The Man of Steel made hostages of us all.

Our troops and Naval personnel were hostage to their duty.

Then the public and media were hostage to the safety and wellbeing of our children who serve, so debate was stifled.

It was a perfect self-fulfilling scam, reinforced by decades of simplistic Anzac Day rhetoric and stupid flag-waving. We were suckers, easy meat for the War For Profit Gang.

Just think, our twenty-year olds serving in Afghanistan were only ten when the 9-11 crime was committed. What the hell are we doing?

....and all for the price of a Deputy Sherrif's badge ....

Bravo.
All it takes for evil to prosper is for good people to do nothing.
Howard and Bush need to go up for war crimes or the "terrorists" are indeed "freedom fighters".
We also need an inquiry into the Murdoch propaganda machine.
Lies were told consistently as part of a strategy to guide the masses. It worked brilliantly, but systematic lies told to a nation to force a war for blatant economic piracy certainly *should* be a crime.

In our newspapers about October, I believe, was a full page map of the Middle East, indicating the oilwells put in Iraq by the US, and ones in Afganistan put there by Russia. There was a note with it, "US congress has provisional plans to take over the Middle East oilfields if there is any further reduction of supplies". ABC 60 Minutes, Jan. 11, 2004 :- According to documents provided by former US Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill, George W. Bush, ten days after taking office in January 2001, instructed his aides to look for a way to overthrow the Iraqi regime. A secret memo entitled "Plan for post-Saddam Iraq" was discussed in January and February 2001, and a Pentagon document dated March 5, 2001, and entitled "Foreign Suitors for Iraqi Oilfield contracts", included a map of potential areas for petroleum exploration.[84]The US congress supplied weapons to Afghan forces to take over the Middle East oilfields, and this was the precedence to the attack on the Twin Trade Towers and the White house.

I forgot to tell you , the first report and Map, was in 1974.

In 1974, in our newspapers there was a page devoted to a map of the Middle East, indicating the US and Russian oil wells, with a note "US Congress has provisional plans to take over Middle East Oil fields if there is any further reduction of supply" I don't know what the supply of oil from the Middle East had to do with the US congress, but later events showed what was in store. ABC 60 Minutes, Jan. 11, 2004 :- According to documents provided by former US Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill, George W. Bush, ten days after taking office in January 2001, instructed his aides to look for a way to overthrow the Iraqi regime. A secret memo entitled "Plan for post-Saddam Iraq" was discussed in January and February 2001, and a Pentagon document dated March 5, 2001, and entitled "Foreign Suitors for Iraqi Oilfield contracts", included a map of potential areas for petroleum exploration.[84]The US congress supplied weapons to Afghan forces to take over the Middle East oilfields, and this was the precedence to the attack on the Twin Trade Towers and the White house.

Indeed, an inquiry is long overdue:

But to think, the only reason we were convinced to go along with this was the belief we would be 'vulnerable to an invasion from Indonesia or China if we don't get America to want to defend us' line-

I say the nation should have discussed the feasibility of these claims, were we to avoid getting suckered into the conflict to begin with.
Because if Wikileaks has taught us anything, the break-you-back-to-curry-favor with another country (especialy the USA) is a con-job with no reward.

What absolute rubbish and the usual left wing rant that I often read in these posts.

Australia did the right hing in joining in this campaign and now Iraq is developing into a well needed democracy in the area.

King Hazza. Too true.
This "we must suck up to the USA to protect us" theory was relevant in WW2, but in recent times is merely a cultural hangover. Since the V2 missile any "total war" scenario will be *completely* different to historical wars. It is only the limited economic "warfare" resembling extreme police action (Iraq, Afghanistan) that resembles the pre-WW2 warfare. Australia is in an excellent position to *defend* using modern detection methods and the ability to obliterate any zone within (say) 500km of the coast using missiles. This tactic would completely cover the "foreign horde" invasion scenario that our grandparents worried about. It would also send a more ethical message regarding deadly force: We will never invade or kill for politics, but we will defend to the hilt without mercy.
Pre-emptive wars for financial gain are not ethical, nor can it be argued honestly that it is "defence". (A bully's defence: "he would have hit me, so I hit first")
The Iraq war was a con so that Haliburton, Blackwater and the remnants of Standard Oil can extract limitless profits from other nation's wealth. The Bush families ties to the Saudis and the Bin Ladens is also a fascinating background to the war.
The war cost trillions and put the USA into dire financial straits. It wasn't just Wall St greed, it was vast public expenditure with only a few major winners.
There is ample documented evidence that Bush and co have wanted to control the middle east oil supplies for decades and engineered the excuse to do so.
It really annoys me that this massive breakdown in Law and governance was allowed to slide simply because the criminals were friends with the rich and powerful. Is our system of Good that weak in the face of powerful criminals?

What war in Iraq? A few war mongering politicians joined Australia in an attack against a nation that was not at war. That is what an inquiry should be about.

What is not mentioned in this excellent Post is that Australia, through the use of our armed forces (the SAS) also initiated a below-the-belt murderous pre-war incursion into Iraq under cover of darkness using state-of-the-art night vision to "pick off" "Murder" those iraq personnel manning positions that would do harm once the illegal invasion took place.
This has brought disgrace to Australia and its armed forces and the smeer now on our armed forces can only be removed by an enquiry into Australian War Crimes in Iraq, by this present government. Not to do so will implicate this government as complicit in these crimes, down in history.
This war crime was well documented in Australian newspapers at the time, but to the digrace of the Australian Government, nothing was done. SEE
http://johnwinstonhowardandtheiraqwar.blogspot.com/

The Australian people had no way of stopping invasion decisions made by politicians of the time. The defence force participants did what they were ordered to do. Politicians led the attack without any evidence of substance to do so.

How manmy Iraqi civilians are now dead or maimed for life?

Bravo.

What has changed regarding terrorism in the last ten or eleven years. It still very active and blowing people up. Iraq and afghan are still places that it is not safe to live. Many more lives have been lost, especially in these countries. The world is flooded with refugees fleeing terror. The outcome is the same as Vietnam, and always will be when one country invades another.

We desperately need to change the constitution that allows the government to take us into war without any accountability. The government should have to undergo an open and in depth investigation of their actions within twelve months of committing the country to war. There needs to be guidelines, overseen by the GG that the government has to follow before taking action.

Iraq is the epitome of "war for profit". The Bush Administration championed the outsourcing of government functions to private corporations.
Unfortunately, John Howard was so enamoured at being seen as a little buddy of George W. Bush and his dodgy outfit that, as Prime Minister, he allowed his own sense of personal affirmation to override his responsibility to judge the issue of Iraq on its own merits. A little more consultation with those that had nothing to gain from the invasion may have cleared his mind a little.

Here's some stats on the Iraq War
http://usliberals.about.com/od/homelandsecurit1/a/IraqNumbers.htm

I don't see anyone demanding Bob Hawke be charged with war crimes?

Why is that, he went to war in Iraq in 1991 ..

Kevin Rudd and the ALP supported Australia's decision to go to war in Iraq with President Bush, where are the cries for them to be charged as war criminals?

Very selective .. I suspect more driven by ideological hatred of conservatives, than anything else.

Keep in mind, PM John (MOS) Howard had a mandate to rule and this is a democracy where a PM could and did make those sort of decisions, as did Bob Hawke.

Still, it's nice to have a hobby isn't it.

Who ever got the idea in their head that members of political parties were intelligent or had integrity? Despite having a reasonable constitution, none of the parties require or demand that members promise that they will honour and obey the terms of their party's constitution. From what I have seen, to become a member, all one has to do is sign a form promising that they will agree with the decision of the majority. This implies that persons joining, have no integrity, and little intelligence, and the decisions made by the parties show that my remarks are true, in war and in peace, and we expect them to do the right thing, to ensure that our decisions are admirable and correct.

"
Keep in mind, PM John (MOS) Howard had a mandate to rule and this is a democracy where a PM could and did make those sort of decisions, as did Bob Hawke.

Still, it's nice to have a hobby isn't it."

Even in a democracy, all should be open to be reviewed. I don't care what the colour of the government, they all have to be judged by the voters. For this to occur, the voter has the right to all the information that led to us being committed to war. Neither major party is inured to be fascinated with American presidents.

I am not seeking to remove their right to go to war(that would be nice). I am saying they have to justify their actions within a short period of time. That is democracy as I understand it.

We vote for a party to lead us. Decisions were made bi partisan. So i am not sure who is in the firing line.
Iraq will be a better country away from dictators.
So what will an inquiry do for you. Tell us things we already know.

Indeed Ozandy- even without speculating on America's real motives for invading Iraq, the bottom line for Australia is we only participated to support the USA, and were sold false reasons for doing so.
This alone is unacceptable in my opinion.

Our ability to defend ourselves, especially against naval AND air threats, is quite substantial (especially with Metalstorm weaponry), even despite our smaller serving forces and population.
That of course ignores that there is too little to suggest we even HAVE any countries that would attack us, as our most threatening neighbors aren't particularly hostile countries (though their capabilities are also extensive).

Indeed Flo:
Correct- I believe the simplest fix to the constitution is the requirement that a declaration to war must pass:
1- the parliament
2- the senate
3- the voting public via referendum
All 3 must have over 65% support, or it doesn't happen.
Let's see how our foreign policy changes with that it place.

Dear Chris, if your article and the like minded posts on this thread are an example of the thought processes you share, I have news for you. There is no cure.

Your article is sadly deficient in truth and thick with omissions, primarily because it starts at the end of a timeline, namely the “Iraq War”. Whilst this is ideally suited to provoking self righteous indignation amongst ill informed but like minded protestors, it does you little credit.

Following a three month study tour in the M.E. last year I was shocked at the venom and contempt in which our western commentariat is held. You need to send your article to some people in Iraq for comment. That way you will understand how impossibly misguided you really are. John Pilger does a much better job.

Please share the responses you get.

So Chris Doran and others are finally realising that the invasion of Iraq was a lie purely for the theft of oil by large corporate interests like BP/Caltex.It was never going to lower the price of oil for us or the USA.In fact,if they get more monopolistic power,oil will get more expensive.

a597 you seem to think that Iraqis are now liberated? That is a total lie.Saddham was a US generated dictator who got out of their control.That was his gravest sin.

The Iraqi Oil Ministry has awarded licenses to a broad range of international companies, many of which are based in nations that opposed the war and refused to participate. The perception that American oil companies would receive preferential treatment in a post-war Iraq have been proven false so far, with only two U.S.-based companies receiving contracts to develop Iraqi oil fields.

List of oil companies operating in Iraq.
BP, Inc. (USA)
China National Petroleum Corp.
Eni SpA (Italian)
Exxon Mobil (USA)
Royal Dutch Shell
Sonangol (Agolian)
Lukoil and Statoil ASA (Russian)
Gazprom (Russian)
Petronas (Malaysian)

Moral of the story, get a new conspiracy theory. Also, is there anyone out there still claiming Iraq never had weapons of mass desruction? If so please note the following:

August 1983 Haij Umran
Mustard , fewer than 100 Iranian/Kurdish casualties
October-November 1983 Panjwin
Mustard, 3,000 Iranian/Kurdish casualties
February-March 1984 Majnoon Island
Mustard, 2,500 Iranian casualties
March 1984 al-Basrah
Tabun, 50-100 Iranian casualties
March 1985 Hawizah Marsh
Mustard & Tabun, 3,000 Iranian casualties
February 1986 al-Faw
Mustard & Tabun, 8,000 to 10,000 Iranian casualties
December 1986 Um ar-Rasas
Mustard, 1,000s Iranian casualties
April 1987 al-Basrah
Mustard & Tabun, 5,000 Iranian casualties
October 1987 Sumar/Mehran
Mustard & nerve agent, 3,000 Iranian casualties
March 1988 Halabjah& Kurdish area
Mustard & nerve agent, 1,000s Kurdish/Iranian casualties
April 1988 al-Faw
Mustard & nerve agent, 1,000s Iranian casualties
May 1988 Fish Lake
Mustard & nerve agent, 100s or 1,000s Iranian casualties
June 1988 Majnoon Islands
Mustard & nerve agent, 100s or 1,000s Iranian casualties
July 1988 South-central border
Mustard & nerve agent, 100s or 1,000s Iranian casualties
March 1991, an-Najaf - Karbala area
Nerve agent & CS, Shi’a casualties not known.

Who are you kidding Stezza.These are multi-national oil companies in which individual congressmen Global Reserve Banks etc have shares in.The whole basis of your propaganda is false.

Care to introduce any facts arjay? or perhaps you will just resort to your usual 'jews control the world' hysteria.

Stezza,

"If so please note the following."
....please also note that the Reagan Administration knew all about "the following" while it was being carried out. All in the name of defeating Iran, don't you know. Mr Rumsfeld was sent galloping over to Iraq to shake Saddam's hand and renew ties even though the U.S. was aware of chemical weapon use.

Please note the following:

http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB82/press.htm

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2002/dec/31/iraq.politics

Don't confuse my arguments against conspiracy theories regarding WMDs and multinational oil companies as support for the US war or policy. I only wish to analyze these situations using facts and not a 'back and white / good and evil' outlook. In my opinion it is likely that both Saddams iraq and the US (bush and obama) are be in the wrong. Those expecting truth, justice and morality from war are living with the fairies.

Stezza I have never said or alluded to your statement that Jews control the world.Either back it up with facts or withdraw the statement.AIPAC has enormous influence politically in the US.In fact too much influence.

Soon the USA will like the USSR be forced to withdraw from Afghanistan and Iraq because they are broke thanks to the Federal Reserve.The kleptocracy's rule is coming to an end.They have destroyed Western economies and keep the rest of the world in debt slavery.

My message to Israel is to stay out of Iran, give Palistinians freedom and mind their own business.

Arjay,

Sorry I should have said:
"perhaps you will just resort to your usual 'zionists control the world' hysteria."

Posted by Arjay, Tuesday, 7 September 2010 8:55:18 PM
"The Zionists from what I've observed are no different from Hitler.They have this biblical manifest destiny,of the chosen people who will one day rule the planet."

As a CONSTITUTIONALIST I was the only person in the Commonwealth of Australia who actually sought to challenge the armed unconstitutional murderous invasion into Iraq. As a matter of fact on 19 March 2003 I was for the third time refused by the High Court of Australia to have my case accepted for filing and subsequently they refused it a 4th time. I pursue to oppose the armed unconstitutional invasion upon constitutional grounds that the Governor-General not having published in the Gazette a declaration of war then a Prime Minister had no power to authorise any war as only the Minister of Defence can do so provided the DECLARATION OF WAR was first published in the Gazette. In my view the High Court of Australia betrayed Australians by this. As an INDEPENDENT candidate for the Victorian Broadmeadows District (also in the Banyule Olympia Ward) were I to be elected then I could then raise it in the Parliament to have a ROYAL COMMISSION, as Kevin Rudd failed to do so upon my 7 December 2007 request.

Perhaps the Chilcot inquiry will attend to my submission as to the unconstitutionality by the Commonwealth of Australia to invade Iraq and by this that Bush and Blair can be charged also besides Howard for war crimes, etc. I published various books about it in the INSPECTOR-RIKATI® series on certain constitutional and legal issues.
We all just keep in that we have the program for others to follow and one day we ourselves may be invaded under the same falsifications as was used to invade Iraq. It is for this also essential that we hold those involved legally accountable so the RULE OF LAW will prevail. I may have Jewish blood but as a CONSTITUTIONALIST ultimately what is relevant what is constitutionally permissible. The invasion was unconstitutional and I view Section 24AA of the Crimes Act (Cth) can be applied. Also, I wrote to John Howard about the issue that the Magna Carta applied to the USA constitution and so to David Hicks rights. 3-months later the US Supreme Court made the ruling that was according to this line also. More over, prior to the invasion I did also warn the Chief of the Armed Forces General Cosgrove that it would be unconstitutional to invade Iraq without a declaration of war and as such like in the Neurenberg trials he too can be held accountable. I welcome any inquiry and it may just find that the judges of the High Court of Australia also may have conspired in it to ensure the invasion could go ahead.

Stezza.There is a huge differnce between a Zionist and a Jew.You alluded to me saying Jews wanted to rule the planet.Zionism is to Israel what Nazism was to Germany.They do not represent the aspirations of the ordinary people.Zionism is a state of mind and they can be found in many cultures right around the planet.