The report 'US must address root cause of terrorism' (Sept 17) would make an excellent reading materials for both President George W Bush and General Powell in so far as their foreign policies are concerned. The recent terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon were indeed cruel and inhumane.

While some people consider the term 'terrorist acts' relative (depending from which side you are looking), no amount of explanation, be it for a religious cause or otherwise, can ever justify an act of violence. Like it or not, since 1945 the US foreign policy has always centred around the fact that US is militarily the most powerful nation in the world and countries like Israel benefitted a lot from such policy.

I fully agree with the view expressed by Just president Dr Chandra Muzaffar that it is about time the US examines reasons as to why it was attacked by terrorists. We must not forget that the people who perpetrated the terrorist act were not looking for victory over the US but rather they were looking for mutual destruction.

While we joined the American people in their sorrow for the loss of innocent lives in the attacks, we must not forget other equally tragic deaths of innocent civilians in other parts of the world. Two days before the attack on WTC, four innocent civilians died in southern Iraq as result of bombing by the American and British warplanes.

And also, a day before the attack on WTC, four Palestinian civilians died in Palestine as result of bombing by the Israeli troops.

The vicious circle of violence must be stopped. President Bush thinks that he has found the solution by attacking Afghanistan. Military solution is not something new and is not always the right solution. US presidents in the past have done it before in Vietnam and Somalia, and failed.

Even Soviet did it in Afghanistan and Chechnya and failed. History tells us that such wars will normally be long, costly and vicious. A change of US foreign policy, especially for the Middle East, could be a better solution for most people in the long term.