Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced on Wednesday the launch of an independent investigation into the disappearance of 78 official documents about the country’s participation in the Iraq war, which were supposed to be declassified on January 1.
“Australians have a right to know what Australia’s basis was in joining the Iraq war,” the Labor leader told a news conference, insisting his countrymen “have a right to know what the decision-making process was.”
About 240 confidential records were declassified on Monday as part of an official process, including documents about then-Prime Minister John Howard’s decision (1996-2007) to send Australian soldiers to the Iraq war.