I hold a strongly different opinion from some fellow readers who seem to be very intolerant of the Oon Yeoh's weblog in malaysiakini .

Yes, Yeoh may be staunchly pro-war in his commentaries but given the o­ne-sided anti-war bias and propaganda in Malaysia (including the earlier phase of the 'debates' in malaysiakini itself), Yeoh's stand is thought-provoking and should be welcome as an antidote to the excessive and

irrational US-bashing mounted by an unholy alliance of radical Islamists, unreformed leftists, opportunistic politicians and apologists of nationalist dictatorships in Iraq and other parts of the world.

In the specific context of Malaysia, Oon Yeoh's pro-war view is the alternative to the anti-war mainstream. What is being 'alternative' differs in the United States and UK o­n o­ne hand, and Malaysia o­n the other.Yeoh has opened up the mental window for Malaysians to consider opinions in the Western world other than those o­ne-sidedly offered by the anti-Western and anti-US elements in the US and UK. Seen in this perspective, Oon Yeoh's weblog has done malaysiakini readers a great service by balancing the imbalanced.

We have to understand that malaysiakini is not o­nly read and supported by NGO activists and the usual anti-American crowd. It is keenly (but silently) followed by Malaysian adults who have business links with the US, UK and Australia, or parents with children studying in the US, UK and Australia as well as many other people who are not anti-US, anti-war or anti-Western.

Only when malaysiakini is balanced in its reports and opinions can it hope to maintain its broad base of support from the left, right and centre.

Otherwise, malaysiakini will become the 'left-wing' replica of the right-wing official media in Malaysia like the New Straits Times , Utusan Malaysia , Berita Harian and The Star .

Malaysiakini will o­nly be rejected by many as an outfit for the intolerant anti-war campaigners and activists.

Moreover, what is so wrong for the anti-war crowd to consider contrarian opinions (in the context of Malaysia) unless they have decided to close their minds and proclaim that they o­nly hold the Absolute Truth. In that case, their mindsets are actually not much different from the Talibans, Stalinists and the lunatic right-wingers in the Cold War years.

Those who are not prepared to rationally consider contrarian viewpoints and debate with substance should stop preaching about 'democracy' and 'human rights'.

With these considerations in mind, I commend Oon Yeoh for a job well-done. I hope he will continue to write without fear or favour. Syabas also to malaysiakini for providing us with both sides of the arguments o­n the situation in Iraq.