Dear Editor,

One has to be inhuman not to be outraged by the action of a few religious fanatics and zealots in New York and Washington recently. Many of our citizens and indeed, citizens of the world perished in those dastardly attacks. Like everyone else, I wish to add my voice in condemnation.

However, I am more frightened of President Bush's intemperate utterances. Yes, we are all hurt, but we must try in our responses to this hurt to be intelligent.

Did America disseminate the home-based anti-American militia (terrorists) that Timothy McVeigh belonged to?

Is it not the US brand of democracy for people to elect their own leaders, so why not the same in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait? Or is it that democracy `American style' only applies when its

economic interest is not threatened? Remember these countries are major oil producers and exporters and presumably if the governments of these countries are not friendly to the US, it will hurt all of us in the pocket. Or are we afraid that religious zealots will be able to spend these countries' wealth on weapons and pose a threat to capitalism and western democracy? Are we afraid that extremist forms of Islam will quickly replace communism as a competing ideology and that we will not be able to deal with the extremists of the Muslim faith as we did with the communists of Eastern Europe, Latin America and the USSR? After all, we never heard of communist suicide bombers.

Dear God, please grant President Bush the wisdom to make the US and the world a safer place, not issue more threats and ultimately destroy it.

If he attacks the countries he is listing as supporting and harbouring terrorists in an indiscriminate manner without credible evidence, then he will be no better a human being than his arch foe, the notorious, Osama bin Laden - this is one name we will very much not like to name our sons here in Guyana.

The time may be right for the 'champions of the world' to sign on to the world criminal court similar to the one that is currently trying

some of the war/ethnic cleansing criminals. It could then try all anti-civilisation leaders and their followers.