Australia kept quiet about early deployment of forces ahead of Iraq war, cabinet papers show
Share:
The Howard government sent military personnel to the Middle East well before officially authorising Australia’s involvement. The Howard government avoided disclosing that it had sent military forces to the Middle East months before authorising Australia’s official involvement in the Iraq war in 2003, cabinet records show.
![[Prime Minister John Howard with Air Marshall Angus Huston and Australian ambassador to Iraq Howard Brown in Baghdad in July 2005.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/45bd1b51d259aac1236faaa3041895b6959c869a/0_70_2400_1440/master/2400.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Cabinet documents from 2003 and 2004 released by the National Archives contain the first confirmation of what has been widely discussed in the decades since: the government deployed forces well before officially authorising Australia’s involvement in the war on 18 March 2003.
Public as of 1 January under the law that lifts the seal on all but the most sensitive cabinet records after 20 years, the 2004 documents show how determined the government was to keep the matter secret. Records from the year before, made public belatedly in March this year after they went missing and were omitted from last year’s 1 January release, confirmed that forces were sent three months earlier than the government would publicly admit.
Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email. The national security committee (NSC) met on 10 February 2004 ahead of the government releasing a public version of Defence’s review of the Iraq operations. It was concerned to ensure the advance deployment was not disclosed.
