Andrew Wilkie
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Andrew_Wilkie_2004-07-29.jpeg
Andrew Wilkie
Wilkie (born 1961, Tamworth) was an Australian career soldier who trained at the Duntroon (1980-84) and rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel (1999), before transferring to the intelligence analysis agency, the Office of National Assessments (ONA). In this role, Wilkie had extensive access to Australian, British and U.S. intelligence reporting on Iraq.
Wilkie joined the Young Liberals while a cadet at the Duntroon military college in the late 1980s and after graduating and being stationed in Brisbane, he became a member of the Liberal Party of Australia but has since let his membership lapse.
Wilkie was called to give evidence to the official UK and Australian enquiries into the case that had been made for the Iraq war.
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2003: private dilemma
In the run-up to the war, the Australian, British and U.S. governments claimed 'intelligence reports' of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. After the invasion, no weapons of mass destruction were in fact found.
Wilkie has said that he increasingly found an ethical dilemma between his duties as an intelligence officer and his respect for the truth, and on 11 March 2003, he resigned from ONA and placed the information before the Australian public. In response to widespread opposition to the war, Wilkie gave extensive television interviews and accepted numerous offers of public speaking engagements.
2004: public role
In 2004, Wilkie published Axis of deceit, an account of the reasons for his decision and its results. He describes his views on the nature of intelligence agencies and the analyst's work, the history of the Iraq war, the untruths of politicians, and the attempts to suppress the truth.
Wilkie stood as an Australian Greens candidate for Bennelong against John Howard in the Australian House of Representatives in the Australian legislative election, 2004, polling 16% of the primary vote, a considerable increase from the previous (2001) election figure of 5%, although still nowhere near enough to win the seat. Wilkie was a supporter of the 'Not happy John!' campaign.
External links
- http://www.andrewwilkie.org.au — Wilkie's 2004 campaign site (http://www.andrewwilkie.org.au)
References
- Andrew Wilkie, Axis of deceit. Schwarz Publishing, Melbourne, 2004. In series Black Inc. Agenda. ISBN 09750769-2-2 ("the story of the intelligence officer who risked all to tell the truth about WMD and Iraq": cover)
- Former spy eyes greener pastures (http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/12/09/1070732214670.html?from=storyrhs), The Sydney Morning Herald, December 10, 2003