Murdoch’s Australian flagship newspaper is tightening the noose around the Howard government:
John Howard and five of his senior ministers were told three years ago that every contract signed under the UN oil-for-food program included a kickback to Saddam Hussein’s regime.
A top-secret diplomatic cable tendered to the Cole inquiry yesterday removes any doubt that the Howard Government and most of the cabinet were informed about corruption in Iraq shortly after war broke out in 2003.
The explosive evidence places Mr Howard under intense pressure to force his Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer and his Trade Minister, Mark Vaile to front the Cole inquiry and explain why they ignored advice about the corruption, and why they continue to deny any knowledge of the claims.
Howard’s favourite newspaper still seems incapable of calling the Prime Minister a “liar.”