Mr Bunn Negara, The Star's associate editor wrote in his Behind the Headlines column that "Malaysian journalists in Iraq know they can report from whichever perspective; despite Malaysia's strong stand against the war".

While The Star should be commended for trying to be fair in their war coverage; in reality it just (carries) hollow platitudes. Ever since operation Iraqi Freedom started, I have not come across any articles - written by Star journalists - that contained any hint of a pro-war, pro-US or anti-Saddam Hussein stance.

That is expected because going against the government's stand would make The Star vulnerable to censure. Furthermore, we (Malaysia) have diplomatic relations with the Iraqi regime and reporting any anti-Saddam opinions would jeopardise the relation.

In addition, since the editorial team at The Star is categorically anti-war (what with them selling T-shirts with anti-war slogans). They would lose all credibility if they published articles saying the opposite.