To The Editor, The Independent: Well Said! The criticisms leveled against Gambia-L by The Independent are appropriate and well taken. It is always good to have both internal/external criticism. It should also be said, however, that many members of Gambia-L have raised the same issue over and over again. And that, it is a very small minority on Gambia-L that engage in such abuse. For The Independent or the author to give the impression that Gambia-L is a forum for emotional outbursts and insults, without looking at the healthy debates and in particular,the GAMBIA-L POSITION PAPER to President Jammeh and others, is to blow the "insults" out of proportion. While The Independent can make room for an article on "insults" in GAMBIA-L, it has not to my knowledge, made room to cover the Gambia-L Position Paper or to interview President Jammeh and other political leaders on their reactions to the recommendations. I believe Gambians would be better served by a serious discussion of national issues( which I am sure you do) on The Independent, than the "insults" a minority of us are engaged in. Gambia-L, in spite of the "insults," remains a forum of free speech and an exercise in democracy. More important, it is a microcosm of The Gambia in both its positive and contradictory attributes. Surely, the maturity of a minority who engage in "insults" is disturbing to all those who know better. Yet, to focus on the "insults" as if this was the dominant feature on GAMBIA-L, is to misrepresent what the L is all about. In conclusion, GAMBIA-L, in my humble opinion, is an effective and valuable forum whose members include intelligent, thoughtful and mature individuals, not the loud and foul-mouthed individuals your article purports. Thank You. (I hope you publish this as a follow-up to your article). Abdoulaye Saine Oxford, Ohio, USA. "M.B Krubally" wrote: > > Ous I agree with you, but MAN! the personal attacks and fighting need > to go. This site have turned out to be a place where one cannot even > bring up a debate topic without being personally attacked. I hope this > article will help direct us to a much healthier style of debating, > like the ones we used to have at Armitage High School. > > M.B.Krubally > > > > _________________________________________________________ > > GROWING OLD IS MANDATORY; BECOMING WISE IS OPTIONAL. > > __________________________________________________________ > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > Do You Yahoo!? > Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html ----------------------------------------------------------------------------