EVENT: ANDREW WILKIE SPEAKS OUT

Andrew Wilkie is a former Lieutenant Colonel and Senior Intelligence Officer in the Office of National Assessments. On 11 March 2003 he resigned in protest over the looming Iraq war, the only spook in the United States, UK and Australia to do so. The dramatic move was reported globally. Since then, he has become a leading critic of the Howard government. Wilkie will explain why the Iraq war was unjustified and illegal and offer his assessment of the prospects for the still embattled country. Central will be his first-hand observations of the politicisation of intelligence in Canberra, London and Washington. Wrapping up, Wilkie will consider also the broader implications of the war, not least how it made the world a more dangerous place.