-one would buy the F35 without incentives, would they?
Wars, like the Crusades, cost money to mount. If wars lost money, you wouldn’t find anyone eager to participate. Thank goodness at least 95% of casualties in war are civilians!
Just have to add…..
Despite the death toll from the Iraq War – and the ongoing human tragedy… there is some good news….
No politician or military brass have lost their jobs or had their pensions and entitlements affected in any way. Most have gone onto other high paying careers where their influence guides Australian military and defence procurement policy. Our nation remains in ‘safe’, yet bloodied hands.
A tweet from Phillip Adams accompanying a photo of John Howard; This is the worst ever Australian PM. Despite increasing competition no one else comes close. He made us complicit in over a million deaths.
But the Uyghurs….
Were invaded and taken over in the 1950s. Like Tibet and Sinkiang. China has been very aggressive in the past. The past is a very good guide to the future! China doubled in size. Pretended animosity between USA and China is for respective domestic consumption.
Well that settles it, no further historical perspectives required.
“China has been very aggressive in the past.” What 72 years ago. Why didn’t you say something about it then?
And examples? How about aggression comparison list with the US? Japan?
Howard did prevent Bali from happening in Australia. Mostly because a USA, SF laser team would have been spotted by too many larrikin Aussies who could not be shut up. Indonesia was an ideal place for a false flag. Tom Clancy wrote about cardboard encased, plane dropped, ordnance decades ago. To appear as a car bomb. Clear and present danger the book, not the film!
Downer denied that Indonesian security forces were involved. Despite being contradicted by an ex Indon President!
Sorry Bevan, but the only “inquiry” that will be conducted will be by future historians. Astute readers will have noticed, to add to your excellent summary of this war, back in the early 2000s that Syria was to be next followed by Iran. Thus, the ‘plan’ is still playing out. What is the plan? No less than domination of whole middle east, one way or another. Keep watching and keep reading!