Bh0907M-PressProofs.QX5 7/6/04 12:19 PM Page i Bookhouse TRUE BELIEVER Bh0907M-PressProofs.QX5 7/6/04 12:19 PM Page ii Bookhouse To Julie and Eleanor Bh0907M-PressProofs.QX5 7/6/04 12:19 PM Page iii Bookhouse TRUE BELIEVER John Howard, George Bush and the American alliance ROBERT GARRAN Bh0907M-PressProofs.QX5 7/6/04 12:19 PM Page iv Bookhouse First published in 2004 Copyright © Robert Garran 2004 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage 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 83 Alexander Street Crows Nest NSW 2065 Australia Phone: (61 2) 8425 0100 Fax: (61 2) 9906 2218 Email: [email protected] Web: www.allenandunwin.com 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 Bh0907M-PressProofs.QX5 7/6/04 12:19 PM Page v Bookhouse 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. Bh0907M-PressProofs.QX5 7/6/04 12:19 PM Page vi Bookhouse Bh0907M-PressProofs.QX5 7/6/04 12:19 PM Page vii Bookhouse 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 Bh0907M-PressProofs.QX5 7/6/04 12:19 PM Page viii Bookhouse Bh0907M-PressProofs.QX5 7/6/04 12:19 PM Page 1 Bookhouse 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 Bh0907M-PressProofs.QX5 7/6/04 12:19 PM Page 2 Bookhouse 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