ABSTRACT
Staying in the Willard Hotel, just a few blocks from the Pentagon, John Howard was present in Washington on 11 September 2001 when the third hijacked plane, American Airlines Flight 77, was crashed into the west wing of the Pentagon. Howard’s original purpose in Washington was to galvanise presidential authority for the FTA negotiations and to deliver an address to a joint sitting of the US Congress. With the FTA negotiations temporarily sidetracked by the attacks, what was eventually delivered instead was the Coalition’s promise to intensify the alliance. For Howard, it would have been impossible not to have been affected by the experience of the capitol and the US under attack. During the return flight to Australia, Howard contemplated the invocation of the ANZUS Treaty for the first time since its ratification in San Francisco in 1952. He was later to claim that the events of 11 September 2001 and the 2002 Bali bombings changed the US and Australia irreparably. More specifically, despite the tragic events, Howard adeptly used his presence in Washington to foster his relationship with the executive, intensify the strategic relationship and enhance the discussion of economic ties.1 Further, once the motivation for the removal of weapons of mass destruction was undermined as a reason for the invasion of Iraq, Howard cited Australia’s need to support the US at a time of crisis as a primary catalyst for Australia’s role in the war coalition.
