WITH every innocent Afghan killed by Amer-ican and British bombs the moral case for the war against terrorism is diminished.

The world was united in its condemnation of the attacks on the World Trade Centre, but is deeply divided over the response.

The 'Coalition against Terrorism' looks set to fail to get food to the starving before winter snows set in.

By sponsoring the Afghan Northern Alli-ance it may become par-ty to a bloodbath of rape and murder if they reach Kabul.

And it has not got a clue what to do if it ever finds Osama Bin Laden; his death will do little but create a martyr of mythical proportions.

I am no pacifist.

I wanted military action taken against the aggressors in Bosnia and Kosovo much earlier than was agreed.

But it is not an effective approach against invisible plotters working worldwide, and it will produce no real 'success' in Afghanistan.

The real battle should be to win the hearts and minds of those who deplore terrorism but distrust America and its allies, and it is one we are losing.

While the Govern-ment's propaganda ma-ch-ine tries to keep us feeling righteous and superior, we are fuelling the hatred which will turn many more angry young men into suicide bombers.

We must regain the moral high ground to cool the anger, and persuade the USA, the European Union, China and Russia to use the immense diplomatic and economic influence in concert together to curb those fostering terror-ism.

It will be dismissed as weak by the hawks and those who organised the September 11 attack will claim it as a victory.

But our present res-ponse is playing into the terrorists' hands.

We are in a hole and we must stop digging it deeper.

Chris Davies, North West MEP