I don't know how far and for how long our leaders in the country wish to parade their naivete at international forum. The latest is reported in The Star (April 12) with the headline, "Troops for Palestine only on UN request, says Syed Hamid".

It is a wonder who he is trying to impress. Beyond filling his self-publicity quota in the government-controlled media, he should know better that his hopes of seeing Malaysian troops in any kind of peace mission in Palestine is no more than a wish.

Has he not forgotten that technically, Malaysia's declaration of war on Israel of almost 30 years has yet to be retracted? And even if it had, would anyone in their right mind think that Israel would approve of a peace squad from Malaysia which has never had a kind, or for that matter, neutral word for Israel?

If I am not mistaken, peace squads in feuding theatres have to be agreed to by both feuding parties. It is not for one of them to decide they want a Malaysian squad...neither is it for a peace squad to decide on its own that it wishes to carry out peacekeeping duties anywhere it wishes!