(NCA NewsWire) The Australian government feared terrorists would strike on our shores in the days after September 11 — and that the Defence Force was not equipped to fight back.
Two decades since the attack on the United States that changed the world, cabinet papers released on Saturday reveal how John Howard scrambled to shore up our defences, even as the government knew supporting the war in Afghanistan would make Australia a target.
The former prime minister was in Washington on 9/11 and rushed to track down his wife and son, who were sightseeing near the Pentagon on the morning it was hit by the hijacked American Airlines Flight 77, claiming 189 lives.
“I had a lot of things on my mind, they were part of the concern … but they were OK,” Mr Howard told News Corp.
