From
the ABC ….. 

An
Australian diplomat told the Government that Iraq wanted fees outside the
oil-for-food program. 

No
AWB link in kickbacks cable: PM 

 When you finish reading this you'll wonder what other lies we're being told.

Was Terence Cole's request for those with information to step
forward a plea or a threat of revelation?  Caroline Overington's
detailing of those who received the ominous cable suggest the latter
premise is worth considering.

 [extract]

The scam was outlined in a diplomatic cable
dated April 10, 2001 from Bronte Moules, an official at Australia's permanent mission to the UN in New York.

It was widely distributed through the top echelons of government, including the Prime Minister, Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer, Trade Minister Mark Vaile and then-minister for agriculture Warren Truss.

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Coastwatch
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Patrol Boat Replacement

KBR is providing ongoing support to this Australian Navy capability acquisition project.

Joint Project 126
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Project Echidna
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Land 134
KBR provided tender preparation and evaluation services as well as
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Project PARAKEET
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From the ABC

PM declines Cole invitation

The Prime Minister says there is nothing
more that Government Ministers can offer the Cole Inquiry.

Earlier
today, Commissioner Terence Cole issued an invitation for anyone with
information about kickbacks or the Iraqi oil-for-food scandal to appear before
his inquiry. He made special mention of Members of Parliament and public
servants. 

'I was startled to hear
Prime Minister John Howard of Australia exclaim in a BBC interview last night
that he could not understand why pictures of starving Jewish interns of Bergen
Belsen, Dachau, and Aushwitz had been aired, yet again, by an Australian TV station
a few days ago.  

"I
don't understand what news value there is any longer in showing more pictures
of starving Jews, tortured in these prison camps."  

This sounds like the kind of conversation probably occurring in DFAT round about now

"There is the excuse we used for the Munich Agreement: It occurred
before certain important facts were known, and couldn't happen again."

"What important facts?"

"Well, that Hitler wanted to conquer Europe."

"I thought that everybody knew that."

"Not the Foreign Office."

‘Now, mounting a Hyde Park
soapbox to praise Chechens’ valiant struggle or urging Palestinians or Iraqis
or afghans to keep resisting foreign occupation will be a crime. Terrorism has
erased the term “justice” from our minds. 

The litmus test of free speech in
letting people you detest say what they choose & defending their right to
say things that may be painfully hateful or deeply stupid. 

Tony Blair just trampled this
basic British right. Britain now joins sleazy, third-world despotisms where
‘The Glorious Leader’ alone determines what one may & may not say. 

‘"If I was the president, I could stop terrorist
attacks against the United States in a few days. Permanently. 

I would first apologize - very
publicly and very sincerely - to all the widows and the orphans, the impoverished
and the tortured, and all the many millions of other victims of American
imperialism. 

I would then announce that
America’s global interventions - including the awful bombings - have come to an
end. 

‘The whole world is watching a human drama that is both
tragedy and travesty. As if the lessons of Vietnam had been presented to dull
students and needed repeating, Americans and peoples of all nations watch as
President George W. Bush's pre-emptive and unconstitutional war in Iraq
continues. The cradle of civilization is being turned into its grave by a
president whose undefined "noble cause" has thus far cost the lives
of almost 3000 American soldiers, wounded and maimed almost 20,000 more, and
killed tens of thousands of Iraqis. 

‘As all students today know, Iraq is the country that the
US invaded with the attempt to convert the state and the people from enemy to
friend. On the face of it, this sounds rather implausible, of course. Good
fences make good neighbours. Friendship and peace are not usually the result of
insults, sanctions, invasions, bombings, killings, puppet governments,
censorship, economic controls, and occupations. If this generation learns
anything from this period, that would be a good start. 

‘In November 2000 Saddam Hussein demanded Euros for his
oil. His arrogance was a threat to the dollar; his lack of any military might
was never a threat. At the first cabinet meeting with the new administration in
2001, as reported by Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill, the major topic was how
we would get rid of Saddam Hussein – though there was no evidence whatsoever he
posed a threat to us. This deep concern for Saddam Hussein surprised and
shocked O’Neill. 

It now is common knowledge that
the immediate reaction of the administration after 9/11 revolved around how
they could connect Saddam Hussein to the attacks, to justify an invasion and
overthrow of his government. Even with no evidence of any connection to 9/11,
or evidence of weapons of mass destruction, public and congressional support
was generated through distortions and flat out misrepresentation of the facts
to justify overthrowing Saddam Hussein.