Why Britain is going to war (original) (raw)

Written in the weeks before the US/UK-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, this article asks 'Why is the British government so determined to join with the US in war on Iraq? Why is Tony Blair joined at the hip to George Bush? These questions are the source of a great deal of perplexity, including among supporters and activists in the Stop the War Coalition – yet how can we know what course of action to follow unless we can find some answers to these questions? 'This article attempts to look for clues in two particular areas. First, we shall survey the past century of Britain’s entanglement in Iraq. We’ll soon see a pattern emerging, and we’ll also see, in this historical panorama, the origins of the “special relationship” between Washington and London now being tested to breaking point. Second, we’ll look at the economic imperatives which compel Britain to join in Bush’s “coalition of the willing”. '