3-22-05, 9:03 am

From Morning Star

Universal distrust

TONY Blair has gambled that the people of Britain will 'move on' from their opposition to the illegal invasion of Iraq to other issues, taking the heat off his government.

But the weekend's large demonstrations showed that the people have not drawn a line under Iraq. It remains a live issue.

It is live for two reasons. One is that thousands of British troops remain mired in Iraq in support of Washington's strategy of managing a 'democratic transition' that results in a government with which the Bush administration is content.

The other is that neither has US imperialism drawn a line under its ambitions. It intends to continue to export its tainted variant of 'democracy and freedom.'

Both carrot and stick will be deployed, with offers of aid and trade on the one hand and threats of military intervention on the other.

The biggest mistake that any open-minded observer could make would be to swallow the US president's claims about building democracy and freedom in Iraq.

Such assertions are on a par with the Prime Minister's pre-war fantasies about Iraq having weapons of mass destruction that were capable of striking British troops in Cyprus within 45 minutes.

The torrent of lies emanating from the US and British leaders are simply a smokescreen to prevent the people of the world - their own citizens especially - from seeing clearly what they are about.

For those who wish to know the truth rather than be lulled by fairy stories, the facts are there. The Project for a New American Century think tank brought together in 1997 a high-powered and well-funded group of neoconservatives, many of whom now have positions of influence in the George W Bush administration.

Their intention was to take advantage of the unipolar world situation following the demise of the Soviet Union and to act decisively, from a position of 'military strength and moral clarity,' to secure US 'global leadership' for the 21st century.

And, apart from platitudes about strengthening ties with democratic allies 'to challenge regimes hostile to our interests and values,' the declaration's signatories made clear that they would accept no brake on US action.

The goal of a world formed in the image of the US is obvious in the view that 'we need to accept responsibility for America's unique role in preserving and extending an international order friendly to our security, our prosperity and our principles.'

Prime ministerial prattling about US-British 'partnership' is intended to cover up the reality that Mr Blair has simply hitched Britain to the US global project - not as an equal partner but as an unquestioning cheerleader.

The warming of his infatuation with President Bush has coincided with the cooling of the electorate's feelings for a man who is all but universally distrusted.

The anti-war movement's continued vitality, in the face of attempts to divide it and starve it of publicity, bodes well for the chances of preventing new Labour, under the leadership of Mr Blair or not, from attaching Britain to Washington's coat-tails for its next illegal war.