There are many contenders for Biggest Political Opportunist since theSeptember 11 atrocities. Politicians ramming through life-changing lawswhile voters are still mourning, corporations diving for publiccash; pundits accusing their opponents of treason.

Yet amidst the chorus of Draconian proposals and McCarthyite threats,one voice of opportunism still stands out. That voice belongs to RobynA. Mazer. Ms. Mazer is using September 11 to call for an internationalcrackdown on counterfeit t-shirts.

Not surprisingly, Ms. Mazer is a trade lawyer in Washington D.C. Evenless surprising, she specializes in trade laws that protect the UnitedStates’ single largest export: copyright. That’s music, movies, logos,seed patents, software and much more. Trade Related IntellectualProperty rights (TRIPS) is one of the most controversial side-agreementsin the run-up to next month’s World Trade Organization meeting in Qatar.It is the battleground for disputes ranging from Brazil’s right todisseminate free generic AIDS drugs to China’s thriving market inknock-off Britney Spears CDs.

American multinationals are desperate to gain access to these largemarkets for their products — but they want protection. Many poorcountries, meanwhile, say TRIPS cost millions to police, whilestrangleholds on intellectual property drives up costs for localindustries and consumers.

What does any of this trade wrangling have to do with terrorism?Nothing, absolutely nothing. Unless, of course, you ask Robyn A. Mazer,who published an article last week in The Washington Post headlined,“From T-Shirts to Terrorism; That Fake Nike Swoosh May be Helping FundBin Laden’s Network.”

“Recent developments suggest that many of the governments suspected ofsupporting al Qaeda are also promoting, being corrupted by, or at thevery least ignoring highly lucrative trafficking in counterfeit andpirated products capable of generating huge money flows to terrorists,”she writes.

“Suggest,” “suspected of,” “at the very least,” “capable of” — that’s alot of hedging for one sentence, especially from someone who used towork in the U.S. Department of Justice. But the conclusion isunambiguous: You either enforce TRIPS, or you are with the terrorists.Welcome to the brave new world of trade negotiations, where every arcaneclause is infused with the self-righteousness of a holy war.

Ms. Mazer’s political opportunism raises some interestingcontradictions. United States Trade Representative Robert Zoellick hasbeen using September 11 for another opportunistic goal: to secure “fasttrack” trade negotiating power for President Bush. According to Mr.Zoellick, trade “promotes the values at the heart of this protractedstruggle.”

What do new trade deals have to do with fighting terrorism? Well, theterrorists, we are told again and again, hate America precisely becausethey hate consumerism: McDonald’s and Nike and capitalism — you know,freedom. To trade is therefore to defy their ascetic crusade, to spreadthe very products they loath.

But wait a minute: what about all those fakes Ms. Mazer says arebankrolling terror? In Afghanistan, she claims, you can buy “t-shirtsbearing counterfeit Nike logos and glorifying bin Laden as ‘The greatmujahid of Islam.’” It seems we are facing a much more complicatedscenario than the facile dichotomy of a consumerist McWorld versus ananti-consumer “Jihad.” In fact, if Ms. Mazer is correct, not only arethe two world thoroughly enmeshed, the imagery of McWorld is being usedto finance Jihad.

Maybe a little complexity isn’t so bad. Part of the disorientation manyAmericans now face has to do with the inflated and over-simplified placeconsumerism plays in the American narrative. To buy is to be. To buy isto love. To buy is to votes. People outside the U.S. who want Nikes — even counterfeit Nikes — must want to be American, must love America,must in some way be voting for everything America stands for.

This has been the fairy tale since 1989, when the same media companiesthat are bringing us America’s War on Terrorism proclaimed that theirtelevision satellites would topple dictatorships the world over.Consumers would lead, inevitable, to freedom. But all these easynarratives are breaking down: authoritarianism co-exists withconsumerism, desire for American products is mixed with rage atinequality.

Nothing exposes these contradictions more clearly than the trade warsraging over “fake” goods. Pirating thrives in the deep craters of globalinequality, when demand for consumer goods is decades ahead ofpurchasing power. It thrives in China, where goods made in export-onlysweatshops are sold for more than factory workers make in a month. InAfrica where the price of AIDS drugs is a cruel joke. In Brazil, whereCD pirates are feted as musical Robin Hoods.

Complexity is lousy for opportunism. But it does help us get closer tothe truth, even if it means sorting through a lot of fakes.

Naomi Klein

Naomi Klein

Naomi Klein is the award-winning author of the international bestsellers, The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism and No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies. She writes a regular column...