Tony Abbott's 'Altruistic' War in Iraq

"The invasion of Iraq... was to liberate other people, to advance everyone's interests and to uphold universal values... If it's possible to engage in an altruistic war, this was it." Tony Abbott, Battlelines, 2009, p 158

"New research estimates that almost 500,000 Iraqis died between 2003 and 2011 as a direct result of violence or the collapse of civil infrastructure during the [Iraq] war. Published in the journal PLOS Medicine, the study concludes at least 461,000 'excess' deaths - which would not otherwise have occurred - followed the US-led invasion that overthrew Saddam Hussein's regime. Contrary to public perception, bombing accounted for just 12% of violent deaths." (Iraq war death toll nearly 500,000, Sydney Morning Herald, 17/10/13)