PM Can't Brush Aside Iraq Criticism
The government could not simply brush aside criticism by 43 former senior defence and public service officials, retired defence chief General Peter Gration insisted today.
He was responding to the government's dismissal of a statement signed by former officials which said Australia joined the Iraq war on the basis of false assumptions and deception.
The statement called for truth in government to be made a priority.
Mr Gration, who was one of the signatories, said the government could not dismiss the opinions of so many former senior officials.
"This is the first time in my memory that 43 Australians who have held very senior positions in agencies, have been key diplomats abroad and have been heads of armed services, have come out to make such a strong statement," he told ABC radio.
"And I don't think that any government can brush it aside by saying these are old guys and their opinion doesn't count."
Mr Gration said it was not right for the government to blame mistakes made in the lead up to the Iraq War on intelligence failures.
"This was a policy failure because the government is the last resort and it's the job of the government to make decisions based not blindly rubber stamping what's put in front of them but making a judgment on the value of that intelligence," he said.
I've not yet seen this reported in U.S. media... I doubt it will be. Odd how so many highly-regarded military and diplomatic veterans have come out against this war and its execution yet those in power stand too good a chance of being re-elected.
And the war is only one of Bush's abysmal failures!
Another story (thanks to primate on the left at the DailyKos)
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