14 December 200912 May 2010 Main Posts banging away at The Drum Jeff Sparrow I’ve got a piece up on the new ABC blog The Drum. It begins like this: Tony Blair’s latest admission on Iraq raises, yet again, the need for a genuine inquiry here in Australia about that misbegotten war. Even before Britain’s Chilcot inquiry has concluded, it has spurred a fresh round of revelations. Britain, we now know, had decided upon war long before all the shenanigans with UN weapons’ inspectors. Now Blair has acknowledged that, for him, the war was always about regime change, despite everything he said at the time. What about the Australian government? Did Howard and Downer know that the date for the invasion had already been fixed way back in 2002, and that the arguments about WMDs were never more than a pretext? If so, they lied to the Australian people and to the parliament. If not – if they were kept in the dark about the plans of their supposed allies – well, what does that say about Australia’s military alliances, the cornerstone of bipartisan defence policy? Either way, don’t we deserve to know? You can read the rest here. Jeff Sparrow Jeff Sparrow is a Walkley Award-winning writer, broadcaster and former editor of Overland. More by Jeff Sparrow Overland is a not-for-profit magazine with a proud history of supporting writers, and publishing ideas and voices often excluded from other places. If you like this piece, or support Overland’s work in general, please subscribe or donate. Related articles & Essays First published in Overland Issue 228 11 November 202211 November 2022 Main Posts On the last day of Subscriberthon, our amazing online editor gives you one last (very good) reason to subscribe Editorial team What's in store for the last day of Subscriberthon? First published in Overland Issue 228 10 November 202210 November 2022 Main Posts On the second-last day of Subscriberthon, our favourite editor-duo give you reason #1002 to subscribe to Overland Editorial team What's in store for the second-last day of Subscriberthon?