Defence

Faith, Hope but Not Much Charity

Michael O'Connor

Immediately following the murderous al Qaeda attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001, Australia’s Prime Minister, John Howard, who happened to be in Washington at the time, “invoked” the ANZUS alliance. The far Left apart, the general response in Australia was to nod wisely and agree that this invocation was appropriate. None of the wise ones in government, academe or the media questioned its necessity.

There is in fact no requirement in the ANZUS treaty for it to be invoked. If there were, it would have been more appropriate for the United States as the party under attack to invoke, that is to call upon, the aid of its treaty partners. Howard’s invocation was little more than political spin driven as much by emotion as anything else. The treaty does not require invocation in response to any particular event; the treaty is always in effect.

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