Don’t miss this article from The Age, Melbourne’s best newspaper, sent along by Helga Fremlin (“Democrats Recruit Canberra Analyst,” by Caroline Overington, July 17).

It seems unlikely, to say the least, that Andrew Wilkie will be as quickly cowed by the powers that be in Washington than all of the usual suspects have proved themselves to be. He seems ready -- and more than capable -- of exposing the rash of lies recently coming from the mouths of President George W. Bush, United Kingdomish Prime Minister Tony “The Poodle” Blair, and Australian Prime Minister John “The Miniature Poodle” Howard.

A quick excerpt:

Former Australian intelligence analyst Andrew Wilkie has been enlisted by United States Democrats to help campaign for an inquiry into whether the Bush Administration -- and, by association, the Howard Government -- manipulated or ignored intelligence to justify an attack on Iraq.

Mr. Wilkie, who was invited to Washington by one of the nine Democrats seeking their party’s nomination for the presidential candidacy, said there was “no doubt that Bush, Howard[,] and . . . Blair exaggerated the threat from Iraq to justify a war.” He said the truth was being kept from the public because inquiries into the matter were being held in secret or, in the case of last month’s British parliamentary inquiry, “are just a whitewash.”

This is starting to get really interesting.