War and Terror ... The Green Party by Martin J Deane

Brave hero, George W Bush, commander in chief of the world, oops, sorry, America, wants to liberate all peoples from oppression wherever they may be, and is set on bringing democracy to the Middle East. Let's see how well he has done so far - and, of course, the Republicans' "junior partner" in all this, New Labour.

George's interest in the Middle East goes back a long way - maybe even to 1990 (a long way in US history). After all, Saddam - "he tried to kill my dad." George's view of the world is rather one-sided, and not a sustainable one. And us Greens, we do like sustainability, and the idea of balance. So when Saddam (allegedly) tried to kill George the First, we must remember that George the First had, successfully, killed about 300,000 Iraqis (in 6 weeks, 1991).

So when people ask "Well, what would you have done about Saddam?" the answer is simple: "We would NOT have supported him through his worst crimes!" It's not rocket science - but people have to know that WE (the West, like leading arms dealers America and Britain) sold him almost all his terror weapons! It's just the least bit of honesty about the matter. We share the blame by encouraging him. (In fact his party was brought to power by the CIA's "favourite coup"...)

Has Bush liberated Afghanistan? No. Sure the Taliban are gone but the country has been yet again wrecked and there is no hope of rebuilding it because American spending there, surprise surprise, goes on the military. Big American bases there such as Bagram, lie along the route of the planned pipeline (oh, sorry, did I mention oil). Planned way back in the 1990's. Meanwhile Afghanistan has shot back to fame as the world's number one supplier of heroin. (The Taliban had banned it shortly before they were invaded...) Has Bush liberated Iraq? Yey, they've had elections, it must be ok. Well, no. The British (yes us!) in Iraq in the 1920s, also insisted on elections - to put "a façade of democracy" on our invasion and conquest of the country. In 2005, the Yanks are there to stay (for 15 years? 35 years?... 2040 is roughly when the oil runs out). The Green Party: wants, right now, a pullout of UK troops, and a call on the UN for a peace force - if the Iraqi government want it. (They probably do since a certain number of them are likely to be killed - the ones that came in on the American tanks, like Allawi and Chalabi, and about 30 of the 40 ministers. We call for no aggression on Iran (Scott Ritter says it's planned for June) and full UN mediation in disputes.

Bush is a Christian and happy to present his mission as a crusading one, peace in the Middle East, liberating from oppression. There are numerous references to God and doing God's work, so there is a theology at work. But his theology is a very simplistic one. And isn't it convenient how God seems to fall into line with what happens to be in "America's best interests" (defined by George and Co.) So these countries are free? Er, no, they have been wrecked. Why? Well, in Afghanistan they have actually wanted to put in a pipeline for ages (You saw Michael Moore's F-911? It's well researched, btw). The reason why is that the Caspian states have as much oil as Saudi (ie, a lot). America now has bases in these Caspian states, but needs to ship the oil west, like through Afghanistan and Pakistan to the sea. To do this they needed to invade Afghanistan. Troops were in position before 9/11 when that tragic event was then used as the excuse to invade.

Afghanistan was about pipelines, Iraq is about oil. So will Iran be, although it will be a bigger fight. These are the end times, at least in terms of grabbing fossil fuels. The oil goes about 2040, gas lasts until about 2120. America wants these advantages and so it has a phenomenal military budget to do it with. But they are over-extending themselves. Also new industrial powers like China and India will want their share. They also have nuclear weapons. The Green Party: rejects this imperial scrabble for remaining resources. "The American way of life is not negotiable" is a heresy. The future is giving us no choice. The Green Party: is about preparing for a world without oil - not grabbing it all to yourself (America); for a world that might somehow cope with climate change - rather than making it happen quicker and more drastically (by American consumption of "oil").

Stop Bush. Stop Blair. Vote FOR the future. Vote Green.

Martin Deane, MSc Candidate, Green Party Hull North, Orchard Park, Bransholme hull@greenparty.org.uk

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