Iraq crisis: John Howard's decision to back 2003 invasion helped fuel Islamic State militant group, says Andrew Wilkie

Updated

Independent MP Andrew Wilkie says John Howard should be "deeply ashamed" for sending Australian troops to Iraq in 2003, adding that the military action allowed for the rise of groups like Islamic State.

Mr Howard told the Seven Network he was "embarrassed" when he learned there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, which was the basis for his decision to back the invasion.

Mr Wilkie, a former intelligence analyst, today said the former prime minister should face prosecution in the International Criminal Court over the decision.

"Frankly, I'm disappointed that the prosecutor at the International Criminal Court hasn't thought to hold John Howard responsible for conspiracy to commit mass murder," he said.

"[It is] one thing to take Australia to war based on a lie. It makes it all the worse when that war has been so damaging to so many people and remains in the opinion of a great many historians as the darkest blot on this nation's history, at least in modern times, as far as foreign policy and security goes."

[John Howard] should be deeply ashamed that he lied to the Australian public 11-and-a-half years ago and took us into an unnecessary war ... [that] and created the conditions for the rise of not just the Islamic State but [also] other groups. Andrew Wilkie

Mr Wilkie said Islamic State militants should be condemned for terrorist actions in Iraq, and added that the current unrest in the Middle East had its roots in the events of 11 years ago.

"We wouldn't have to disband the Iraqi military which was done; we wouldn't have disbanded the Iraqi bureaucracy that was done – two key decisions not long after the invasion which helped create the anarchy that we are still dealing with," he said.

"If we are fair dinkum about actually helping Iraqis and creating the conditions that will make it harder for terrorists to thrive, we should be piling on the foreign aid.

"I'm in no way making excuses for the terrorists but ... we have helped create this mess.

"[Mr Howard] should be deeply ashamed that he lied to the Australian public 11-and-a-half years ago and took us into an unnecessary war – a war that has killed countless Iraqis and other people, which effectively destroyed that country and created the conditions for the rise of not just the Islamic State but [also] other groups."

Topics: unrest-conflict-and-war, government-and-politics, history, terrorism, australia, iraq, tas

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