Long before the invasion of Iraq was openly canvassed, Australian PM John Howard made an unholy alliance with the Bush White House. Not it looks like John Howard's horse might be flagging well ahead the finish line:
Meanwhile, a key US senator claims the Bush administration has sided with Australia instead of American wheat growers in the oil-for-food scandal and will use the allegation to press for US action.Two top Australian government officials will be fronting the enquiry early next week. Wouldn't it be nice to see some real accountability for a change?
Just days after asking the Bush administration to probe whether the AWB violated US laws or WTO trade rules, top Senate Agriculture Committee Democrat Tom Harkin has cited US cables first disclosed in the Cole investigation.
"We've now discovered that the Bush administration advised the Australian Government on how to handle the Australian Wheat Board's growing public problems about its dealings in Iraq," he said.
"This is very troubling. It appears the administration, outright dismissed any credibility to the Australian Wheat Board's contributing to the Hussein regime, under the UN's oil-for-food program."
Senator Harkin says he will try to "embarrass" the White House into bringing a WTO complaint or other action against the AWB.
