UK High Commissioner: "We have never seen Iraq as part of the war on terror"

[sabra]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070419/wl_afp/australiabritainiraqattacks_070419031714

British diplomat sparks row in Australia over Iraq war 41 minutes ago

SYDNEY (AFP) - A row erupted in Australia Thursday after Britain's high commissioner said her government did not view the US-led invasion of Iraq as part of the "war on terrorism".

The opposition Labor Party seized on the comments, saying they exposed the government's argument for keeping Australian troops in Iraq as a lie. Australian Prime Minister John Howard denied the charge.

Helen Liddell, the High Commissioner or ambassador, said in a speech to the National Press Club in Canberra on Wednesday that Britain's invovlement in Iraq was not prompted by terrorism.

"We have never seen Iraq as part of the war on terror," said Liddell, who was in Prime Minister Tony Blair's cabinet when the decision to invade was made in 2003.

"Certainly we are engaged in a war on the streets in Iraq against terrorism, but our raison d'etre for our involvement in Iraq has not been about terrorism," she said.

[babylonsister]

1. Brazen and unreal. Tony must truly be on the way out. nt