The executive order signed by US President Bush on Nov 13 allowing the special military tribunals to take charge of terrorism in times of war cannot be compared with the Internal Security Act of Malaysia.

The ISA is used against our own citizens. We have political opponents and accused criminals detained without trial. They have no right to be heard.

The rakyat do not know whether they are guilty of any offence as alleged by the executive. Neither is the attorney-general accountable in Parliament. Individuals who have been accused have been tried before judges, acquitted of their crimes find themselves rearrested. Why have them tried in the first place?

The order signed on Nov 13 is directed against non-US citizens of whatever race, colour, religion or creed. The order was made to protect its citizens from a recurring Sept 11 attack. At least it gives the accused foreigner some form of hearing.

What can we say about the accused Malaysian who is detained without a trial?

The mischief that the US government wants to correct can be summarised in what the president recently said: "This is war...we must not let foreign enemies use the forms of liberty to destroy liberty itself."

Finally there are more checks and balances within the machinery of the United States to see that this power is not abused, something we cannot say for this country. We seem to be at war with our own subjects.