Former UN chief weapons inspector Hans Blix accused Australia of caving in to US pressure to join the Iraq war and called on Canberra to be more independent of Washington, in an interview published yesterday.
Blix told the Sydney Morning Herald that he believed Australia should have displayed more independence over the US-led invasion of Iraq, although he believed it was difficult for Canberra to stand up to Washington.
"It may not be easy to be independent vis-a-vis the US because they are so tremendously powerful, but [Australia] ought to be," he said in an interview to publicize his memoirs.
Blix said sovereign nations needed to display independence on questions of war and peace, and it would be improper for any country to bow to US pressure to join a war in return for favorable treatment in other areas.
"The US might well go to some small country and say `Look, you don't have interest in Iraq but you have one big interest in the world and that is to be friendly to us, so are you going to vote for your interest or not?'" he said.
A spokesman for Prime Minister John Howard dismissed the criticism and said Australia had been right to join the Iraq invasion.
"I reject the criticism that Australia bowed to US pressure," the spokesman said. "It was right for Australia to be involved in the coalition.
"Understandably, as leader of it, Han Blix had wanted the UN weapons inspection process to continue," the spokesman said.
Australia was one of Washington's strongest supporters in the lead-up to last year's Iraq war and one of only a handful of members of the so-called "coalition of the willing" to contribute troops on the ground.
Howard and Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said this month that maintaining a strong alliance with the US was a factor in the decision to commit 2,000 troops to the Iraq campaign.
The relationship would have been "very substantially" weakened had Australia not done so, they said.
Australia has long battled perceptions that it acts as Washington's "deputy sheriff" in the Asia-Pacific region and last week urged the US to take a more active role in providing financial and training support in counter-terrorism efforts in Southeast Asia.
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