Briefly, I will like to reinforce my earlier comments on Dr Jobe.  The
sanctity of human rights transcends any dubious claim to national
sovereignty, especially when the claim is made by a pariah state under the
leadership of a tyrant such as Yaya Jammeh.  This argument of Dr. Sedat
invoking national sovereignty is futile, considering the stubborn fact of
The Gambia's dependence on the International Community for financial aid and
economic development.  A foreign policy should reflect a nation's power and
prestige, and not the other way round.  In this New World Order, the
preponderance of power dictates in alot of ways international relations. The
EU and the US Government has no other interest in the Gambia but the
enchancement of democracy, good governance, and the absolute respect for
human rights and decency.

Finally, I will close with a history lesson with a quotation from Gibbon's
Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire:

"From enthusiasm to imposture the step is perilous and slippery; the demon
of Socrates affords a memorable instance of how a wise man may deceive
himself, how a good man may deceive others, how the conscience may slumber
in a mixed and middle state between self-illusion and voluntary fraud."

Ebou Jallow



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