18 December 2001 - The mixed agendas of war 

What is going on in this war against terror? There are two basic agendas among the policy makers in the world:

Firstly, there is the "imperialist war" agenda. This is a Zionist and fundamentalist Capitalist agenda to make war against Islam. The reason behind this is that the Islamic political programme has become seen, at least in the Muslim world, as the most credible alternative to the evils of unrestrained capitalism.

Secondly there is the "justice and peace" agenda. This aims to make this war an opportunity to put a stop to irregular wars being waged in general. To achieve this objective it is well recognised that a wide range of efforts need to be made which tackle both those who fight irregular wars and the causes for such people getting support. The core assertion of this agenda is that peace is not possible without  justice.

These two agendas directly oppose one another in that much of the root causes of support for irregular wars are themselves the very evils of the imperialist agenda. Without the grinding poverty, injustice, economic exploitation and oppression of much of the world, support for revolutionary and violent movements would not be anything like as strong.

After a fragile agreement over Afghanistan, these agendas are now in a clear disagreement on the next priority. Should Iraq be attacked or should Israel be pushed hard into a peace deal which gives justice to the Palestinians?

A lot depends on Bush. He has to use his intelligence to distinguish between the bogus arguments presented and the genuine ones. Then he must be a real leader and not a follower of his flattering and manipulating advisors.