Every day, I surf to the website of my favourite newspaper, The Guardian. In the past, while I was in Europe, this was the daily I subscribed to. Now, the cyberworld has made it possible for me to read this English newspaper although I am in Jelebu, Negeri Sembilan.

And now I can read the Guardian without some of its sentences snipped out, and without a picture of Naomi Campbell's breast censored out with black ink, as I had once seen when I bought a copy of the paper at the Subang International Airport some time ago.

A couple of days ago, I read an investigative report in the Guardian about Pepsi Cola and Coca Cola. The scholarly study looked into how and why people chose the two brands of soft drinks. The companies which manufacture the two drinks are racing to dominate the world market so intensively that there is not a nook on this globe where the two brandnames are not recognised.

Once I had become politically aware, and wanted to do something which was politically correct, I had stopped purchasing both Pepsi and Coke. This also meant that I had to turn away from Bacardi and Coke - the trendy drink of the 70s in Universiti Malaya, in particular, in the Fifth College. I now choose Pernod ala West Bank [tap water] - the labourer's drink in Paris.

But what I want to expound about here is not about the Guardian, Bacardi, Pernod or Naomi Campbell's inked-on "brassiere". I want to discuss about the election of the president of the United States of America. But I do not want to confess whether I accept or reject the American democratic process - that is a personal matter.

Bush - the better choice

My exposition here is about the presidential elections which will be held in November - a choice between the Democrats and the Republicans. To me, the Democrats and the Republicans are like Pepsi Cola and Coca Cola.

They are both the properties of giant international capitalist industrial concerns. The brandnames can be spelt in Jawi, Chinese, Siamese, Tamil or whatever writing. Pepsi and Coke will still remain icons of imperialist America.

It is hard for us, as citizens of the world, to see the battle lines drawn by the two American political parties. It is most difficult to discern what is Bush-Cheney, and what is Kerry-Edwards. Something like how hard it will be for a Yankee from Boston to differentiate between Batu Berendam belacan and Tanjung Keling belacan.

Beware! I have already made my choice of who should become president. I do not make that choice as a [American] voter. How can that be, when I am not even a registered voter in my own nation of Malaysia, and so do not vote. I made a political choice for the person whom I consider as more beneficial to the struggles of the citizens of the world. I picked 'son of the Bush' - George W Bush - to stay on in the White House.

Don't be angry or shocked. Do not think that I have betrayed the socialist ideology I have embraced. No. My view should in fact be made a basic tenet of present day socialism. Tactically and strategically, in the long-term political battle, George W Bush is the best choice for the citizens of the world.

My views are not something new. My choice is based on accumulated political experiences. We do not need to study the ancient political texts from the time of Socrates or read the views in contemporary political books to understand the strategy.

Think back to the time when shouts of 'Undur Mahathir Undur' (Retreat Mahathir) could be heard. It was a popular slogan of the reformasi movement, aimed at winning public solidarity.

But in truth, the reformasi movement was most happy and at ease with the existence of Dr Mahathir Mohamad as prime minister. This was because Mahathir had become an icon which fanned and helped spread the anger of the Malay people. The end result is obvious from the results of the 1999 general elections.

Mahathir was the prime minister of the Malaysian rakyat. Replace the name of Mahathir with the name of George W Bush and "Malaysian rakyat" with "citizens of the world". See the similarity?

Mahathir was hated by the Malaysian rakyat. Bush is hated by the citizens of the world. There is no use of metaphors and hidden meanings here. What exists are two icons hated by citizens.

The citizens of the world surely have the right to be angry with Bush. The blows rained on him are due to his own political moves. The citizens' hatred towards Bush stems from pure hearts which long to see a fair and safe world. But politics is not about anger and pure hearts. Politics comprises battles waged by one class to destroy another which has a hold on power.

Imperialist project

At first glance, a change from Bush will seem like a good move. I do not agree with that view. It is not the best choice. That spontaneous outburst of anger will not bring us to the political goal we dream of. I picked Bush [for another term] just like I picked Mahathir to continue leading us.

Today, we have seen all of Bush's moves clearly. The citizens of the world have been united in hatred for him. Imperialism was once only opposed by left-wing movements and socialists. Now many groups, including the Wahabis and the "Yuppies from Talawi", also view it in a similar way.

The imperialist project of the White House oilmen has been revealed to the public. The Weapon of Mass Destruction has now become the Weapon of Mass Deception. One by one, White House lies have been exposed by the media. Bush is now continually engaged in oral duels when he meets the media.

Bush's "Rahim Noor" (the Malaysian police chief under Mahathir) also known as Donald Rumsfeld, is only waiting for his turn in the international court to answer for his role in what took place at the Abu Gharib prison.

Bush himself will be dragged into court over the leaking of a female CIA agent's name. The name had been leaked when her husband, a diplomat, spoke the truth when he denied that Saddam Hussein had purchased uranium from Nigeria. Bush had been trying to find evidence to support his allegation that Saddam had a nuclear weapons programme.

The White House's evil intentions had been foiled by the loyalty of her husband. The leaking of the agent's name to the media was a black propaganda move which is considered to have originated from the White House, which means Bush himself.

In his personal capacity, Bush is often made the butt of jokes amongst intellectuals and thinkers. Even though he had been to Yale, Bush is seen as incapable of original thinking, unlike John F. Kennedy and Bill Clinton. The situation is made worse by Bush's record as a graduate of a drug rehabilitation centre.

As a former drug user, Bush is now often the subject of studies by psychologists to see if his decision to attack Iraq had been made whilst under the influence of drugs or whilst racked by cravings for drugs.

At the same time, the families and relatives of 9/11 victims are still dissatisfied with the answers which had been tendered by the American spy agencies. The recent resignation of the CIA director should be seen like a boil which has not been squeezed completely free of pus yet. More tales and scandals, presently still concealed in the White House, are certain to surface.

Bush's blind support for Ariel Sharon has frightened the Arab regimes which normally were the horses America rode on. The collaboration of fundamentalist Christian groups in America with the Zionist race to squash the inspiration of Palentinians, Arabs and Muslims, is ever more clearly seen.

Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt, have tried to distance themselves from Bush because they are worried by and scared of the anger of their own citizens.

All this we should see as positive because the project of imperialist America is now in disarray. The strength of imperialist America is undermined by disagreements with European nations, in particular France, Germany and Russia. All this is sure to benefit the long term struggles of third world citizens.

If we are playing chess with Bush, then at this point in time, Dubya has been checkmated by the citizens of the world. The chances of Bush increasing the number of American troops in Iraq is slim. Support from other nations in the form of "visits" [by their troops] to Iraq is minimal.

Conversely, the likelihood of nations withdrawing their troops which are already in Iraq, just like what Spain and the Philippines has done, is very high.

Illusions and hopes

As long as Bush is in the White House, it is very difficult for the military industrial complex to win the consent of the American people to attack Iran, North Korea or Cuba. All that will change if John Kerry succeeds in occupying the White House.

This is akin to Abdullah replacing Mahathir in Putrajaya. The rakyat's anger abates. They have illusions and hope that a renewal will take place.

It should be borne in mind that Kerry has never opposed war on Iraq. Indeed, he supported it. And as a new broom, Kerry may succeed in winning American public approval to increase the American troop count in Iraq and the Middle East. Furthermore, handsome and charismatic John Edwards, who is considered a JFK clone, may possibly convince Nato to send its troops [to Iraq].

Actually, there has never been differences in the policies of the Democrats and the Republicans with regards to Isreal and Palestine. Irrespective of who was in the White House, be it Bush-Cheney or Kerry-Edwards (photo), where Israel is concerned, everything is the same. The Zionist web extends to all corners of the globe. As such, the international Zionist movement has never been worried about changes in the occupant of the White House.

I still want Bush to continue to reside for another term in the White House. As president, he will increase the contradictions between the priorities of the citizens of the world and the priorities of international
capitalists. That friction will fan the flames of rebellion in Americans themselves, and will help the citizens of the world. The contradictions have been increasing.

The political and economic elites of America are aware of all this. At this very moment, the ruling class and the economic elites are planning a regime change to install a "new face" to see to the needs of their capital. The American people will be given a choice in November between Pepsi Cola and Coca Cola.

But from my observations, chances are that the "regime change" will not take place. The Baathist guerillas in Fallujah and the al-Qaeda mujahideen in Tora Bora will not allow Bush to vacate the White House. Bush is a loyal friend as well as hard-working aide.

The Baathist and the al-Qaeda will not drink Coke, Pepsi, Bacardi or Pernod,they drink Zam Zam Cola, the new brand.

This is a translated version of a Bahasa Malaysia article which appeared on Friday.