Fair trade is related to the War

The so- called "War on Terror" is not separate to these policies but an integral part of the strategy for a "New American Century". By supporting the US war drive our MPs are supporting the policies that undermine social justice.

One important issue is control of oil. Michael Wills claims that the
anti-war movement is naïve to raise oil as a motivation for war
(because for
example in 1991 the total foreign income for US ill companies
was "only"
$281 billion, whereas military expenditure was around $100 billion
more than
that). However, the issue is not the profits made by selling oil, but
the
ability to control how much oil is produced, and therefore the price
of oil.
The USA's major trading rivals, Europe and Japan, are more dependent
on Gulf
oil than the USA. Control of Iraq's oil gives the USA a dramatically
increased bargaining hand at G8, WTO, etc. Previously the USA has
controlled
oil prices through its alliance with the despotic Saud family in
Arabia (the
Eisenhower doctrine), but Saudi Arabia is looking less and less
stable and
they needed a new mechanism.

The second issue is the ability to force countries in the South to
accept
America's agenda of privatisation and deregulation - for example to
force
through agreements like TRIPS and GATS at the World Trade Organisation
(WTO). The war has shown how America uses both the carrot and the
stick, As
George W Bush says, "Either you are with us or you are with the
terrorists".
Turkey has been hugely punished by the withdrawal billions of dollars
of aid
for refusing to participate in the Blitzkrieg on Iraq. The Chavez
government
in Venezuela is being destabilised because it is trying to assert some
economic independence. The "War on Terror" will make it harder for
governments of poor countries to oppose US policies, for example on
privatising services and intellectual copyright.

Thirdly, the insecurity in the world economy created by the war has
led to
increased flows of foreign capital into the USA: despite low profit
rates in
that country it is seen as a safer place to invest. (See M Wolf,
Financial
Times, 19 Feb 2003) "The US current account deficit is 50% bigger
than its
defence spending... Indirectly the rest of the world pays for the
exercise
of US power". In turn the increased flow of Direct Foreign Investment
(DFI)
into the USA further strengthens the bargaining power of the USA in
the WTO,
IMF, etc. War is good for business.

It is not clear what the personal motivation was for Wills and Drown
to
support the imperial conquest of Iraq, and restoration of direct
colonial
rule. However the war is part of an American strategy to keep the
poor poor,
and make the powerful even richer. We hope that our MPs learn the
lesson of
the Iraq and Afghan wars, and that they will oppose the extension of
the
"war on terror" to Iran, Syria, or wherever Bush decides next.