Pine Gap wasn’t on the agenda at the state dinner in the White House Rose Garden, but the most valuable asset in the US–Australia defence alliance was busy, as ever. Only hours before Prime Minister Scott Morrison and President Donald Trump tucked into their Dover sole with parsley crisps, the base had almost certainly helped aim the drone that mistook Afghan pine-nut farmers for Islamic State fighters. Thirty civilians resting after a day in the field in Nangarhar Province were killed, and forty others were injured.