Emjud's letter 'Unfair to stereotype a religion' (Oct 16) suggests that if the Petronas Twin Towers were hit like the WTC attacks on Sept 11 and given that Malaysia had the same military might as the US, then Malaysia too would ape the US's current actions in war torn Afghanistan.

Though not a zero probability, a bigger probability is that we would NOT be doing the same because of several reasons. Malaysia as a third world country would be far more sensitive than the US towards an impoverished third world country on the brink of collapse.

The killings or murders of innocent Afghan civilians would be suicidal for the government given the large Muslim population in Malaysia. Already, the pictures of defenceless children maimed and killed in the US bombings are tearing up all our hearts, Muslims and non-Muslims alike.

Malaysia as a member of the Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) would have a far more developed view than the US since such an action would lead to its ostracization by member and non-member countries given its potential to destabilise many moderate Muslim governments and be replaced with oppressive radical regimes. Thus, the probability of Malaysia acting like the US are but minuscule.

One need not be politically astute to know that though the lives of the Afghans were already hard and desperate, the current situation has overnight transformed it to a hopeless nightmare. Whatever wretched infrastructure once existed are now demolished in search for just one man: the elusive and mysterious, Osama bin Laden.

No truly religious Muslim or human could ever do what the WTC attackers did since Islam totally forbids suicide killings and the murders of innocents. To term the hijackers and those who master minded the attack as "religious" is a direct assault on the religion and negates the effort by "voices of reason" appealing to Muslims that this is not an attack on Islam so that reason and sanity may prevail over unchecked extreme emotions.