Let's get this one thing out of the way. I am one out of millions of Muslims all over the world who is embarrassed by the way Osama bin Laden and his ilk had managed to hijack Islam to justify their actions and perpetrate heinous crimes against fellow humans.

But once the US and its allies attacked Afghanistan resulting in death of hundreds of Afghans through non-stop bombardments in hospitals, mosques, villages and UN offices, the tide quickly turned. You can see an increase in sympathy and support by Muslims in Malaysia (read Malays) with the fate of fellow Muslims Afghans - not that we are jumping with joy to see on telly the fact that 5,000-odd people had perished in USA. Except for a few NGOS, no such visible support on the fate of innocent Afghans can be seen in public by non-Muslims in Malaysia, e.g., CH Loh and Dr Stefen Tan, thus the contribution to the great divide in Malaysia continues.

In a war innocent people get killed. The USA can attack Afghanistan with this same reason. They can call it collateral damage or simply by a note of regret but the innocent people who were killed probably hate the Taliban as much as the Americans do. They had lived under the tyrannical rule of the Taliban but it was just their lucky day that the Americans managed to finish them off before the Taliban got to them.

Who is to say then that the Americans are no more different than the Taliban as the record says both murdered innocent folks. At the rate they are going, pretty soon the body count will exceed those killed on Sept 11 and they could yet still not be any near Osama's camel let alone the saviour himself.

Taliban aside, is it wrong then for PAS and other Muslims in this country to proclaim jihad and death to the Americans for killing innocent Afghans no matter how much misguided and unprepared the Muslim simpletons are. To recap, failure by non-Muslims in this country to acknowledge this is one of the reasons why there will always be that divide in this country.