True Believer: John Howard, George Bush & The American Alliance

240 Pages·2005·0.67 MB·English

by  Robert Garran

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TRUE BELIEVER
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To Julie and Eleanor
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TRUE BELIEVER
John Howard, George Bush
and the American alliance
ROBERT GARRAN
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First published in 2004
Copyright © Robert Garran 2004
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or
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and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the
publisher. The Australian Copyright Act 1968 (the Act) allows a
maximum of one chapter or 10 per cent of this book, whichever
is the greater, to be photocopied by any educational institution for
its educational purposes provided that the educational institution
(or body that administers it) has given a remuneration notice to
Copyright Agency Limited (CAL) under the Act.
Allen & Unwin
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Australia
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A catalogue record of this book is available
from the National Library
ISBN 1 74114 418 3
Set in 11.7/13.36 pt Granjon by Bookhouse, Sydney
Printed by McPherson’s Print Group, Maryborough, Victoria
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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Acknowledgements
Thanks to Graeme Dobell, Win Garran, Alister Jordan,
David Lee, Sid Marris, Nic Stuart, William Tow,
Patrick Walters and Nicholas J. Wheeler who read drafts,
made invaluable suggestions and helped in other ways; to
Rebecca Kaiser and Alexandra Nahlous at Allen & Unwin;
and to the Asia Pacific School of Economics and Govern-
ment at the Australian National University, particularly
Glenn Withers, for the support of a visiting fellowship in
the second half of 2003.
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Contents
Contents
Acknowledgements v
1 Self-deception 1
2 John Winston Howard: Menzies’ child 10
3 George W. Bush: Mild-mannered radical 28
4 Howard’s new nationalism 49
5 September 11 68
6 Great and powerful friends 83
7 A dangerous doctrine 111
8 Road to war 137
9 No turning back 152
10 The witches exist 166
11 House of straw 186
Endnotes 208
Index 223
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C
h
a
Self-deception
p
t
e
r

1
Self-deception
Australian prime minister John Howard was profoundly
affected by the trauma of the September 11 terrorist
attacks on America. He was in Washington holding a press
conference for Australian journalists when one of the
hijacked planes ploughed into the Defence Department
headquarters at the Pentagon, within sight of his hotel.
The day before, Howard had spent three hours with
US president George W. Bush—a man he admired greatly.
This had been the first face-to-face encounter between the
two men, who warmed to each other quickly. Although a
generation apart, the two men largely shared common social
and political views. Howard saw and felt the effect the
September 11 attacks had on America and, like Bush, quickly
came to the view that this was a seminal moment in world
politics. That the attacks signalled the opening of a war he
was in no doubt. Howard’s instincts told him the United
States should deliver a strong military response; he trusted
Bush’s approach to the crisis.
Howard had the ANZUS Treaty between the two
countries on his mind on September 11, and this made him
1
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TRUE BELIEVER
more eager to demonstrate his solidarity with the country he
saw as Australia’s protector. One of his tasks in the United
States had been to commemorate the 50th anniversary that
year of the signing of the ANZUS Treaty. (ANZUS stands
for Australia, New Zealand, United States—although New
Zealand’s membership of the pact fell into abeyance in 1986
when that country refused to accept visiting US nuclear
warships.) On the flight back to Australia the day after the
attacks—on board Air Force Two, the vice-president’s plane
offered by the Americans to circumvent the grounding of
civilian flights—Howard proposed to US Ambassador to
Australia Tom Schieffer that Australia invoke the treaty. Some
government advisers said there was no need to invoke ANZUS,
which does not set out formal procedures in the same way as
the NATO Treaty, but Howard disagreed. ‘It has both a
symbolic resonance, but it also means something in substance.
It does mean that if there is action taken, then we will naturally
consider any request from the Americans for assistance,’
Howard explained.1
It was a symbolic gesture typical of Howard, a part of his
claim to the high ground in foreign policy. As ANZUS was
negotiated by a Liberal government, Howard believed promot-
ing the treaty helped undermine Labor’s claim of being the
party of innovation in foreign policy. And it helped Howard
emphasise the importance of the US alliance.
With that decision on 12 September to invoke ANZUS,
Howard aligned himself with Bush’s response to the war on
terror, not just emotionally but intellectually. The more
intensely and passionately he identified with Bush’s response,
the more difficult it would have been to step back—not that
he wanted to. Howard’s support for the US alliance reflected
his own personal history, his own view of the international
system. It also reflected his political pitch, his story to the
public about the kind of nation he had built, and its place in
2