The Austrailan Prime Minister apologised to his country about lying over the Niger story. It doesn't excuse the lie but he got up and said it like a man and didn't try to hide behind his intelligence director like a spoiled child who runs from his responsibilities as a leader.


Howard apologises over Iraq claim

By Dominic Hughes
BBC correspondent in Sydney

The Australian Prime Minister, John Howard, has apologised for using false intelligence reports to justify sending troops to Iraq as part of the US-led coalition.

Mr Howard cited the now discredited claims that Iraq tried to buy uranium from the African country of Niger when he was making the case for sending troops to Iraq during an address to Parliament.

Howard committed 2,000 troops to the US-led war effort.

In fact, the Office of National Assessments - which directly advises Mr Howard on intelligence matters - knew the information was doubtful, but failed to tell the prime minister...




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