I refer to Manjit Bhatia's letter Why? PM why?.

If Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad is considered to be 'unnecessarily' beating the war drums he is then in fine company with Australian PM John Howard and US President George Bush.

Politicians all over the world (and indeed throughout history) know that nothing marshals the people (read that as voters) behind them better than a bit of jingoistic politicking. Witness the border security issues in Australia — Howard has never been more popular. Whether it is right or wrong is another issue, but it is just politics.

One should not get too personal or venomous about this brand of politics, otherwise we would diminish the seriousness and value of our views and criticism.