When the U.S. marches to war, the media march with it. The din of collateral language rises to cacophonous levels. The mobilization and ubiquity of present and past high-ranking military officers on the airwaves is an essential component of manufacturing consent for war. Perhaps we need no-air zones for them. That's unlikely to happen when ABC and NPR's Cokie Roberts gushes, "I am, I will just confess to you, a total sucker for the guys who stand up with all the ribbons on and stuff and they say it's true and I'm ready to believe it." And the vaunted BBC? Not much better. In the lead up to the attack on Iraq it gave just 2% of its coverage to antiwar dissent.

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.