Former PM John Howard was no pro-Iraq war ‘zealot,’ but it was in Australia’s ‘national interest’ to stay in 2004
Declassified documents reveal Australia’s strategy in Iraq, as former PM John Howard defends his decision to back the US even after no weapons of mass destruction were found.
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Australia deployed more troops to Iraq amid fears our citizens would be the target of terror attacks and kidnap attempts, after deciding an increased military presence would be in the nation’s “interest” even as the US conceded no weapons of mass destruction would be found.
The deliberations at the highest levels of the Howard Government have been revealed in a tranche of declassified documents from some 2004 meetings of cabinet and the powerful National Security Committee (NSC) released by the National Archives of Australia on Wednesday.
While senior ministers spent much of the year preparing for the federal election, which the Coalition would go on to win against then-opposition Labor leader Mark Latham, international events dominated high level discussions.
Troops were deployed to an extended peacekeeping mission in Timor Leste, and Australia was the target of a terror attack outside its embassy in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta.
Later that year, Australians mourned the loss of loved ones in the devastating Boxing Day tsunami, which the United Nations estimated killed at least 225,000 people, before opening their wallets and giving generously to support the disaster recovery.
But for the most part, eyes remained on Iraq, with the Bush Administration in January 2004 conceding its argument the ousted regime of Saddam Hussein possessed stockpiles of chemical, biological and even nuclear weapons – so-called weapons of mass destruction – was unfounded.
Despite this admission, the Howard Government remained committed to allied efforts to stabilise Iraq and support a peaceful transition to a sovereign government, with declassified documents revealing discussions about how Australia would ultimately bolster its presence in the region through the deployment of police, medical and Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel.
In February, the then-defence minister Robert Hill wrote to former prime minister John Howard seeking to discuss the “possibility of our deploying further ADF personnel to train the Iraqi army and Australia’s posture, most broadly, in Iraq”.
Mr Hill said an increased security presence would “play an important role in maintaining and enhancing Australia’s national interests in Iraq during the transition and beyond”.
The NSC ultimately agreed to deploy a further 53 ADF personnel to help train the Iraqi Army, and committed to the continued presence of Australian warships in the region.
inCabinet historian and UNSW associate professor David Lee said it was during 2004 that the goal of political stability in Iraq was “undermined by sectarian strife and a growing insurgency against the Coalition occupiers”.
As the situation deteriorated, the NSC in July agreed to embed 20 medical personnel in Coalition health facilities.
Prof Lee said that same month former foreign affairs minister Alexander Downer warned the NSC “Australia’s Iraq engagement strategy had to be based on the assumption that Australian nationals would be targeted by insurgents, including possible kidnapping”.
On November 15, the NSC noted the security environment in Iraq “remains extremely hazardous” and agencies had assessed the “frequency of security incidents in Iraq is trending upwards”.
“The threat to Australian interests in Iraq, including the embassy, is assessed to be ‘high,’ with an attack likely,” the committee noted.
Also in 2004, Mr Downer received NSC approval to continue the Australian contribution to an extended UN peacekeeping mission in Timor-Leste through to May 2005.
Prof Lee said nothing in the cabinet papers selected for release provided insight into later allegations that the Australian Security Intelligence Services (ASIS) had bugged the Timor-Leste PM’s office to “obtain information favourable to Australia in negotiations over the oil and gas fields in the Timor gap”.
Speaking about the declassified documents, former prime minister John Howard rejected the idea he was a pro-Iraq war “zealot” though defended his decision to join the Coalition mission despite no weapons of mass destruction ever being found.
Mr Howard said supporting the US-led invasion of Iraq had been in “Australia’s national interest”.
The former PM said Australians could “take great pride” in the nation’s efforts to protect a Japanese engineer construction unit in April 2005, which resulted in the deployment of 450 troops to the southern province of Al Muthanna.
Mr Howard had initially promised Australian troops would not return to Iraq during the 2004 election, but said it was while speaking to voters during the campaign that he came to believe the move would be welcomed.
“I found as I moved around the country that the idea that we should leave the Japanese engineers unprotected was not one the Australian people supported,” he said.
Mr Howard said a defining memory of 2004 and its aftermath was the generosity showed by Australians in the wake of the earthquake and tsunami on December 26, which severely impacted parts of Indonesia and Thailand – including major tourist hotspots.
“I remember talking to some of the individually wealthiest people in Australia, saying how they had told all their friends for particular gatherings that instead of bringing along a gift to their favourite charity or their favourite person, they should bring along a contribution, particularly to the suffering people of Ache (in Indonesia),” he said.
Mr Howard said he was also proud of his government’s $1 billion contribution to the tsunami recovery efforts, which he said was the “largest single contribution ever made by Australia to, in effect, an overseas aid project”.
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Originally published as Former PM John Howard was no pro-Iraq war ‘zealot,’ but it was in Australia’s ‘national interest’ to stay in 2004
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