Former Australian Commander: No Evidence to Justify War in Iraq

Admiral Christopher A. Barrie

Nov. 15, 2008

SYDNEY — Australia’s former military chief has said there was no evidence to justify going to war in Iraq in 2003, a report said on Saturday.

Admiral Chris Barrie, who headed the Australian Defense Force at the time, made the comments during an interview for a new television series about former prime minister John Howard’s decade in power.

“I have to say, even up until the day I retired, I never saw any evidence that said suddenly we had to go off and do a job in Iraq,” Barrie said, as quoted by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on its website. …

Howard’s 11 years in power ended last year with a landslide election defeat by current Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.

The decision to go to war in Iraq in 2003 was highly controversial and Howard, a political conservative, was one of the most vocal supporters of U.S. President George W. Bush both over Iraq and the U.S. president’s war on terror. …

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U.S. Helicopter Down in Iraq’s Mosul, Two Dead

Nov. 15, 2008

BAGHDAD — Two U.S. soldiers were killed in a helicopter accident in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul on Saturday, a military spokeswoman said.

The helicopter involved was an OH-58 Kiowa Warrior, a small scout helicopter fitted with weapons. It hit overhead cables as it was attempting to land. …

Mosul has been the scene of some of the heaviest violence in Iraq in recent months. U.S. forces say al Qaeda and likeminded Sunni Muslim militant groups are making a stand in the northern city after being driven from other parts of Iraq.

Air crashes have remained common in Iraq even as violence has waned. A civilian cargo plane crashed in Western Iraq on Thursday killing seven people.

Two Black Hawk helicopters collided last month killing one U.S. soldier, and seven soldiers died when a Chinook transport helicopter crashed in southern Iraq in September.

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Car Bomb Kills 10 in Northern Iraq

Nov. 15, 2008

BAGHDAD — A car bomb killed 10 people and wounded around 30 others when it exploded outside a car dealership in the northern Iraqi town of Tal Afar, Iraqi police said on Saturday. …

Tal Afar is in Iraq’s volatile Nineveh province, where Sunni Islamist al Qaeda militants still operate despite several security crackdowns aimed at stamping them out.

Violence has fallen in recent months to its lowest level since the U.S.-led invasion, but insurgents have shown themselves still capable of carrying out large-scale attacks across the country.