In response to 'A critique on PAS' (Oct 11), who asked "What makes PAS think that attacks on Afghanistan is an attack on Islam?" Well, he must have never heard that all Muslims are brothers and sisters and we are one, like a body. When your finger gets burnt, can the rest of your body ignore it? By urging that Muslims go on a jihad , it does not mean that PAS supports the Taliban and their mistakes and weaknesses. Rather, it is simply because they are our Muslim brothers and they are under attack.

True, the Taliban may be excessive in some respects, but is it the US' duty to change them? How do you think Muslims around the world feel? We are humiliated and violated when people act as if they can just walk all over us! This is what we are defending. We cannot just sit and let the US bomb them. We've got to do something, and something right, i.e. defend ourselves. The fact that the Taliban abuse women, etc., well, that is wrong of them, but it is not the duty of non-Muslims to change that. To us, US intervention is not a 'favour'; rather, it is a humiliation.

What many people do not realise is that Muslims at large do not support the Sept 11 attacks. They also do not support the US assault on Afghanistan because:

1) They are the non-Muslims attacking a Muslim country (whenever a Muslim country is under attack, all its citizens and Muslims around the world must defend it in any way they can);

2) They have not produced evidence that is needed to charge someone in court, i.e. the evidence that appeared in major newspapers in the UK seemed merely like past events not directly linked to the WTC attacks;

3) Why does the US have to resort to military action if it is really sincere about "just wanting to catch Osama bin Laden"? Why can't they send troops to actually find and arrest him? Is it really necessary to bomb a land that is already a wreck?

I personally think the US should produce concrete evidence implicating Osama so that Muslim countries can then arrest and punish him according to Islamic laws (which is death for murder). This way, the US will not be acting unjustly, and Afghans and Muslims at large would not feel victimised and offended by their actions. This will also help to show the world that we Muslims do not think that those responsible for the WTC attacks were right.

Islam is not a religion of violence like what is being portrayed or highlighted in the media, though a small proportion of Muslims are to be blamed. If evidence was produced to the Taliban (which was not done), then they should proceed by punishing Osama according to the syariah . If the Taliban still protect him, then they become one of the bad guys. . . although they are still Muslims.