I am very much disturbed by the irresponsible statement by our former prime minister Dr. Mahathir Mohamad asking the Arabs to withdraw their funds from the US and use their oil as a weapon.

By this action he envisages that the US will be made bankrupt. Let us pray that this is his own personal opinion and not that of Pak Lah's.

I believe he (Mahathir) does not know the implication of such a statement. Whether one likes it or not, the US is still the economic and military power of the world. They control the lives of practically every living soul on earth.

Assuming that the Arabs listen (not likely so) to Mahathir and follow his advice blindly, do you think their action will hit the US hard? Highly unlikely. Instead the Arabs will suffer even more. Without other resources to exchange for hard cash they themselves will be bankrupt.

And what about the country where this 'advice' came from? Assuming the US is angry with Malaysia, I believe the repercussions would be more severe than the ones to hit the Arabs.

For a start, the US can easily order the withdrawal of many of their multinational companies operating in Malaysia. They include Texas Instruments, Motorola and Intel. Just imagine what would happen to Penang if Intel were to withdraw its operations from there. Many will be thrown out of their jobs.

One must remember that for every blow the US takes, it can reply with ten blows. Dr Mahathir, will you please kindly retire in peace and leave the running of the government to Pak Lah who is more acceptable internationally and locally, as shown by the recent general election.