It is surprising that many people are sending hate mail for MGG Pillai's writings on the carnage in US, which was shared by many editors and columnists in Europe.

The reason for the difference between their views and their counterparts in the US is that, Europe suffered during the two world wars and countless regional conflicts while the last war Americans experienced on their soil was their War of Independence more than 100 years ago.

In any war, civilians suffer as much as the military. Most Americans do not have a clue on the activities conducted by their armed forces that are stationed in bases the world over, neither do they know the sufferings of the civilians in any 'hot spots'. At least, not until Sept 11.

CNN didn't give a daily coverage on the bombings of Iraq with its 500,000 suffering children due to the sanction, bombings of Kosovo, Yugoslavia or Palestine. Neither did CNN do a follow-up coverage after discovering that the 'chemical plant' bombed in Sudan was indeed a vaccine factory that would had saved millions of lives in central Africa.

US' 'civilised democracy' helped to topple the legally elected FIS in Algeria and the Welfare Party in Turkey, who swept to power through the ballot boxes. The 'democratic values' propagated by the US also helped to prop up Marcos for 20 years in the Philippines and 30 years of Suharto's rule in Indonesia at the expense of their citizens. Saddam received military hardware from the US when he attacked Iran and suddenly become a tin-pot dictator that must be deposed off after invading Kuwait.

US's foreign and military policies or ethical, moral, civil and democratic values are nothing but brouhaha to serve two purposes, safeguard its economic interest and 'preserving the American way of life' at all cost. The lives and properties in developing nations are nothing but expendable pawns in their obsessive pursuit.

As much as we feel remorse and saddened by the lost of so many lives, the US must be made accountable and swallow a dose of its own medicine.

US is neither a custodian of world peace and democracy, nor deserving of the world leadership. The UN-backed military actions are just rubber-stamping to 'legitimise' the US' indiscriminate bombings on other 'rogue' nations.

To blindly worship and idolise the US is just playing to their game. And to borrow MGG's terminologies, 'official' terrorists and 'unofficial' terrorists, can we differentiate between them?