Facuru, It is good to hear from you and even more refreshing to add your voice to this rather interesting debate here in The Gambia. Before i go to the substance of your peice, let me register my disappointment with the fact that a lot of people on this forum may still be wandering as to what you are replying to since you failed to forward my article in question in the Independent of monday to the G-L. All the same i will start by reacting to your this point: "before you wage an intellectual war on anybody, make sure you cultivate the mettle to accomodate scathing truth about yourself or your beloved Gamnia." Indeed Facuru if you know me very well then you should not have any problems realising that i always like to be challenged...therefore to come here potraying me as intolerent to opposing views or painfully sensitive to critism is not true. All what i was doing was to take Charles Sam to task on what he said about the Gambia and Gambians. To say that the people of The Gambia are not truthful, are not Godly, are not hardworking, are not petriotic is not only misleading but a big insult to all what we stand for as a people. What is wrong in setting the record straight? Charles Sam, a guest of the current government, has been writing persistent articles about the Gambia, her people and critics and i have never replied to any one of them. I have been a keen reader of almost all his articles and therefore chellenging him on what he said this time around about the country is no crime. To imply that my challenge to Sam will not help the "Kaira Banku" becuase only half truth will be known is a deleberate misunderstanding of where am coming from. Facuru you know very well that some of us have stood by the truth, we're still standing by the truth and we will continue to stand by the truth. But this does not mean that we have to idly sit by and see international presitge seekers to come here rewrite our history for us in a dishonest way. The Gambia is full of hardworking sons and daughters who will not weaver this responsibility to anyone. Your other reaction to the Independent view is even more intersting and baffling. Since am a party to this debate i have to take issues with you on this phrase of yours. You wrote "how disappointed he must be that not the politicians but the press itself is not tolerant to free speech." Where is the intolerance here. All what is being said is to make the records straight. Read the independent view once again and you will realise that all what the paper was saying has been this: in today's Gambia it is right for those foriegners who come here and trumpet the good side of the government to meddle in our local politics but at the same time wrong and a big sin for that matter for foriegners who pin point government weaknesses. Most of these unfortunate foriegners are either arrested or deported. How many foriegn journalists have been deported to their countries(for some to their war torn countries) just because they were working for the independent media? Are you letting me that you've forgotten the controversial deportation of Bharat Joshi--the then deputy British High Commissioner to the Gambia just because he attended an opposition press conference? So why allow Charles Sam a Ghanian by birth, to disparage Gambians in such a manner? Cgarles Sam can still write anything about The Gambia but we also reserve the right to challenge him on his statements. I still stand by my piece in the independent of monday that Sam's take on Gambians was a masqueraded article ridiculing the people of the Gambia who were infact treated with contempt in the article. That is my position,period!! --- Facuru Sillah <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Hi Ebrima Sillah Before you wage an intellectual war on anybody, make > sure you cultivate the mettle to accommodate > scathing > truths about yourself or your beloved > GAMBIA.Patriotism should not be limited to praise > singing of the Smiling Coast,Smiling People.If you > will only be positive, you must be telling > half-tories > and half-truths which will not help GAMBIA KAIRA > BANKU > > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Find a job, post your resume. > http://careers.yahoo.com > > <<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>> > > 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] > > <<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>> __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? 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