Australian PM warned off Iraq by weapons expert
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-09-25 11:39

An expert on weapons of mass destruction warned Prime Minister John Howard last year against going to war with Iraq, arguing it would make Australia a bigger terrorist target, a press report says.

An expert on weapons of mass destruction warned Prime Minister John Howard, seen here, last year against going to war with Iraq, arguing it would make Australia a bigger terrorist target, a news report says. [AFP]

The Sydney Morning Herald said Bob Mathews, a 35-year veteran of the Defence Science and Technology Organistion, also told Howard three days before his decision to join the war that his case for war was based on falsehoods.

The paper said it had obtained a copy of Mathews' letter to Howard and had been appraised of what one colleague had reportedly described as "disgraceful" treatment of Mathews before and after he sent the letter.

It quoted Mathews to Howard as saying: "There are no reasons at the present time to justify supporting a US-led invasion of Iraq."

The letter also urged him to make a last-ditch effort to persuade the Americans to abandon their war plans.

The report described Mathews' action as a last, desperate act after his superiors repeatedly blocked him from expressing his views.

In his televised address to the nation, Howard said the reason "above all others" for joining the war was the threat posed by terrorists with weapons of mass destruction.

Mathews, described as Australia's leading expert on weapons of mass destruction, wrote to Howard as a private citizen three days before he committed the nation to sending some 2,000 defence personnel to the conflict.

The report, latest of a series alleging Howard was well warned against joining the war in Iraq, comes at a bad time for his government, now in the middle of a bitterly fought campaign for the October 9 election.

Howard's enthusiastic support for US President George W. Bush's "coalition of the willing" in Iraq and the Labor opposition's pledge to pull Australian troops out by Christmas have been a major election issue.

Opinion polls are showing conflicting results, with one poll Saturday giving Howard a substantial lead and another earlier this week putting Labor ahead.

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