Hello sister Jabou,
  I agree with you on the points raise but I also wander the points stated by Pa Nderry is the critical facts. The only things that the western can do is flush the devil out or support the struggle to restore democracy in our country than playing a double standard. Both United Sates and British High Commissioner in Banjul have  been very silence about the action of the recent extrajudiciary killings, detention without trials and suppression of freedom of speech. Jammeh's alliance with Iran and Venezuella is all part of his cheque book diplomacy and need to be expose.

[log in to unmask] wrote:
  Dear Pa Nderry,

You know I support your right to speak out and expose corruption in our 
country, but in the same manner, I never hold back when I feel that your paper 
has stepped beyond bounds. We cannot loose sight of the fact that there is 
patriotism that compels us to expose corruption and tyranny, but there is also 
patriotism that should compel us not to engage in revelations that can jeopadize 
the very freedom we are fighting to preserve for our country.

Your reporting on what was discussed in meetings between the Gambia 
government and the Iranian and the Venezuelan Presidents threads on dangerous ground 
my good brother. Such alliances are forged between nations looking to 
preserve their own national interest and discussions towards the same occur daily 
behind closed doors in every country around the World and indeed, in many of 
those nations we consider as our friends, but the details of them are not put 
out there for public consumption even by those who oppose these governments. 
There is such a thing as state secrets even if the APRC has misused the term 
to violate the rights of our citizens many a time. It is imperative to draw 
the line between what should be for public consumption and what should not be 
in the interest of the nation. 

We may want the APRC regime out of power, but we do not want to expose our 
country to invasion by foreign powers and such an invasion will be for the 
preservation of their own interest and not to help us get rid of Jammeh, and 
even while such invasion may help us get rid of Jammeh, it may also bring us 
other things we would rather not have in our country. We have to be mindful of 
what tactic we use to dislodge the dictators plaguing our continent because 
some of those tactics may bring us far deeper problems during the process or 
afterwards.

All governments, some good and some bad and tyrannical like our present one 
must forge alliances that serve the interest of their respective nations for 
various reasons.
While the United States and other Western nations are seen to be our friends 
and on our side etc, we must never loose sight of the fact that the number 
one priority in any decision they make is to preserve their self interest 
first and foremost.

Likewise, all other nations also have the responsibility to make decisions 
and forge alliances that protect their self interest, whether such alliances 
are open or secret. 

While there is no doubt that terroristic acts have occurred around the World 
and that no one condones these terrible acts, there is also no doubt that a 
sincere effort to expose and an effort made to fix all the root causes that 
compel people to come to the conclusion that they must engage in these acts 
of terror must be part and parcel of any fight against terrorism so that all 
nations can eventually enjoy a peaceful existence in this World. This is what 
must occur in place of the fight against terrorism being used by nations as 
a tool to wage a smear campaign against their adversaries and some of us 
being swept in that undercurrent and lending ourselves to being used as the 
vehicles to promote such an agenda.

The so-called fight against terrorism has been mis-used by the United States 
as an excuse to invade and conquer to preserve their own economic and 
political agenda and likewise, other nations have also used the very same battle 
cry as a cover to wage war on their enemies both real and perceived.

So the so-called fight against terrorism and accusing individuals and 
nations of being terroristic states or harboring terrorists has become a tool to be 
used by all to implement other hidden agendas. It has for example become a 
tool to use to accuse other nations whose policies one may not be happy with 
as being guilty of terrorism or sponsoring terrorism even in the absence of 
credible evidence being presented to support such claims.

Hugo Chavez wants his country and his people to be the beneficiaries of the 
bulk of their oil revenues rather than forging alliances and signing over 
their rights to the major oil companies and relegating his compatriots to 
economic slavery. That is what makes him such a bad guy in the eyes of the United 
States.

Likewise, the Iranians want to use nuclear technology to enhance their 
economic development and my personal view and that of many people around the World 
is that even if, in addition, they wanted to use this technology to acquire 
nuclear weapons, such weapons would serve as a deterrent from anyone 
constantly threatening their national safety simply because those threatening them 
will know that they can retaliate if anyone should attack them and that very 
fact will remove this constant threat of attack. That to me is common sense.
The U.S has termed them a rogue government because of this.

Have the question ever been asked why some nations who have acquired nuclear 
weapons have taken it upon themselves to be the ones to then decide that no 
one else but they can have these weapons? Have we pondered the thinking 
behind this? Does it not convey a very clear message that those who have nuclear 
weapons are somehow superior and more mature than the rest of the nations 
that do not have it, so that they can be trusted with these weapons but the rest 
of the World are just too immature and untrustworthy to be trusted with 
nuclear weapons? Who came up with such authority?

Therefore, one must exercise extreme caution so that one does not find 
oneself serving as a mechanism for the dissemination of serious accusations and 
allegations against other sovereign nations that is agenda driven and in the 
absence of concrete evidence to back such accusations. That is a very serious 
matter indeed.

I do not think that any one of us can argue against the concept of Africa 
and African leaders forging alliances and adopting economic principles that 
will preserve the interest of Africa and for once in which alliance we do not 
adopt the "lost little boy seeking to be protected role" in view of the fact 
that Africa has since the advent of colonialism simply served as a free for all 
when it comes to our natural resources, both human as well as mineral.

We have also largely subscribed to and happily implemented the agenda of 
other nations without questioning its' impact on us and also without examining 
it to see whether it serves our interest.. I am particularly disturbed when I 
see our young people being so eager to serve as vehicles for the 
dissemination of other people's propaganda and rhetoric. Are we doomed to be just vassals 
of other nations and have we given birth to a whole new generation of people 
who see themselves as subservient so that we just live to tout the agendas 
of others and are happy to be under someone else's perceived protection rather 
than forging our own alliances and seeking to attain what is best for our 
own? I hope and pray this is not the case.

Both our leaders as well as our so-called educated people must wake up to 
the fact that when the West makes a decision about Africa, even if that 
decision happens to serve our purpose in the fight against tyranny, it is not 
necessarily a decision that was made solely to serve our interest. We must wake up 
to the fact that we cannot afford to just blindly adopt other people's 
agendas without dissecting it, understanding the reasoning and purpose behind it 
and deciding whether it serves our interest to adopt it and if we adopt it how 
do we participate in it for our own best interest.

Take a look at Hugo Chavez's statement about Africa and South America 
forging economic alliances to preserve our interest as quoted in your paper:

Chavez, whose repeated criticism of America has raised hackles in 
Washington, called on an African Union summit to cooperate with Latin America in 
everything from oil production to university education to counter "colonial" 
meddling in developing nations. 
Citing the example of Venezuela and Bolivia, he urged Africa to seize 
greater control of its energy resources. He described the low royalty payments made 
by some foreign oil companies as "robbery". 
"We should march together, Africa and Latin America, brother continents with 
the same roots ... Only together can we change the direction of the world," 
he told the opening day of the AU summit, to applause. 
"The world is threatened by the hegemony of the North American empire," said 
the former paratrooper, following speeches from African leaders which had 
criticized colonialism. 
Africa's abundant natural resources -- ranging from precious metals to iron 
ore and oil -- should make it a wealthy continent if it were freed from 
outside exploitation, Chavez said. 
"Africa has everything to become a pole of world power in the 21st century. 
Latin America and the Caribbean are equipped to become another pole," he 
said. 
In a nod to another outspoken opponent of U.S. foreign policy, Chavez hailed 
Iran's right to develop nuclear technology for peaceful purposes. 
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is also attending the summit in the 
Gambian capital Banjul. 
The Venezuelan leader called for a commission to evaluate joint energy 
projects between Africa and Latin America, as well as a media venture dubbed 
Telesur (TeleSouth) and a joint bank Banco del Sur (Bank of the South). 
"In Venezuela, we were tired of all our oil going to Count Dracula," said 
Chavez, referring his government's decision to raise taxes on U.S. oil 
companies. "Now Venezuela is free and we have recovered control over our oil." 
Venezuela is the world's fifth largest oil exporter. 
It is unfortunate that the only commentary your paper had after this 
statement is that Chavez is a trouble maker at odds with Washington and that Iran 
supports terrorists and that by our government associating with these leaders, 
these countries may send terrorists via The Gambia on their way to committ 
some act of terror, and that we should therefore distance ourselves from these 
leaders and countries. 
Washington may have problems with these leaders, but must our national 
interest and our association with other nations around the World be dictated by 
what Washington or any other nation wants and their relationships with those 
nations? Must our national agenda be geared towards serving the interest of 
other nations and must we always serve as the little boy patted on the head to 
go implement the agenda of the master to whom we will look for salvation? 
How will we ever liberate our country and our continent if we adopt this mode 
of thinking and if we lend ourselves to always take the role of implementing 
the agendas of those who have and continue to hold Africa hostage both 
economically and otherwise? It is indeed high time for Africans to start thinking 
outside of the box. We must dare to re-think the economic organization of the 
World or we will forever be locked in the box. 
Jabou Joh

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