The story of the intelligence officer who risked all to tell the truth about WMD and Iraq
In March 2003, Andrew Wilkie resigned from Australia's senior intelligence agency, ONA, in protest over the looming Iraq war. He was the only serving intelligence officer from the Coalition of the Willing - the US, the UK and Australia - to do so. The dramatic move was reported throughout the world.
This is the story of a whistleblower whose act of conscience won him the respect of very large numbers of his fellow citizens but put him on a collision course with the Australian government. Why was Andrew Wilkie willing to risk his career and his reputation to tell the truth? How did he reach his decision? What happened when he decided to take a stand?
In Axis of Deceit, Wilkie examines how the case for war was made in Washington, London and Canberra. With unique insight, he explains how the three governments routinely skewed, spun and fabricated the relevant intelligence. He warns of further crises, as more and more is demanded of Western intelligence agencies at the same time as increasing politicisation undermines their work. He also offers a rare glimpse into the world of international intelligence and life as a "spook".
"I can't recall precisely the origin of my decision to betray my government. Probably it was during November and December 2002, when I prepared the detailed intelligence assessment for the Australian government of the possible humanitarian consequences of the looming invasion of Iraq. It was a sobering experience, one that left me with a clear sense of how bad the fall-out from the war could easily be." – Andrew Wilkie
Andrew Wilkie is the author of Axis of Deceit. He was a lieutenant colonel in the Australian Defence Force before he joined ONA as a Senior Strategic Analyst. From 1999 to 2000, he worked on a range of issues including Kosovo, terrorism, WMD and border protection. He returned to ONA shortly after the September 11 attacks to become the Senior Transnational Issues Analyst.
Since leaving ONA, Andrew Wilkie has been called upon to give evidence at the official UK and Australian inquiries into the case for the Iraq war. He contested John Howard's seat of Bennelong for the Greens in the 2004 federal election.
