HisFirst Posted February 24, 2017 Group: Royal Member Followers: 21 Topic Count: 315 Topics Per Day: 0.11 Content Count: 3,491 Content Per Day: 1.26 Reputation: 2,582 Days Won: 3 Joined: 09/25/2016 Status: Offline Share Posted February 24, 2017 http://www.9news.com.au/national/2017/02/25/06/40/iraq-venture-was-to-boost-us-ties-report Iraq war was to boost US ties: declassified report A newly declassified report says Australia's role in the 2003 invasion of Iraq was undertaken solely to enhance the alliance with the US, it's been reported. The report, obtained by Fairfax Media under freedom of information laws, concludes that Australia's contribution was of only modest military use and, in many cases, made little sense. The 572-page report was written between 2008 and 2011 by Dr Albert Palazzo from Defence's Directorate of Army Research and Analysis. It concludes that then prime minister John Howard joined then US president George W. Bush in invading Iraq solely to strengthen Australia's alliance with the US. It says that Mr Howard and then Chief of the Defence Force General Peter Cosgrove, facing domestic political pressure amid a deeply unpopular war, ensured that Australian lives were exposed to as little risk as possible. Politically, delivering the right force was "secondary to the vital requirement of it just being there" but it led some American military officers to grumble that Australia was providing "a series of headquarters". Anti-war protesters dressed as John Howard and George W Bush. (AAP) Mr Howard's claims of enforcing UN resolutions, stopping the spread of weapons of mass destruction and global terrorism, even rebuilding Iraq after the invasion, are dismissed as "mandatory rhetoric". Defence says the report is an "unofficial history" that represents the author's own views *not a nice report for families of soldiers served to read - even if it is authors "own views". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ezra Posted February 25, 2017 Group: Royal Member Followers: 16 Topic Count: 134 Topics Per Day: 0.04 Content Count: 8,142 Content Per Day: 2.35 Reputation: 6,612 Days Won: 20 Joined: 11/02/2014 Status: Offline Share Posted February 25, 2017 2 hours ago, HisFirst said: *not a nice report for families of soldiers served to read - even if it is authors "own views". Well the truth of the matter is that the Iraq war was an unmitigated disaster, and accomplished nothing. If the goal was to simply target Saddam (WMDs or not), then a precision strike was all that was necessary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HisFirst Posted February 25, 2017 Group: Royal Member Followers: 21 Topic Count: 315 Topics Per Day: 0.11 Content Count: 3,491 Content Per Day: 1.26 Reputation: 2,582 Days Won: 3 Joined: 09/25/2016 Status: Offline Author Share Posted February 25, 2017 Just now, Cletus said: LOLZ.... Bush Jr. did not invade Iraq to strengthen ties to Australia... it was all for oil. Im a Texan. Bush says he is but he is not. Do your homework on him. No, I read the article as: Australia was involved only to strengthen our ties to the US. Were we needed? Possibly not but it was just a token presence to strengthen our military allegiance. That was my take on the article. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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