Australia and a War Powers Act

War powers act could stop further debacles

February 25, 2011 - For many months Britons have been occasionally gripped by proceedings of the Chilcot Inquiry. This is the investigation into the Iraq war by privy councillors - everything from the lead-up to the invasion, the justifications for British involvement and the conduct of the conflict itself.

There have been some engrossing moments, particularly when former prime minister Tony Blair appeared (twice) to lay out the justification for his enthusiasm for the conflict.

The legal justification has been fascinating. The former British attorney-general, Lord Goldsmith, started off saying an invasion had insufficient legal underpinning. In fact, it was illegitimate without further Security Council resolutions. Ultimately, like a good lawyer, he said exactly the opposite.
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As early as July 2002 Sir Richard Dearlove, the director of MI6, told Blair that Washington was already fitting-up the intelligence and the ''facts'' to get in step with the policy.

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At the time our troops were doing the cakewalk Parliament was still debating a statement by the PM, made in February, that it is ''the government's belief that the world community must deal decisively with Iraq''.

Since we know in these circumstances that the first casualty is truth we shouldn't be too surprised at this sequence of events.

The duplicity that has brought about so much waste and carnage demands something better. One such procedural improvement would be a War Powers Act, requiring both houses of parliament to approve the participation of Australian troops in overseas conflicts.

The US government can't sent its troops off to kill and be killed without congressional approval, although presidents have sometimes ignored the requirement.

Following undeclared wars in Korea and Vietnam, Congress insisted that it have the final say.

A War Powers Bill has been unhappily kicking around the Australian Parliament since 1985. Originally it was an idea of the Democrats. {continued}