The United Arab Emirates is an ally of the US in its cold war against Iran and Bush recently concluded a major arms deal with this dictatorship.

But in the UAE there is no democracy and gross exploitation of migrant workers who make up 85% of the population and 99% of the private workforce. The UAE keeps its migrant workers separate from the rest of the population imprisoned in camps by armed guards.

Its one million construction workers work in the blistering heat building hotels that rent rooms for $1,000 a night for $1 an hour.

It is illegal to strike or join a union but protests and strikes by construction workers in the last year have forced the government to introduce some labour reforms. These include summer sun breaks, pursuing employers for unpaid wages and other abuses and the introduction of 1,000 labour inspectors.

The UAE with its luxury hotel rooms fitted with gold taps and Rolls Royces as the favoured local transport is a billionaires’ paradise built on the blood and sweat of modern day slaves.

Democrat Senator Barack Obama, who is aiming to be the first African American to be elected President, has threatened to invade Pakistan!

He may be 15% behind Hilary Clinton in the polls, and only in with an outside change of winning the Democratic nomination, but Obama recently issued a threat to Pakistani President Musharraf that if he didn’t stop terrorist operations in his country, that as President he would send US troops into Pakistan.

Related: Looking behind the image - The real Barack Obama (Justice, March 2007)