I had drafted the message below and wanted to send it to G_L before I saw Saul's response to Yusupha. I was almost tempted to stop sending this message (because I respect Saul's wish to handle this matter with Yusupha) but I finally decided to just send my perspective. I am glad that Saul meant his comment as a general comment just as I thought (see below). To both Saul and Yus, my message is no longer meant as a 'peace-keeping' message. Please read on and I hope you will take away from it that the victims here are the defenseless Gambians held to ransom by the illegal regime we have back home. Jawara and his gang have done enough damage to us, as things are right now. We should not allow ourselves to be saddled by the Jawara legacy. Yusupha, as Saul said, he was not singling you out in his first mail. I believed that from the onset. He does not know your family, and was not trying to disrespect your family. I know your family and frankly when I saw Saul's statement, you never crossed my mind. You do not have to take what Saul said personally and try to put yourself in a group you do not belong to. Guys, I hate to get into your business because I do not like it when people tell me what to do, but it sickens me more sitting by and watching this matter deteriorate to unwarranted levels. __________________________________________________________________________ Yusupha, thanks for your mails. From your postings and knowing a little bit about your background, I know that your are dedicated to the cause of relieving the suffering of some of our brothers and sisters back home. I also have no doubt whatsoever that Saul Khan is also totally committed to making sure that our people are freed from the tyranny Yaya visits on them. While I do not pretend to speak for Saul, here is my interpretation of what he wrote. He was making a general comment. As the cliché goes, to every general rule, there are exception. It is true that there were some people during the Jawara regime that embezzled public funds to among other things educate their kids. It is also true that there were others that worked (legitimately) to provide for their families the things they did. What is important is what each of us and people very close to us, know. If you know for instance that you and some of your friends benefited from clean and hard earned money, consider yourselves as part of the exception to the general comment Saul made. In that case, you should not be offended. If Saul or anyone else for that matter singles you out personally, and directly accuse you, then it would be legitimate for you to come out and vigorously defend yourself and your family. But I think it would be a mistake to try and defend all the inhabitants of Fajara. None of us have all the facts and therefore it is an impossible burden to carry on ones shoulders. I am jumping in here because I value the contributions both of you make to this forum and elsewhere. I also sensed what I regarded as a misunderstanding leading to characterizations none of us in the Opposition deserve. People that are totally committed to the Opposition do not deserve to be called corrupt Jawara people if they are not. It is also grossly unfair to equate Saul to Yaya and say that he is trying to bring a class warfare. So Yus, I would respectfully urge you to not take what Saul said as personally directed to you. Regard yourself as part of the exception, as I did, and move on. You simply do not know all the Fajara inhabitants that well to vouch for their integrity. When it is all said and done, and Yaya is removed from office, we can all come out and tell our stories if we want. What Yaya did, is very different from what Saul is talking about. It pains me to even mention Saul and that mental midget in the same sentence, in this manner. Saul is a good person. Yaya did not just make a general comment. The vermin personalized issues and victimized some people right before our eyes. Having said that, I also recognize that some of the people that suffered under Yaya deserve what they got. Some of the very people Yaya made destitute at some point, went back to work for him and assist him to become more corrupt than Jawara ever was. Modou Dibba from Coops is a classic example. Yaya and his cohorts went on the rampage with their class warfare. If you knew these people before, you will know that they are all losers with the biggest inferiority complex. Despite that Yaya was hoist from Kanilai and put up by a benevolent family in Banjul; despite that Yaya's more affluent contemporaries never showed him any signs of class superiority, this evil person still hated people he thought (in his little brain) were superior to him. It was and is still in his imagination. Why do you think Yaya goes through all these spending sprees, lying that aid coming to the country and meant for the Gambian people is in fact coming directly from him? The moron wants to impress people. He is suffering from acute inferiority complex. He will never be happy because he is looking at the wrong place for salvation. Most Gambians would have had more respect for this vermin had he adopted a kid from Kanilai like the Tambas put him up. People would have appreciated that more than the moron stealing power from the people and holding the whole country at ransom. They are all deviants. They have always been envious of people. There is nothing wrong in wanting the better things in life. But for Heaven's sake, work hard for it. If Yaya worked hard and was self-made like Saul Khan, you and I and then criticize people for being corrupt, I will not quarrel with that. But these parasites never put in a hard day's work. They use brute force to extort a living from the Gambian people. People like Yaya and Yankuba Touray are no different from robbers that hold people at gun point and ask them to withdraw money from a Teller machine. They are all hustlers. Yusupha, I hope that you take Saul's comments in good faith. I do not know what transpired between the two of you in the past, but I sincerely do not think that the message you quoted from Saul warrant enmity between the two of you. I do not think Saul has a grudge towards people that 'made' it in The Gambia. I can also assure you that I have no grudge against affluent people. Yes, I hate corruption and I also believe in accountability, but unlike Yaya, I am not motivated by envy and I will not partake in any scheme to seize people's property without due process of law. It was from that principled standpoint that in 1994 I denounced the commissions of inquiries that were being used to seize people's properties. Let me point out here that not a single family member of mine was brought before a commission. I recognized then and still recognize that even people like Abu Denton deserve their day in a real court before their properties are taken away from them. This is a matter of principle. Even if the man is going to be deprived of his properties, allow him to go to a real court and prove that almost twenty of the previous thirty years during the PPP regime, he (Denton) was living in a 'cabinet and salle' at Allen Street, presumably saving up for his family. Let me make it abundantly clear that I do not hold brief for Denton and others. But I believe in due process and I believe Saul also believes in same. The way we work hard for our living in the U.S. should say a lot about our differences with the frauds that are currently running our country. We paid our dues to the society. Society asked us to be disciplined, educated, wake up every morning and show up to work, live within our means etc. No one is perfect, but some of us did our darn best to do what is right. We cannot say that for the uncouth, uneducated, lazy and parasitic lot running our country. Let us not breed enmity where it does not exist. The real enemy is the lazy and envious parasite living off of taxpayers' money at the state house in Banjul. Knowing that if he comes to America he would not be able to lead a flamboyant live-style by flipping burger at McDonald's, the vermin took the only other avenue he knows how to navigate: He held the whole Gambian population at gun point and took us to the Teller machine (Central Bank). KB _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.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 and remember to write your full name and e-mail address. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------