The following article is in response to Dante Chinni and Abraham McLaughlin's With the McVeigh delay, pressure rises for FBI reform, published in the Christian Science Monitor, on May 14, 2001.

As I read the article With the McVeigh delay, pressure rises for FBI reform that detailed a series of missteps and errors committed by the FBI in several high profile cases, and none more so than the deadliest domestic terrorist act in Oklahoma City, I couldn't help but wonder how things may differ if Timothy McVeigh was a Muslim. In fact, our media, law enforcement, and government officials immediately accused Muslims after the Oklahoma bombing without any evidence.

If McVeigh was a Muslim would he have been guaranteed the full extent of our Constitutional protection, including the recent delay?

Would 60 Minutes have spent an entire hour (May 13) interviewing him politely, patiently asking him his motives and feelings while the victims reacted to his statements, debated the death penalty and asking God to forgive him?

Would so much media attention be given to America's most lethal 'Christian' terrorist? Would the FBI be so castigated and investigated for its errors and would Congress hold hearings on the FBI handling of this case?

Would his lawyers be interviewed as to their next strategy with such respect by all the media?

The answer is obviously NO. When it comes to Muslim suspects, American or otherwise, the FBI's quick investigations here and abroad are never questioned, not their methods, witnesses, or lab results. The suspects would be automatically identified as "Muslim Terrorists" and presumed guilty until proven innocent.

The media would care less about their fate, while the FBI and Immigration and Naturalization Service would even violate the Constitutional due process of law and hold these suspects for years without a trial or charge under so-called "secret evidence" provisions.

The Congress until now has not even voted to repeal this unconstitutional practice, despite 112 Representatives cosponsoring the repeal. Neither the Attorney General nor the President would be involved in such cases.

Such suspects are usually brought to New York in front of a hostile jury prejudiced against Islam (e.g.: World Trade Center bombing) and convicted and sentenced within a few days to weeks.

Ironically, our own government is silent when dozens of Arab American citizens are held in Israeli prisons without charge.

Our justice system reeks of double standards when it comes to non-white religious minorities, with Jews being the exception (recall the Mark Rich and Hassidic Jew pardons).

The moral of the story in that for our Justice system is if you are an Arab American, Muslim American, African American, Hispanic or other minority the system will racially profile you, your trial will be a sham, you can forget about governmental guarantees, and there will be no 60 Minutes or other media attention, let alone due process.

America's dual justice system is friendly to the rich, the powerful and to whites, but for those of color, the poor, foreigners and non-Christians it is a disgrace.

Muhammad Khodr is a Muslim American physician of Middle Eastern origin.