Australia: eminent Aussies call for truth in govt

Forty-three eminent former defence chiefs and diplomats called for more honesty in government, saying they were concerned Australia joined the war on Iraq on the basis of false assumptions and deceptions.

In a public statement released Sunday, they said Australians must be able to believe they were being told the truth on matters as grave as sending troops to war.

But Prime Minister John Howard rejected suggestions that Australia went to war on the basis of lies.

"I’ve always recognised that some people opposed our decision and for the reasons I’ve stated ad nauseam," he told journalists at the Pacific Islands Forum in Western Samoa.

"There was no pressure put on intelligence agencies. The argument that we took the country to war based on a lie is itself a misrepresentation and I continue to reject it."

The statement’s signatories include former defence force chiefs Peter Gration and Alan Beaumont, former defence department secretary Paul Barratt, former prime minister’s department secretaries Alan Renouf and Richard Woolcott and former ambassadors including Rawdon Dalrymple, Stephen Fitzgerald and Ross Garnaut.

"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," they said.

"Saddam’s dictatorial regime has ended but removing him was not the reason given to the Australian people for going to war."

Mr Gration, who headed the Australian Defence Force from 1987 to 1993, said the signatories wanted get their views out before the election was called.

He said this was intended to be a bipartisan call on whichever government was elected to give more priority to truth in government.

"Demonstrably over the last year or two, truth in government has been less than it should be," he said.

"The primary focus is on Iraq where the government took us to war - the most serious decision a government can take - on the basis of false assumptions and arguably deception.

"A number of serving offices do share these concerns, and serving diplomats too I guess. But quite properly in their present positions, they can’t speak out."

Health Minister Tony Abbott backed Mr Howard, declaring that even former Office of National Assessment whistleblower Andrew Wilkie, now a Greens candidate, had believed Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.

"Sure with the benefit of hindsight we now know that it wasn’t absolutely accurate," he told the Nine Network. "But let’s not get too wise after the event."

Opposition Leader Mark Latham said he would tell the truth as prime minister, unlike Mr Howard.

"Mr Howard has an appalling record," he said on ABC television.

"He can barely lie straight in bed. You look at all these scandals, from kids overboard to the war in Iraq to the Keelty affair.

"There has been a lot of deceit from the Howard government and we have got to restore public confidence in the Australian government by having a truthful, fair dinkum, straight approach."

Australian Democrats leader Andrew Bartlett said the statement was an unprecedented condemnation of the prime minister.

"Things have never been this bad, our democracy has never been so sick, with a prime minister that is so dishonest," he said in Brisbane.

"The big thing is of course you cannot expect the Labor Party would do much better if they were to get into government." (AAP)

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/08/08/1091903433723.html