DH: You've said, on this show among other places, that it's important that Bush lose, which in practical terms means that Kerry must win. Whenever you say these sorts of things you hear people say he's no better, maybe worse, than Bush. How do you sort that out?
Tariq Ali: I know. The last time I gave an interview to you on this show I got a lot of rude emails, especially from the United States, but from nowhere else. I got very good emails from Venezuela saying "we saw that interview of yours with Henwood and it's very good you said that." This is what I constantly say when I'm in this country to people on the left, look, you have a responsibility to the rest of the world as well. This is no time to fool around. Do not mimic the imperial rulers of your country and think exclusively about yourselves and your own interests, whatever these may be. Just look at the situation globally and ask yourselves this: how would a defeat for George W. Bush be seen in the rest of the world? On this, Doug, I am 100% confident that from the Atlantic to the Urals, through Latin America, in Africa, in the Arab world, this defeat would be seen as a victory. Now, the response to that comes, "Yeah, but Kerry would do the same thing," but that's not the point. The point is Bush decided on this war, Bush took this country to war, the neocons and their supporters devised lies which they haven't been able to deliver that this was a war of liberation. It's been a complete and total disaster. Should Bush be punished for going to war or not? If you say "yes," then you have to punish him, and the best way to punish him is to remove him from office. Then you come to Kerry.
As I said, pressure should be put on Kerry from Day One. If he carries on with the war, attack him. But the position would be clear: we removed Bush because he went to war, and if you carry on with the war, then you could be removed as well. You won't serve a second term either. I honestly can't see any argument against this. People who say, "Are you advocating a vote for Kerry, you sellout," my response is, are you seriously advocating that Bush should stay in power? Because that's the alternative. There's no third party. There's no Eugene Debs of the Socialist Party winning a million votes and being locked up for ten years as a result. He's not around. Nader, quite honestly, he's a joke figure at the present time. The narcissism is astounding when you hear him speak. There's no understanding of tactics on a national scale. It's a tactical question, but it's an important tactical question. To say that Bush shouldn't be defeated is to underestimate the loss of Iraqi lives and the loss of American lives in this conflict.... You have to vote against Bush, which means behaving politically and maturely and voting for Kerry.