Downer's Lies and Iraq
Its unlikely the public would support the Government's policies on Iraq if they knew what was really going on, especially the incredibly cruel sanctions policy or the unjustified war on Iraq which will only increase the risk to Australians. Its necessary therefore for the government to mislead, deceive and sometimes outright lie. Downer's interview on Meet the Press interview is an example. Consider the following:

"There is no doubt, though, on the basis of information provided by the Americans and the British that Iraq does have weapons of mass destruction capability and of course, they didn't destroy all of their capabilities in 1998 when the UN last left. So you have both intelligence and that indication of the presence of weapons of mass destruction capabilities in Iraq."

If there is "intelligence" showing the presence of WMD in Iraq, that should be shared with UNMOVIC, as has been requested by UNMOVIC, not to mention the Australian people. According to Scott Ritter Iraq has been 90-95% disarmed.

"UNSCOM, the predecessor to UNMOVIC, completed its work, was expelled, rather, from Iraq, it hadn't completed its work." This is a lie. UNSCOM was withdrawn, not expelled.

"Saddam Hussein, as has been demonstrated on many occasions, has supported terrorist organisations, particularly in the Middle East... There are clearly al-Qa'ida people present within Iraq. There's been plenty of evidence of that and much discussion about that."

Lets see the evidence then, Mr Downer. The US has been desperately trying to make the link between Iraq and Al Qaeda, but nothing has surfaced. Bin Laden and Saddam are bitter enemies. It is not in Iraq or Saddam's interest to launch al Qaeda style attacks against the US, anymore than it would be in his interest to have launched WMDs against the US (if he had them).

"But there is the other point and I've been saying all year, this is the one I think people do have to reflect on - Iraq does have a weapons of mass destruction capability"

This prejudges and in fact makes irrelevant UNMOVIC's investigation. Where are the WMDs and where is the threat to Iraq's neighbours, Mr Downer? Not to mention the threat to Australia.

"The whole of the onus is now on him. Security Council Resolution 1441 and its predecessors are perfectly clear. These are chapter 7 resolutions. He has an obligation to disarm. If he disarms, if he eliminates any weapons of mass destruction capability and long-range missile capability that he might have, then he doesn't have to worry. But if he doesn't, he will then invite military action against him."

Regardless of what UNMOVIC reports, regardless of the failure of the US/UK/Australia to present evidence of Iraq's WMD, it has been repeatedly signalled that the US will attack anyway, because they say he has WMDs. That is enough, just because we say so. But what if that is a lie?

On being asked whether he has seen the evidence of the US/UK, Downer says "Obviously, we don't know. We haven't been told. We're not aware of that." This appears to contradict what he said earlier in the interview, that "on the basis of information provided by US/UK". But most likely this statement of ignorance is true. Downer does not see fit to ask or insist on receiving this information before committing to support for the war.

"We have an alliance relationship with the US which is of mutual benefit. We do have the security of always knowing that the United States would be prepared to assist us if we ever got into any difficulties."

This is a foolishness that senior Australian officials can hardly rid themselves of. The US looks after its own interests. Assistance to Australia (or anybody) is viewed only through the prism of US interests. The basic lie in the whole interview is that Iraq is to be attacked because it has WMDs and links to terrorism. Iraq is to be attacked because it has the world's second largest oil reserves. The interviewer is unable to raise this basic issue.

Downer's Lies and Iraq
Its unlikely the public would support the Government's policies on Iraq if they knew what was really going on, especially the incredibly cruel sanctions policy or the unjustified war on Iraq which will only increase the risk to Australians. Its necessary therefore for the government to mislead, deceive and sometimes outright lie. Downer's interview on Meet the Press interview is an example. Consider the following:

"There is no doubt, though, on the basis of information provided by the Americans and the British that Iraq does have weapons of mass destruction capability and of course, they didn't destroy all of their capabilities in 1998 when the UN last left. So you have both intelligence and that indication of the presence of weapons of mass destruction capabilities in Iraq."

If there is "intelligence" showing the presence of WMD in Iraq, that should be shared with UNMOVIC, as has been requested by UNMOVIC, not to mention the Australian people. According to Scott Ritter Iraq has been 90-95% disarmed.

"UNSCOM, the predecessor to UNMOVIC, completed its work, was expelled, rather, from Iraq, it hadn't completed its work." This is a lie. UNSCOM was withdrawn, not expelled.

"Saddam Hussein, as has been demonstrated on many occasions, has supported terrorist organisations, particularly in the Middle East... There are clearly al-Qa'ida people present within Iraq. There's been plenty of evidence of that and much discussion about that."

Lets see the evidence then, Mr Downer. The US has been desperately trying to make the link between Iraq and Al Qaeda, but nothing has surfaced. Bin Laden and Saddam are bitter enemies. It is not in Iraq or Saddam's interest to launch al Qaeda style attacks against the US, anymore than it would be in his interest to have launched WMDs against the US (if he had them).

"But there is the other point and I've been saying all year, this is the one I think people do have to reflect on - Iraq does have a weapons of mass destruction capability"

This prejudges and in fact makes irrelevant UNMOVIC's investigation. Where are the WMDs and where is the threat to Iraq's neighbours, Mr Downer? Not to mention the threat to Australia.

"The whole of the onus is now on him. Security Council Resolution 1441 and its predecessors are perfectly clear. These are chapter 7 resolutions. He has an obligation to disarm. If he disarms, if he eliminates any weapons of mass destruction capability and long-range missile capability that he might have, then he doesn't have to worry. But if he doesn't, he will then invite military action against him."

Regardless of what UNMOVIC reports, regardless of the failure of the US/UK/Australia to present evidence of Iraq's WMD, it has been repeatedly signalled that the US will attack anyway, because they say he has WMDs. That is enough, just because we say so. But what if that is a lie?

On being asked whether he has seen the evidence of the US/UK, Downer says "Obviously, we don't know. We haven't been told. We're not aware of that." This appears to contradict what he said earlier in the interview, that "on the basis of information provided by US/UK". But most likely this statement of ignorance is true. Downer does not see fit to ask or insist on receiving this information before committing to support for the war.

"We have an alliance relationship with the US which is of mutual benefit. We do have the security of always knowing that the United States would be prepared to assist us if we ever got into any difficulties."

This is a foolishness that senior Australian officials can hardly rid themselves of. The US looks after its own interests. Assistance to Australia (or anybody) is viewed only through the prism of US interests. The basic lie in the whole interview is that Iraq is to be attacked because it has WMDs and links to terrorism. Iraq is to be attacked because it has the world's second largest oil reserves. The interviewer is unable to raise this basic issue.