Thank you for your nice comments about the Gambia-L.  I believe most of us
see it as great medium to keep in touch with events in our country plus a
quick an effective ways of making our opinions heard very quickly.  We could
go on and on about the great L, but let me get to the gist of my point
quickly!

In your previous piece, reference was made to my response to the email that
Mr. Haruna Farage wrote in response to the, at the time, ongoing discourse
about Annan and his effectiveness in making the plight of Africa heard. These
were your thoughts about my response, and I quote:

<<with the exception of one
 vide (Re. Annan Genuine Democracy Needed-Attn. Haruna) which I consider way
 too far and in fact lacking in tolerance.

You further went on to state that though you did not want to get entangled in
a web of intolerance, this piece was inappropriate and improper.  I find this
to be a bit of a contradiction because, if you really wanted to avoid
becoming entangled in this so-called web of intolerance, the subject of my
email would not have been quoted.  In other words, my piece was singled out
and, of course, that meant that I was exposed too. Well you can't escape now,
and I would like to temporarily entangle you in this web of intolerance, and
extracate myself against what I consider an abrupt judgment call on your part
regarding my piece.

With all due respect, you made the fundamental mistake of making good initial
observations on the workings of the L.  These great observations  were
followed by a conclusion that, in my opinion, is baseless considering the
amount of data you have been exposed to up to now.  A conclusion that we are
all on the same side and are for a common goal is as far from the truth as it
gets.  Anyone who has been a contributor or reader on the L for a long time
will agree with me that your conclusion is wrong and  hastily derived.  And
anyone that believes that all Gambians are working for a common goal is naive.

I strongly believe that we are not on the same side and similarly not
everyone is my friend on this cyber forum that we have here.  Everyone's
track record speaks for itself and every discourse that has ever been carried
out on the L is located at this URL:
http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html

In that vein, I know for a fact that Mr. Farage is not on the side of the
people that have constantly fought for change on this forum.  His track
record based on the archives contained in the above URL proves this and I
don't need to go into any specifics to prove my point.  Furthermore, my
agitation, albeit slight, was obviously borne out of a sense that the
aforementioned did not read my piece.  Instead, he hastily jumped to a
conclusion and assumed that I did not understand the workings of the UN.
This type of thinking obviously reflects some type of impartiality or bias.
My response dealt with this as opposed to a dissonant view.

This is not the first time that Haruna and myself have had divergent views.
The first one was over the unfortunate topic of assigning blame to those
responsible for Ebrima Barry's death.  He claimed that the late Mr. Barry's
teacher should be as culpable as the people who killed the poor man. This
assertion was absolutely ludicrous and was more in convergence with the views
expressed by the Gambia goverment and it's tyranically leader.  It was from
that point on that his modus operandi started to become very questionable to
me.  In my response to that assertion, I was neither rude nor intolerant.
But, since then, I have observed this man, and from his contributions or
non-contributions on issues close to the heart of every Gambian, he has
succinctly shown that he is not  on the side of those fighting for justice.
Regardless of this fact, I have scoured over my response and find nothing to
be wrong with my comments except perhaps the last phrase.  It was slightly
rude and my apologies go out to those insulted by it, including Mr. Haruna
Farage.  But everything else in that piece of email is true, and I strongly
stand by these undeniable facts.

Ahmed, with all due respect, those that know me will assure you that
intolerance and Yusupha Jow do not mesh.  I have had my controversial moments
of lunacy on the L, but I have always been man enough to accept my mistakes
and take the blame for whatever mistakes were made.  In real life, those that
know me will assure you that I am quite a tolerant and accepting person.

Forgive me if I am a bit here and there, it is stiill early in the
mountainous state of Arizona.  But  to wake up and read that someone is
accusing you of intolerance deserves a quick reply.  This said, I have learnt
from many solo years of some lessons hard earned lessons that no one is above
self improvement or criticism.  I strive to make myself a better person each
day.  So perhaps improving my tolerance would be a good goal to pursue.  Why
not start today?

Cheers and a warm welcome to the Gambia-L, Seedy Ahmed.  I look forward to
your contributions.


I

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