It is a widely believed adage that the first casualty of war is the truth. If this is so, then impartiality does not come too far behind. I would like to pose some questions for my fellow Muslims worldwide.

1) Why is the United States referred to as 'the Great Satan' when Russia and various Arab countries in the Middle East such as Iraq and Syria have been responsible for more Muslim deaths (e.g. Chechnya, the Kurds, the destruction of Hamah) than the US ever have?

2) If the US is such a strong ally of Israel, why does it support UN resolution 181 which calls for the creation of a Palestinian state and stopped Britain and France from invading Egypt (Suez crisis 1956)?

3) If the US is so anti-Muslim why did it intervene to try to stop the killing of Kosovan Albanian Muslims when there were no vital US interests at stake?

4) Which is more attractive, the imperfect but open, tolerant, democratic liberal democracies of the West or the repressive, corrupt, autocratic regimes of the Middle East who frequently preserve their rule through the use of torture and murder?

5) Like all great powers throughout history the US has been responsible for some terrible atrocities (its treatment of the native Americans, the wars against the Spanish in New Mexico, Texas and California, the bombing of innocent Cambodians) but which great power has not committed atrocities (the Assyrians, the Romans, the Mongols...)? Has there been a more humane great power in history? The US destroyed fascism and communism and the Marshall plan brought prosperity to a war-stricken Europe and Asia. Would the world be a more peaceful place if Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union had won?

6) Why was there not a single Muslim country with the moral courage or sense of decency to try to stop the murder of the Muslim Kosovan Albanians?