Flugge knew invasion plans (in feb 2002)

[floda]

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/flugge-knew-invasion-plans/2006/11/22/1163871481920.html
Flugge knew invasion plans

Marian Wilkinson
November 23, 2006

ONE year before the invasion of Iraq, Australia's then ambassador to the United Nations, John Dauth, confidentially told AWB's former chairman, Trevor Flugge, that the Howard Government would participate in military action with the US to overthrow Saddam Hussein, new AWB documents reveal.

Details of the extraordinary conversation undercut previous statements by the Prime Minister that Australia had not agreed to join the war in Iraq before the UN debate in late 2002 and early 2003.

The conversation between Mr Dauth and Mr Flugge took place in early 2002 - 13 months before the war - and the details are contained in confidential AWB board minutes that were released without fanfare yesterday by the Cole inquiry.

The minutes record Mr Flugge telling the board on February 27, 2002, that Mr Dauth confided in him "he believed that US military action to depose Saddam Hussein was inevitable and that at this time the Australian Government would support and participate in such action".

more

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/flugge-knew-invasion-plans/2006/11/22/1163871481920.html

[Toots]

1. The back up to Downing street memo

What sane person does not know that the invasion was pre-planned?

[magellan]

2. Yep, that dates right back to the DSM

For those still not aware, early 2002 is when Bush** and bLiar began officially planning regime change and military commitments for Iraq, such that the phone calls and meetings between and within both gov'ts were committed to secret UK memorandums. It appears much the same planning went on within the Australian gov't.

edit: wording

[Kolesar]

6. Credit the DSM activists for destroying bush* on 11/7

I recall the DSM story developed and got media coverage about a year ago. In time, the public adopted the position and took down the neo-cons like a pack of lions on a water buffalo. An epic struggle.

[sabra]

3. kick for the truth

[leftofthedial]

4. if we don't bring the lying criminal bastards in the bush cabal to justice

we don't deserve democracy

[daleo]

5. It proves they planned and plotted an illegal invasion

In other words, the mother of all war crimes. I am sure Nazis were hanged for this at Nuremberg.

[tblue37]

7. Shoot--In 2002 Jack Abramoff was already offering his clients a

chance to cash in on the Iraq invasion.

They have the emails.

[Twist_U_Up]

16. Pretty fucked up ayyy

But yet we continue to spin our wheels trying to get the truth out there.

Media is everything

911 was an inside job
Twist

[hvn_nbr_2]

8. Gee, I'll bet CorpPravda will be all over this story. nt

[mom cat]

9. Sure they will. And Lucy won't move the football this year.

[Straight Shooter]

10. How many other insiders knew?

This was a scheme, pure and simple, to benefit war profiteers.

[peacetalksforall]

22. The question should be ....? .... if we knew and the Echelon

leaders knew, why didn't Senators and Representatives know? Why did they vote the way most of them did? What do I resent the most? I won't go through the litany; I've written it so many times. Our kids, our kids, and the Iraqis and the cost which was directly responsible for so many cuts in budgets for everything that affected little people and the forever debt. The inhumanity of it all. I find that I'm incapable of forgiving the Ssnators and Representatives who gave PNAC the authority to move. This kind of news makes me go through it all over again.

[Straight Shooter]

25. The answer is ...

They didn't want to look wobbly on the so-called War on Terror. They thought it was too "complex" for Americans to understand.

:banghead:

[malaise]

11. Truth will out

Rats will be scampering shortly. Start the investigations Nancy!!

[gratuitous]

12. Well, that can't be right

Because I remember specifically Dubya dressing down a reporter in February 2003 because the premise of her question to him was "when" not "if" the invasion of Iraq would be launched. And we all know that a good Christian man like George W. Bush wouldn't lie right to a reporter's face, would he? Well, unless he wanted to get them off a subject and he really didn't want to talk about something. Because then it's okay; sort of the public servant equivalent to a seven-year-old having his fingers crossed when he lies to mommy.

[wryter2000]

13. Dumb question

What's AWB? To me, that's Average White Band, but I don't suppose that's what they mean. :)

[Blackthorn]

14. The Australian Wheat Board

I'm not 100% on the details, but basically this group controlled what wheat could be exported or something like that. They were found to have paid Saddam $300 million in kickbacks to keep Australian wheat going to Iraq. It was a decent scandal here 6 months ago. Suprising to find an Iraq link though.

[wryter2000]

18. Interesting

Thanks. :yourock:

[biggles1]

19. It gets even more interesting....

When the Howard Government set up the Cole Commission, they deliberately RESTRICTED its powers, so it was unable to delve into the question of how much Howard and his ministers KNEW about the 'kickback' arrangement that AWB had with the Saddam regime, at the time they were happening.

So, the likely outcome will be that the directors of AWB will (rightly) be prosecuted for their involvement, but their political masters, who at the same time as the kickbacks were being paid, were enthusiastically joining Georgie's War in the Sand, will blithely skip past the whole scandal.....

[wryter2000]

21. Oh my goodness

It seems Bush/Cheney/DeLay syndrome has migrated overseas.

Welcome to DU :hi:

[melissinha]

23. My dad tells me Australia has always been our ally in conflicts

its not surprising that they participated in the coalition, but I am very surprised they were in on it... very surprised.

[Matilda]

29. But the Democrats intend to hold their own investigation

now that they have the power to do so.

The Republicans hastily put a lid on it when it looked as if it might
rebound on their buddy Howard, but the Democrats intend to reopen it.
The reason is that the kickbacks may have prevented US sales to Iraq.

[dchill]

15. The Truth...

shall NOT make them free.

[TankLV]

17. Another fucking conservative caught LYING - again!

Tell us something new...

Now, what will Australians do about it...

[peacetalksforall]

20. ECHELON, MY ECHELON, LOYALTY WITH DEATH! nt

[rateyes]

24. But hey, let's not impeach the S.O.B.....

because it will look vindictive...nevermind that THE CONSTITUTION REQUIRES IT!! :sarcasm:

[Seabiscuit]

26. What does AWB stand for?

The article doesn't clarify. The writer apparently assumes all his readers know what "AWB" is.

[MCMetal]

27. Monkey See , Monkey Do

I've been railing against the imbecilic nature of Chimpy backers for 6 years now .
Who knew that stupidity of this magnitude was indeed world-wide contagious ? :dunce:

[Prana69]

28. AWB = Australian Wheat Board

See Post # 14.

AWB is the centralised "single desk" that controls the export of Australian wheat. It is a statutory body of the Australian Federal government.

Approximately 12 months ago it came to light that, while Australia was part of the UN sanctions regime against Iraq and the Goverment was rattling sabres about Saddam Hussein's WMDs, the Australian Wheat Board had paid kickbacks totalling $300 million to an Iraqi trucking company called "Alia" in contravention of the UN "Oil for Food" program. The intent of these bribes was to privilege Australian wheat exporters in the Iraqi wheat market.

In reality, it was a rort of the UN Oil for Food program, and AWB executives knew that Alia was a front company which was feeding the money to Saddam's regime.

So, while the Government was arguing what a tyrant Saddam was, a Government agency was feeding him hundreds of millions of dollars.

The Government and it's Ministers claim never to have been told about what was going on. This is patently false as a number of AWB officials involved in the program have stated that they informed the ministers' departments (Prime Minister & Cabinet, Foreign Affairs, Trade) on many occasions, and the Government had knowledge of and fully supported the program. However, finding documentary evidence has proved difficult.

All ministers have claimed the Sgt Schulz defence: "I know nothing".

Peace.

Prana69.

[Zhade]

30. Investigate, impeach, indict, imprison.

Otherwise, our pretense to justice is just that - a pretense.

[orleans]

31. why don't we all send an email to conyers about this

with a link?

okay--i'll start.

SHIT! there is no email for him on his website! there used to be, from what i remember.

so now i'm forced to print three copies and mail them to:

The Honorable John Conyers, Jr:

2426 Rayburn Building
Washington, DC 20515

2615 W. Jefferson
Trenton, MI 48183

669 Federal Building
231 W. Lafayette
Detroit, MI 48226

maybe you could also send him a copy???

[woodsgirl]

32. thank you

for sending the emails. If we don't impeach over hundreds of thousands of deaths, injury and torture for oil after impeaching Clinton for a blow job...what kind of nation will we ever be again? The Hague is the place for the trial...they should be jailed until the trials. And try Rush, Judith Miller, O'reilly, Novak, Coulter and all the enablers to whip up the patriosm drive prior to the war.The world and the american people protested and protested to try to stop it. I believed the intel just doesn't cut it for me. I wrote John Edwards( my senator at the time) begging him not to vote for it. With his brilliant investigative abilities as a trial lawyer prior to the war....How could he have been fooled? Although I like him very much...I still wonder about his motives. The only senator who voted against the war and the patriot act is Feingold...and he says he won't run....and Bush shouldn't be impeached. What gives? I'm thinking the dem. candidate for president shouldn't come out of DC. Howard Dean spoke out against the war before it was politically correct. And who has been fighting him? The Clinton wing of the dem. party.That wing should be the new republican party. If We go back to being progressive and standing up for the working people...there will be no need for "framing" and pushing religion down our throats for votes. The democratic party will just win. That's the way it used to be.