The bid to wipe out weapons of mass destruction in Iraq was flawed from its inception.

Flawed because Iraq is being singled out to surrender its deadly arsenals. Flawed because the world is turning a blind eye to similar weapons elsewhere in the region. And flawed because the move was an American ploy to settle some old scores with Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussein.

The United States has warned it has 'zero tolerance' for any violations of United Nations resolutions. Yet it is carrying out daily bombing raids in the American-declared 'no-fly-zones' in southern and northern Iraq where both acts, the 'no-fly-zones' and the military strikes, have not been authorised by any UN resolution.

But UN resolutions have often been flaunted by many countries. Take for example, the battery of UN resolutions calling on Israel to respect the legitimate rights of the Palestinians.

It is therefore not surprising that there is a cogent perception among the Arabs that US actions are fuelled by a deep-seated, and often irrational, fear of Islam. No wonder, Saddam's defiance has struck a chord in the Islamic world. So, too, has Osama bin Laden's.