Fourthwrite: We may agree that the attack of 11 September was a deplorable and intolerable outrage but is it possible to explain or understand what motivated the perpetrators and their supporters?

Tariq Ali: Of course, it is possible to understand the motives. To understand is not to justify, but if the West refuses to pay heed to real grievances acts of terrorism will continue. It is hatred of US policies in the Middle-East, in particular US refusal to restrain Israel and European indifference to the plight of the Palestinians and the genocidal sanctions against and continuous bombing of Iraq. People who get very worked up about Ossama Bin Laden's statements should be equally responsive to Madeline Albright justifying the death of 300,000 Iraqi children as 'a price worth paying.'

Fourthwrite: Has the US made a proper, just and wise response to the awful events of September 11?

Tariq Ali: No. It is disproportionate and will prove to be counter-productive.

Fourthwrite: If you feel that the US and/or US-Coalition is not following a correct path, what would you suggest as the proper course of action?

Tariq Ali: What should have happened is that all the evidence should have been put before a court of law either in the US where the crime was committed or the International Court. If the judges were convinced, then they could have issued an extradition order and a slow, stalking process would have netted the accused. Instead the US and UK governments pre-empted the judiciary and embarked on a crude war of revenge.

Fourthwrite: There is much talk of a 'global war against terrorism'. Is there such a thing as 'terrorism' or is it a term used to describe (and damn) all opponents of the New World Order?

Tariq Ali: Terrorism exists. Its lineage is an old one. The propaganda of the deed was not unknown in Europe or the United States. Its perpetrators were described by Lenin as 'liberals with a bomb.' In the sense that it was high-voltage pressure politics, nothing more. The masses were excluded from the process. There is a group of anarcho-Islamists which makes no secret of what it does. The US embassy in Kenya, the US battle-ship in Yemen, odd US soldiers in Saudi Arabia and then 11 September.

But all those who've jumped on the war bandwagon have done so for their own purposes. Putin has killed over 20,000 Chechens and wants retrospective approval for his 'war on terror' which Blair supported at the time.

Fourthwrite:What, in your opinion, may be the likely outcome of a war in Afghanistan?

Tariq Ali: A fall of the Taliban regime, the creation of an unstable coalition under the ex-King and loads of dollars to stay in line, but........

Fourthwrite: What repercussions might the attack on Afghanistan have in Middle-Eastern and/or Muslim countries?

Tariq Ali: The populations are angry. The elites are nervous. If the war is extended to Iraq there will be explosions in Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

Fourthwrite:Does the creation of the US led coalition indicate that Washington is now more aware of the need to involve all nations in global decisions or does it simply reinforce the US in position as director of the New World Order?

Tariq Ali: It has reinforced US hegemony, but there is an inherent danger. If none of the governments of the world (barring Cuba and Venezuela) speak up on behalf of their populations, desperate individuals will take the law in their own hands.

Fourthwrite:What would you advise readers of this magazine to do in reaction to the war in Afghanistan?

Tariq Ali: Oppose it. It’s immoral. It’s disproportionate. It will increase the attraction for terrorism. And it’s a proxy war. The hijackers who hit New York and Washington were mainly Saudis. Unable to bomb Riyadh the USA turned on Kabul...