In 1920, T. E. Lawrence, the famous Lawrence of Arabia wrote, "The people of England have been led in Iraq into a trap from which it will be hard to escape with dignity and honour. They have been tricked into it by a steady withholding of information. It is a disgrace to our imperial record, and may soon be too inflamed for any ordinary cure. We are to-day not far from a disaster...our unfortunate troops, under hard conditions of climate and supply are policing an immense area, paying dearly every day in lives for the willfully wrong policy...." If you just changed a couple of those words around, it could sound like a report coming from Iraq today.

Tariq Ali
Tariq Ali, an internationally renowned writer and activist, was born in Lahore, then a part of British-ruled India, now in Pakistan. For many years he has been based in London where he is an editor of "New Left Review." A charismatic speaker, he is in great demand all over the world. In his spare time he is a filmmaker, playwright and novelist. He is the author of "The Clash of Fundamentalisms," "Bush in Babylon," and "Pirates of the Caribbean. " He and AR's David Barsamian have collaborated on a book entitled "Speaking of Empire & Resistance."