opinion

The Sept 11 disaster in the United States astounded the whole world. Any human being with a shred of feelings must have been shocked beyond belief at what happened.

The whole world sympathised with those who lost their loved ones. And it spontaneously gave support to the US. Even members of the Malaysian opposition, without hesitation, gave their unanimous support to the US.

However, in the haste to exact revenge, only one person from the 535 members of the US Congress was thinking rationally when she voted against granting President George W Bush broad authority to use military force in retaliation for the terrorist attacks.

Responses elsewhere later showed that she was right. Since then many countries have had to rethink their position when it became obvious that the US president was preparing to attack Afghanistan and perhaps even Iraq, to finish off what his predecessors didn't before.

I watched CNN on the events that unfolded. What surprised me was its biased and unsubstantiated announcement that "Muslim" terrorists were responsible. At that time, there was no shred of evidence of who the hijackers were other than 'some bad guys'. To-date there is still no solid evidence other than mere speculation that the hijackers were the Arabs on the planes. Have we forgotten the Timothy McVeighs of America?

And why is that we hear of "Muslim" terrorists, but when Christians or Jews are responsible, we do not hear about "Christian terrorists" or "Jewish terrorists" in the news? (Incidentally, Muslims are defined in the Quran as "believers in God".)

The ongoing onslaught against Osama bin Laden seems too far-fetched, as what happened was the work of perfect precision and planning, and could have only been done with inside information. It is also difficult to believe that the US with such sophisticated intelligence equipment and personnel failed to detect any hint of the attack before it happened.

Backfire

Our local media, which is controlled by the government, is no better. They capitalise on the tragic incident to justify the detention of innocent persons under the Internal Security Act. If the media do not handle this issue properly, it may even backfire on them.

We could be making ourselves a target of the US if we keep insisting that those detained are "terrorists". Malaysia, unfortunately, has also been highlighted as it so happened that one of the "suspected" hijackers was seen passing through the country.

I fully applaud the prime minister for taking a bold stand in refusing to surrender Malaysians who are suspected by the US to be terrorists. Indeed we have more than enough of our own laws to deal with any terrorists, if any, even to the extent of locking up innocent persons who support the opposition.

I certainly hope that those in power will not further capitalise on this issue to arrest more innocent people. Enough is enough. Judging from the election results in Sarawak, the Barisan Nasional need not have to worry too much about the next general elections.

However, before that, there is much spring-cleaning that has to be done, particularly with regard to those locked up under the ISA and the recently announced "intended" arrests.

Let us now 'cleanse' the black spots on our records by administering justice to our own people. It is time to review the position of those that have been unjustly accused, unfairly tried and convicted, and those locked up under the ISA under false charges and fabricated evidence.

Bereaved families

At this critical and uncertain period it is important that all citizens, including opposition parties, rally together to ensure that our country will not be labelled as a "suspect" and be harassed by the US. Our leaders must ensure that our country will continue to be safe for our people.

If the US even suspects that we are harbouring "terrorist" money, which I am sure we are not, knowing the rigid banking rules of this country, then Malaysia will be a target for the US, which could put the future of our country and our people in great jeopardy.

Whatever we say or do, the interest of our country and our people must come first. This is no time for statements to gain political mileage from the tragic attacks on the US.

Let us all offer condolences to the bereaved families and offer prayers for the souls of the victims. May God bless them and admit them to His Mercy and may they Rest In Peace.

MARINA YUSOFF, a lawyer and businesswoman, is a former vice-president of Keadilan and ex-supreme council member of Umno.