The responsible for and leaders of a divided Arab world are striving to serve the U.S. interests and have the blessings of the Bush administration. In that context, and to confirm their absolute submissiveness to the latter, these people have kept supporting, since 9/11, any U.S. accusations which connect terrorism to Islam. While our Arab leaders have chosen a strategy of hypocrisy toward him who protects them from the wrath of their peoples, a voice strange to the Arab world has risen from the Far East to defend Islam and Muslims: the voice of former Malaysia Prime Minister Mahatir Mohamed.
Mahatir, who associated terrorism with the Americans and the British led by George W. Bush, and his ally Tony Blair, dared to declare before a group of human rights ambassadors and activists that the pretexts behind the invasion of Iraq were false.
Mahatir, known to U.S. and British leaders since the times of Reagan and Bush senior, asked himself a question at the same time that he ironically asked the British ambassador to define true terrorists: are terrorists those who suffer under air raids or those who order the air raids? Mahatir Mohamed answered that true terrorists are the Americans and the British.
The British ambassador could not put up with that accusation and preferred to leave the conference followed by other ambassadors. On the other hand, U.S. leaders refused to attend that conference, which had been organized to approach the human rights topic. They were right, why attend that conference when together with the British and Israelis they are the source of international terrorism and the violations of human rights? As regards our Arab leaders, these would rather to organize “safer” conferences and invite only those who praise the Bush administration’s leaders and its allies, as well as those who consider the Iraqi resistance, who fight for its independence, as terrorists having nothing to do with Islam.
In the Arab World, many share Mahatir’s view, but conditions are different because unlike Malaysia, which favors attacking the U.S. and its allies by holding them accountable for international terrorism, without fearing any judicial action, the Arab countries do not enjoy that freedom. The Arab citizen is forced to embrace the ideology of his ruler; otherwise he’d be shut up by the law.

Source
Alarabonline.org

الارهابيون!”, by Aouda Boutros Aouda, alarabonline.org, September 11, 2005.