 www.araustralia.org |
Alternative Radio (Aust.) PO Box 780 Morwell Victoria 3848 Australia tel. 61-3-5134-8556 mob. 61-413-597-828 inquiries@araustralia.org |
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www.araustralia.org |
Alternative Radio (Aust.) PO Box 780 Morwell Victoria 3848 Australia tel. 61-3-5134-8556 mob. 61-413-597-828 inquiries@araustralia.org |
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Samuel Johnson, writing in The Idler in 1758, observes that, "Among the calamities of war may be jointly numbered the diminution of the love of truth, by the falsehoods which interest dictates and credulity encourages." In 1918, US Senator Hiram Johnson paraphrased this by stating, in opposition to the US becoming involved in the War in Europe, "The first casualty when war comes is truth." The year 2003 will be remembered as a turning point in International Relations and the use of falsehoods, lies and deception as the ruling regimes in the United States, England and Australia systematically twisted or ignored the truth in their quest for their illegal, imperial war in Iraq. Within the organisations that governments were relying on for intelligence and support, unease was growing as their political masters played fast and loose with the 'truth'. By the 11th March 2003, Andrew Wilkie, who worked in the Office of National Assessments (the ONA) had had enough. He resigned and went public to announce his disgust at the way his government was ignoring the evidence and advice his agency had given them against going to war.
Andrew Wilkie graduated from Duntroon Military Academy and spent almost 20 years in the Infantry, rising through the ranks to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel before taking up a position at the ONA as a civilian. Since resigning from the ONA in March 2003 Andrew Wilkie has been travelling non-stop speaking at parliamentary inquiries here and overseas, addressing public events and appearing on radio and TV. He has attempted to lift the veil on the events leading up to the war on Iraq and he is able to provide a first hand account of the pressure the intelligence community was under to deliver only advice that suited the government's position. He is also able to talk of the personal cost of being an insider who speaks the truth and challenges the orthodox line. Andrew Wilkie Spoke at the Macquarie University's Centre for Middle Eastern Studies in Sydney in November 2003. ** CD only |