On Aug. 16 a group of Australians, led by former Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser and former Chief of the Defense Force Gen. Peter Gration, launched a call for an inquiry into how and why Australia joined the Iraq war in 2003. The goal is not to rake over old coals, but to improve how war and peace decisions are made and to strengthen the governmental structures against precipitate and flawed decisions in the future.
In committing their countries to the United States-led war, the Blair and Howard governments pitted their judgments ahead of both mass and informed public opinion in Britain, Australia and the world.
There were massive public demonstrations against the war option: "We the peoples of the world" united to wage peace before a war began. Call it the people's preemption. It failed.