Dear "ebou colley" Thank you for the offer to further discuss my views on some of the choice of words in your last post which I thought were inapropriate and inconsistent with the impression I have of you as someone who is sincere in their effort to expose this regime, and which I think is representative of your love and caring for Gambia and Gambians, each and everyone of them. I am also glad that despite all the venom that was spewed out, alledging that it was a sense of desire to destoy your character etc that was the motivating factor behind my comments, you have recognized that this was far from my intention. There is no sense in that, and I am still surprised at those allegations from individuals I always believed were capable of deciphering fact from fiction. While others may have called you a liar etc, there is no doubt that I have always recognized your accounts of what transpired inside the Jammeh camp as one of the most valuable accounts the Gambian people are privy to, and one that will serve as a most valuable source of information when the time comes for these thugs to pay the price for what they are doing to our country. I think it is clear that I have always encouraged you to continue with your story despite all the attempts that surface on the list from time to time to disrupt or discourage your relaying of these accounts. People have to recognize that even the most savvy of law enforcement in the World considers information from an insider in any organization as the most valuable when they are conducting any sort of investigation into their affairs. This is why law enforcement agencies bother to infiltrate organizations they are investigating by planting an agent in their midst, or they grant immunity to an insider in the organization because they can tell them many things they would otherwise never have found out. Therefore, i have always been surprised that this simple fact seems to be lost to many on the list that do indeed attack your character. I remember once supporting a statement made by Elhadj Mustafa Fye, to the effect that we must remember the valuable contribution that former insiders in the Jammeh camp can provide, and therefore, think about granting them immunity from future prosecution. This arose out of discussions when Ebou Jallow was active on the list. Well, needless to say, that idea was not very popular, and I think the situation was worsened by Ebou Jallow's refusal to tell his story, and infact, I think I rescended my support of the idea in his case because of his attitude at teh time. ebou, we are a society where we have always been taught that the truth is a valuable commodity, and I believe that if all of us practice this philosophy, then we will contribute greatly towards our betterment as a people. I also believe that honesty with each other is another most valuable commodity, and no matter in how high an esteem we hold somebody, we must always remember that the best thing we can do for each other is to point out what we see as wrongs committed by the other person. In recognition of this necessity for the truth, and for justice to prevail, I also hold the position that any allegations made by Gambians against anyone in this or the former regime must be investigated, and those accused must have the chance to defend themselves. This is no attempt to attack anyone personally as alleged in the case of Mr Chongan. it is simply a universal truth. At any rate, I hope that anyone who has followed my contributions to this list can at least decipher an inkling of sincerity in my convictions, and in the fact that i do not find it necessary to personally attack anyone senselessly. My personal views, my background and my religious conviction does not allow me to classify anyone as insignificant. From the position you have taken, I have always considered you very much an officer and a gentleman. To me, this also tells me that you do not dismiss anyone as insignificant, and thus, your choice of words were a surprise and a dissappointment and I thought my criticism of them would be recognized as such, and that perhaps, you will recognize that words do indeed carry a lot of weight. Also, in my recognition of you as an officer and a gentleman, i hope that you will not let some of the commentary on your character discourage you from telling the very important story of the atorcities of this regime. You owe that both to yourself and to the Gambian people. Again, thank you and we will correspond in private as offered. Jabou Joh In a message dated 7/22/2001 11:28:05 PM Central Daylight Time, [log in to unmask] writes: > It was rather unfortunate that my last piece was > perceived by some people, I sincerely respect, as > rather offensive to them. Certainly, I did not mean to > hurt anybody as such especially those I consider very > helpful to the struggle bring down the Yaya leadership > down. > Anyway I think the issues raised emanated more from > ordinary misunderstanding than otherwise. So for the > good ones like Joe Sambou and Sister Jabou Joh, I > would not mind resolving the matter privately, since > my time is very limited for anything else outside my > program of work. > I was however pleased that some other readers who > seemed to have understood the premise of my discourse > better dealt with some of the issues raised. > You see, it may be hard to explain but looking at > things from a realistic vantage, one would perhaps be > more understanding to my position. For months now I > have been trying alone to explain with all sincerity > the events, particularly the ordeal we went through as > soldiers during the 1994 coup. And despite the fact > that everything I stated so far was the truth and the > truth only, I have been insulted, doubted, called a > story teller, a soap opera producer, a bigot and all > what not by some readers who don't have a clue about > what transpired. Others have even classified me as a > mere loser enraged by the power and luxuries I lost in > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------