following the september 11 attacks of 2001, brazil was the first to propose invocation of the inter-american treaty of reciprocal assistance, also known as the rio treaty, which stipulates that "an armed attack on one member is to be considered an attack on all." the treaty was activated september 19 in a meeting of western hemisphere foreign ministers at the organization of american states. on october 1, president cardoso stated that the united states had not requested brazilian military support and that brazil does not intend to offer any. despite brazil's initial support for the united states, it did not opt to actively join the war on terror and under president lula, it strongly opposed the bush administration's iraq war.