I agree with the points you raised as it relates to the state of affairs back home. I believe all of the self assessment, strategy proposals and some sense of resignation within the opponents of Yahya Jammeh is all premised on relying on democracy as the sole instrument of change. The fatal flaw in this approach is the supposition that Yahya is a legitimate politician who is remotely interested in the genuine contest of ideas within the confines of participatory democracy. He is not. His declared plan is to collapse every available instrument of democracy at every level of our small society and fully exploit that age old Gambian penchant for expediency to perpetuate himself. By design, he will thoroughly purge the main instrument of power which is the security services of any and all people he thinks might at some point pose a hindrance to his subjugation of the Gambian people in the land of their ancestors. Gambia is already a banana republic in that laws and separation of powers exists only on paper. Yahya just wants to make sure it remains his banana republic. That is why he is trying to remove the few remaining non ethnic Jolas from security services and replace them with people he can totally count on to implement his designs of tyranny and enslavement of those that oppose him. Efforts towards bringing change within the political process are certainly laudable and I have and will continue to support it. By the same token it is my view that partisan politics will only be a palliative measure that is unlikely to succeed not for the lack effort on the part politicians or their supporters, or because of the quality of the politicians. Neither would it be because the people don't understand the grave circumstances they face. It would fail because Yahya Jammeh is not interested and would not countenance a contest that is legal, free and fair. All of our efforts would only serve to postpone the inevitable. As a nation and as a people we will have to decide if we want to relinquish our only country to a guy who has spent the better of the last decade, murdering, torturing, impoverishing the Gambian people while stealing or plainly reallocating public funds to himself and his thugs and cronies. We can achieve this by aiding and abetting a systematic purge in the security services, the civil service, the village and community of all people perceive to be opponents; listening to socall religious and community leaders who are closer to charlatans and are as vile and corrupt as the murderous regime who e bribe them with the very blood money plundered from the suffering people. These immoral self proclaimed religious and community leaders take these monies that are expressly forbidden by the Quran and use it in some instances on mosque projects. They are willing to set aside religious injunctions to pursue selfish agendas. They refuse to condemn wanton murders and instead cuddle and seek favors and recognition from people whose activities are manifestly Satanic.If you ever wonder what has happened to piety, virtue and integrity, look no further than under the flowing gowns of these socalled elders. Conversely we can view our struggle as an existential one in which the very life of the only nation we have on this globe is hanging in the balance. It is absolutely fanciful to assume that a brutal tyrant who has murdered innocent people would submit to a free and fair process that may usher in a peaceful transition. Deployment of antiaircraft guns, arming thugs are all clear indications of a man bent on imposing himself. He is also counting on his opponents to cower down in the believe that most Gambians would quickly trade their liberties for personal security. However , history is replete with determined people who delivered their people from tyranny. I predict that Gambia will not be an exception. <<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>> To view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] <<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>