Hamjatta, I found your last piece very stimulating -intellectually. And like Halifa pointed out, one may totally disagree with what you have to say, but you sure know how to get people on their toes. In general, we agree more than we disagree about PDOIS and Halifa vis-a-vis Yaya Jammeh. But having just read Halifa's reply, I think you should let the gentleman go. Just cease fire. This is simply because, they(PDOIS)are engaged in more things than politics as pointed out by Halifa. When I met Halifa last May, I was struck by how much older than his age he looks. I suppose the gentleman sleeps very little for the fact that he's trying to do a thousand and one things at once: school admn, Foroyaa running, Letters to xyz, etc. To be honest, I really wonder how the man juggles all that act. There are some things that one simply cannot fake. Nothing precipitates quick aging than stress. So, from a personal stand point, there's no need to add to that unless one has to. So what next? Do what I did! When I met Halifa in DC, we agreed to disagree on the issues where we don't see eye-to-eye, and move on. It's for that reason that I resolved to abstain from distracting him. He really has more important things to do. Let's just accept the fact that we have different views of Yaya Jammeh and how to deal with him. Let Halifa continue his quest his way, and some of us who are clearly less patient/tolerant can find other appropriate outlets. Maybe, some day when you've graduated, and Halifa is a co-prof at Gambia University, we'll have the chance to witness a fruitful debate on national TV. Nothing would be more stimulating. But right now, the timing is simply not right. Even as I write this, Yaya Jammeh's boys are out terrorizing citizens for no reason. Who knows what sad news we'll read in tomorrow morning's papers? So, in the scheme of things, we're spending too much time on the one dollar issue when the one Million dollar one is waiting. And regarding the debate, I thought it was a joke from the word "go." I mean, what is there to accomplish? You're talking about a few hours meeting (two, three, fours hours? The sure thing you can bet your life on is that when they say "come at 2pm," most of the audience -probably including some of the main proponents, would not show up until 3:30pm.) So Halifa takes an hour, and you take an hour. Meanwhile, the owners of the hall/venue are getting impatient b/c the meeting was to have ended two hours ago! Get my point? But, basically get this: anybody who isn't convinced by any of you to side with you after all these exchanges, won't be convinced by a few hours debate. And that is for the fence-sitters. From what I'm seeing, most of the people planning to attend have already chosen sides! So, this debate is nothing but an "event" that would offer them the opportunity to reinforce whatever preconceptions they already have. Read the transcript of Nelson Mandela's Rivonia trial in the early 60s vis-a-vis the judge's role, and you'll get my point. The verdict is already set. And I mean on both sides. Like most debates, each debator's supporters in this one, will be looking for inconsistencies in the other's utterances. Hardly anything will change. So, why not just meet the gentleman and have a thorough one-on-one, to establish/disagree on some things? On the L, most issues get blown out of proportions, or taken out of context in my view. Like Halifa alluded to, it's not fair to paint him, or diehard PDOIS supporters into neat little boxes. The man is a little more complex than that, and some of the diehards aren't that simple. But equally, it's unfair for the supporters to dismiss you as someone who just jumps up to criticize baselessly. These are both very convenient ways of examining rather complex issues. Your views regarding Halifa's treatment of Yaya -especially, are not totally wacky. I'll give you a first hand example. When I was approaching Halifa at the Park where the ALD rally was held last May, I was beaten to him by a lady. What ensued next took me by total surprise. That woman said a lot of very unflattering things about Yaya Jammeh, what he's doing home, and PDOIS's "relationship" with him. I was really stunned, because she was very blunt, and absolutely convinced of what she was saying, which in not so many words, was what some of us took Mr. Sallah to task for on this List. And when this woman finished her "sermon," she turned her back on Halifa, and the gentleman had to literally rush and hold unto her arms to get her to hear his side of the story. And even then, she clearly wasn't convinced. For a moment, I thought the woman was "corrupted" by us on the L. So I approached her, and introduced myself. Her name is Tuku Jallow; yes, she's new to the US; yes, she has a problem with PDOIS b/c of how they've been supporting (her words,) Yaya Jammeh; no, she has NEVER been on the Net; yes, she's in America b/c of Yaya's tribalism/nepotism; yes, she was fired from her job at some bank in Banjul, etc, etc. When I spoke to her, she was with four gentlemen including a former Director, and they were all in agreement with what the woman was saying. Question: if Hamjatta is such a quixotic critic, how does one explain why a Tuku Jallow, who has never been on the Net, reflect similar views that he keeps repeating? The woman is clearly not the bookish type. (Those who doubt the encounter can ask Mr. Sallah to tell them the story.) I was just two feet away, and I've never seen any Gambian woman who's so blunt in a face-to-face exchange. So, my whole take on Halifa is that the man made some mistakes in his approach towards Yaya Jammeh. While he wisely passed up a cabinet spot, and challenged degrees on principles, he said some wrong things when some of us who realized our foolishness that we've been duped woke up to the fact. And like I pointed out to Halifa before, his failure to admit that mistake is what fuels these criticisms. What should have been chucked down to experience as a "honest mistake" swirls around for want of culpability. Because my twelve-hour day has taken it's toll on me, I can't think clearly any more. So, I'm urging Hamjatta to desist the critiques for now. Saying this, I feel like Comrade Jassey-Conteh, but there is a lot of wisdom in his advice. We should just accept each others' positions and move on to fight Yaya Jammeh the best way we know how. Blame any incoherence on a sleepy brain. Good night. Saul. Hamjatta, > >I see that you are becoming a tactician and a strategist for the >transformation of The Gambia. When will you come home to lead your people >to ________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html You may also send subscription requests to [log in to unmask] if you have problems accessing the web interface ----------------------------------------------------------------------------