Someone mentioned this site to me about a week ago in the wake of the horrendous attacks on my city as a way to gain a little perspective on this issue. And, while some opinions have outraged me, I have actually found it to be useful reading over the last week.

I live less than a mile from the World Trade Center, and this disaster strikes home to me every time I look out my window, see the skyline that is gone and the still rising plume of smoke from the mountains of rubble that have been left behind.

While I initially was as mad and ready to strike back as anyone would, that feeling has changed. Despite what the global view of our nation may be, we are largely educated and (mostly) rational people. Despite some of the actions of our government, the American citizens have no desire to dictate policy to other governments.

However, I often see people criticising US' policies via malaysiakini, but how much mention has actually been made of the US$300 million the US gave Afghanistan this spring to feed the people? US is not simply the bloated bully it is so easy to portray, and our foreign aid is unrivaled. However, I now run the risk of lauding America and sounding arrogant, but that is not my goal. I just wish to illustrate that not all that the US has done is wrong.

With regard to our response, I (and most Americans) believe your fears to be ill-founded. If we were going to strike out blindly, the bombs would have been falling on Sept 11. We realise that killing randomly will only bring more terror. America's own domestic terrorism showed how easy it is for two people and a truck of fertiliser to bring down a building that killed hundreds in the Oklahoma City bombing.

I believe we are truly committed to finding the network involved in this massacre, and eliminating them. Period. I will be stunned if Osama bin Laden is a free man in three months. However, the Afghan citizens are not responsible for this. America didn't blame the Germans for the Nazis after WWII, instead it set about helping to re-build Germany and Europe through the Marshall plan.

That action has engendered loyalty amongst Western Europe to this very day. A growing chorus of Americans wants to see unprecedented investment in Afghanistan and other poverty-stricken Muslim nations at the end of whatever action is forthcoming. America's only hope to avoid this cycle is to prove to these nations that America does not harbour ill-will towards them or their religion. The terrorists will pay, but we will act as diplomatically as possible in accomplishing this.

This morning's announcement that Israel and Palestine have agreed to a cease fire is a hopeful sign. I pray that this will all back-fire on the terrorists and instead of bringing more hatred and death the world may actually move forward. What a true defeat to the terrorists it will be if this brings about unprecedented unity and peace, goals which are truly the opposite of those the terrorists stand for.