Wayne Marsden Report

February 10, 2006 -- Saddam cash for wheat deals shakes neo-con establishment in Australia. There is perhaps no greater allies of George W. Bush and his neo-con regime than Australian Prime Minister John Howard and his Rupert Murdoch-backed conservative government. Further adding to neo-con scandals in the United States and around the world is the recent scandal emerging in Australia.

The scandal involves the payment of $300 million in bribes and kick backs to Saddam Hussein's government by the Australian government-linked Australian Wheat Board (AWB) monopoly to ensure continued deliveries of Australian wheat to Saddam's Iraq.

Opposition leaders point out that the arms and ammunition currently being used to kill and wound U.S. and other troops in Iraq was partially funded by the Australian bribes.

Howard, Bush, Saddam: Separating the wheat from the graft.

The scandal has resulted in the appointment of a formal commission, the Cole Commission of Inquiry, led by Queen's Counsel Terence Cole, that is investigating the bribes paid to Saddam's government. The scandal involves several members of Howard's government. Andrew Lindberg, the head of the AWB, resigned yesterday "in the best interests of the company."

Last month, Lindberg told the Cole Commission that he signed a deal with Saddam's government in 2002 that violated UN sanctions.Among those reportedly involved in the Saddam sanctions busting are Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, one of Bush's most ardent Iraq war supporters; National Party leader Mark Vaile (who governs in a coalition with Howard's "Liberal" Party); and Vaile's deputy, Warren Truss.

The scandal could end up bringing down the Howard government thus driving another nail in the coffin of the neo-con global criminal cartel.

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