By Naguib Mahfouz The two attacks staged by the US against Afghanistan and Sudan are unacceptable. The US, so concerned with fighting terrorism, could have responded in a way worthy of a democratic country: with actions motivated by a sense of responsibility and inspired by standards of legitimacy. The US is no different from any terrorist group, violating international law and applying the law of the jungle instead. In the new world order, the US is the sole superpower. But what kind of model does it offer other regimes? Do its actions demonstrate the honour and decency that should guide international relations? What will become of the US in the next hundred years, dubbed by some analysts "the American Century"? The US will be expected to offer the rest of the world a model of democratic behaviour. But is this model the same one the US applied in its raids on Sudan and Afghanistan? The actions of the US teach the rest of the world only one lesson: any country with the power to strike its adversary should do so; for this is the appropriate means of settling international disputes. The bombings of the US embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam are despicable -- of that there can be no doubt. But the US's attacks on Afghanistan and Sudan are hardly less reprehensible. Based on an interview by Mohamed Salmawy.
