The local reaction to the US-Afghan conflict is predictable - it is loaded with rhetoric and hypocrisy, and often devoid of perspective.

First and foremost, the conflict is between the Taliban and the US. The US, having suffered a horrendous terrorist attack, has every right to retaliate. We are not in their shoes and as such, we have no right to judge their actions whatever our loyalties.

The Taliban are housing their chief suspect, and refuse to co-operate in handing him over. It is their choice to receive the brunt of the retaliation.

These are the facts. To those who try to cash in on this conflict to create a rift between Islam and the rest of the world, or to consolidate their own position within the Islamic community, I want to ask, what has Islam got to do with this? More than this, what has Malaysia got to do with Afghanistan?

Let's stop the hypocrisy. Where were the prayers and show of support for the Afghans when they were already fleeing the Taliban years ago, and living out of refugee camps in the border? Who were the ones supplying humanitarian aid to these refugees?

Are these leaders of our regional religious communities so easily fooled by pseudo-religious rhetoric, that a mere call for jihad (in itself horribly misapplied to armed conflict of any kind) by a rogue can lead them blindly into the conflict?

Who is Osama bin Laden? Realistically he is a bandit, a power-hungry opportunist who knows Islam is a powerful tool for his personal agenda. He is also a murderer, first of hundreds of innocent people who died in the first World Trade Center bombing, then of the African US Embassies, and of the unwitting residents of Lockerbie. Now he is a suspect behind the Sept 11 attacks, and if in the least we can stay away from taking America's side, it goes beyond logic to take the Taliban's side.

This is a symptom of how blind people have become. It is about time Muslims rescue their faith from being abused by thieves and murderers.

Stop blaming others for painting a fanatical image of Islam; Muslims need to take part of the blame. Their failure has been not to act against such barbarians who call out the name of Allah each time they commit their crimes, and distort the words of the Prophet and of the Quran to justify their acts. Their failure has been to react to conflicts not with an eye to justice, but by taking sides along the religious divide regardless of the situation.

Let's all get some perspective over all the recent events. There is no such thing as an Islamic world, as a journalist has pointed out. Even within Islam there is a wealth of diversity. In the end we are all individual communities. Afghanistan is not Palestine, is not Saudi Arabia, is not Sudan, is not Malaysia. When Malaysia's economy was under attack, where was the support of the "Islamic World"? Time for reality check. We have reason to be suspicious why PAS feels the need to show solidarity with the Taliban when they have shown little for the Afghan refugees in the preceding years.

The attempt to rope everyone into the boat is a ploy to create power and solidarity, and usually for very selfish reasons. We have no business getting involved in the conflict of others, whether they are Muslims or not, whether they throw lofty rhetoric at us. If we are genuinely concerned, then get really useful by participating in humanitarian aid.

Let's stop being hypocrites. It is disgusting to want to gain political mileage from the misfortune of those who lost their lives in New York and Washington and those who are starving in the Afghan desert.