Being a non-religious guest from the west (not American) in your country, I have been horrified by the reaction of my gentle Muslim friends here since Sept 11. This has shocked me more than the attack on the World Trade Center, and just as the 'Anwar affair' opened my eyes, this anti-American reaction to America being attacked (where is the logic?) has also been a defining moment and caused me many sleepless nights. I do not dare to think what the response would have been if the same attack had been made against a Muslim nation by a western power.

The common reaction to the tragedy is truly disturbing.

On the incident:

The most common reaction is - "We are against terrorism, but. . ." The word 'but' is as sharp as any sword and as powerful as any bomb. Translated it means, "The Americans deserved it."

On the perpetrators:

"The Americans did to themselves. It was the FBI, the Israelis, etc." After one of my friends mentioned that 4,000 Jews didn't turn up for work on the 11th, I hit the web looking for the source, and tracked it to a single e-mail on the New York Post, full of venom and other 'facts' which where proven false. These asinine rumours where taken on board as the absolute truth, while calling for positive proof of any Muslim involvement.

On the reason for the attacks:

The battle cry says 'America's foreign policy'. I don't think so. The average city slicker couldn't place Nicaragua on a map let alone know many of the facts, how do villagers in isolated parts of the world know so much?

Iraq's population is being starved by Saddam Hussein who has access to billions of dollars of oil money but refuses to use it so that he can use his own people as a weapon against the west. Why is this blissfully ignored, especially by the articulate?

The Palestinians have a just case, as do the Israelis. Both sides think they are 100 percent correct, but again, the average person cannot know half the story.

On terrorism:

There are claims that terrorists (who fight in the name of Islam) should not be called "Islamic terrorists". Why not, what do we call them? A simple search of known terrorist groups shows how many have the words 'Islam', 'Muslim', 'Jihad' in their name, while still more mention these terms in their charter. These groups are the most active and hit the headlines repeatedly, whilst Russia, China, India, Pakistan, and the Philippines all cite 'problems' with groups that fight under the banner of Islam.

All round the world we see the American flag being burnt, and words of hate from Muslims, not only from the street but also from formal religious gatherings (Iran).

It is little wonder given these circumstances that the words 'Islamic' and 'Terrorist' are almost synonymous to the westerner.

On the response:

"The Americans should not attack - war does not solve anything." More hypocrisy, the war to get rid of Milosovic was seen by many Muslims as too slow in coming. . .why is that?

The only reason behind such a negative response is simple bigotry, and cannot be related to any true religious principles.

I agree with M Bakri Musa in his article 'Hijacking Islam', who articulated the situation extremely well. Islam has been hijacked by extremist groups as well as by governments, organisations and individuals pushing their own private or political agenda. What is more frightening is that these groups use blind innocent faith to further their corrupt goals. This is their greatest weapon, and it would seem that they can do any thing and get the silent support from the masses worldwide. There is no equivalent in the west.

The Dalai Lama once said, religion is like food, you take according to your taste, if you like it hot, follow this way, if not follow another, they all lead to the same God. This is a great philosophy, so to get people to eat your way you have to have the right food. You can advertise and say we have the best menu, but unless the eating is good - people will eat elsewhere (or in my case, not at all!). The point is, does Islam have a good image in the other 75 percent of the world's population eyes, if not, why not?

The world is now divided, as Osama knew it would be, not by the media as suggested in the letter 'US is the greatest terrorist nation' (shifting the blame on the West) but by the reaction of the Muslim world - "do not attack a Muslim country, no matter how evil".