I would not normally comment on Tuesday's terrible event but I find some of my friends being slandered, in effect, by having their religion and this event being linked by the continuous repetition of stock phrases by the media. No-one talks of the Muslim fighters of WWII who fought and gave their lives in the fight against evil, nor of the Red Crescent nor the tolerant, "civilised" Muslim countries nor of those in the intolerant countries who support neither their regimes nor terrorist acts carried out in their name, regardless of their opinion of America and its allies. One of our family friends, who is both a muslim and an Englishman (and his muslim, Canadian wife) works two blocks from the site - I have seen no discussion about those who might have been muslims or 'Arabs' having been killed in this event: to be a muslim is to be a member of a religion and that religion can be practiced anywhere, including by some of those who worked in the World Trade Center.

I get annoyed when I hear 'muslim / Arab countries' or 'muslim fundamentalists' spoken of as if they are the only mad chaps around and even more so when they are immediately blamed, without evidence: whether or not they 'hate' America. As an atheist this bigotry annoys me greatly, I hate to think how those who are members of these religions feel, especially when their country's official expression of horror at the event is interpreted as merely protecting themselves against possible US retribution.

"An eye for an eye" might be the underlying tenet for the punishment, but at least confirm that you are looking at the correct pair of eyes first.

Those currently focussed upon pseudo-religious fanatics as initiators of this disgusting crime, might perhaps consider the multi-national nature of the (company) occupants of the primary target as representing capitalism and consider also the rioting that has taken place at recent G8 and other economic summits as indicative of the hatred felt by other groups for business and capitalism in general.

Lastly, of course, there are those elements of US society itself, who could equally be to blame: q.v. the Oklahoma bombing(s).

Other than one reporter on the BBC who mentioned the US extemists in passing, I have heard of no other theories other than "I bet it was Bin Laden / muslim fundamentalists / rogue eastern state / Arab nation / (insert highest-profile or latest bogeyman here)". It might well turn out to be Bin Laden, but let's point the finger of blame at the guilty party when we have the evidence, not brandish our fists in the general direction of Mecca / Afghanistan.