Sydney
Forty-three former Australian diplomats have signed a letter criticizing their government for “rubber-stamping” a flawed U.S. policy toward Iraq. “We are concerned that Australia was committed to join the invasion of Iraq on the basis of false assumptions and deception of the American government,” the letter said. Prime Minister John Howard shrugged off the criticism. “I might point out to my critics,” said Howard, “that at the time of the military operation, there was near unanimous agreement around the world that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.” Australia, which sent 2,000 troops to Iraq, was initially the largest contributor to the coalition after Britain, but a majority of voters opposed the war.
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