Brother Modou Sidibeh, I meant to respond to your comments long ago, but time did not allow me. You wrote: quote "Well Sis, my point of departure is simply that the threats themselves were the effects of President Jammeh's knowledge of the purported forgeries. So again, whatever means he finds to make good on his threats will have been indirectly produced by the decision by the Senegalese authorities to make him privy to the contents of documents of dubious origin and authenticity. Consequently, even now, when NADD should have been strategising for the campaign, consolidating it positions in different constituencies, selecting its flag bearer, the little resources they have in terms of money and time, are going to be channeled into securing the unconditional release of its leaders." unquote I agree it is unfortunate that NADD is going to spend resources they clearly do not even have to defend the three arrested officials, but let us not lay the blame on Senegal, that is far too easy and self medicating. Instead, let us realize that we cannot look to other nations to put Gambia's interest first and their's second. It is both unrealistic as well as symptomatic of our lack of understanding of how the World really works. The NADD leadership cannot also hide behind this incident as the reason they have not named a flag bearer. That should have been done long ago if the truth be told. We have to be willing to do a retrospect and be willing to tell the truth and let the chips fall where they may because in that lies the greater good for all and unless we realize this, we are doomed to always repeat the past. We had 30 years of the Jawara regime with their corruption and nepotism but today, because we have Yaya Jammeh, some of those same people from that corrupt government have re-invented themselves and are presenting themselves as part of the solution and we happily accept that without question. Perhaps tomorrow, if another regime should present itself because those in office have become power hungry as those in power in Africa are wont to do, and start to dig their heels in and kill people to stay in power, some of the Jammeh gang we simply slapped on the wrist and let go will re-emerge and present themselves among a new band of saviours and some of us will be singing their praises. Brother Modou, the most important point here is that there still needs to be clarification as to whether these "documents of dubious origin" are the work of some over zealous supporter of NADD,( which I doubt because NADD needs that kind of support like they need a hole in the head, and anyone who did this knew what the results would be) or if this was a situation concocted by Jammeh to get the results he wanted which is the most likely scenario. The jury is still out on whether this was a plot and who the players were and which issue by the way I do not think should just be set aside and just taken lightly as some have suggested. Now, are we to believe that what was expected of the Senegalese was that they just sit on the information in order to protect Gambian politicians and assume that their national security does not come into play in the matter? Or that they would undertake to do the job of investigating this matter for The Gambia? Or perhaps they would just jump for joy upon receiving such documents and then proceed to trust and secretly proceed to cooperate with the people who sent it to them? Any of these would be grossly simplistic conclusions that no country whose leadership is worth their sale would adopt. . What we must understand is that nations act on self interest and to ensure their national security. Did we really expect that Senegal would just sit on such information and not confront the Jammeh regime with it, whether directly or through the U.N, ECOWAS or the AU? Even the argument that they should have investigated the matter more thoroughly before acting is weakened by the fact that one cannot investigate a crime without going to the source, the crime scene so to say and this should definitely have been an urgent matter for the Senegalese to attend to if they cared about their own national welfare. Further more, there is no way that the Gambia government would not have been privy to this information ( if they did not invent it) even if Senegal went through these organizations listed above to bring this matter to light, and bring it to light they should have, so it can be investigated and refuted by the Gambia government. Somewhere down the line, Gambia would have had to be informed of it if they really did not know and as for Senegal not to have reacted to this in order to safeguard our politicians or national interest before their's is unrealistic. What is important to note is that Senegal, like any other nation in this situation, has the obligation to ensure their national security and therefore, they did exactly what any country who cares about their own welfare would have done in this case, give first priority to the welfare of their own government and state as opposed to just sit on this information in order to protect even opposition politicians in The Gambia. Despite what some of us may assume, or no matter what empty rhetoric is spewed out about the international community coming to our aid or issuing decrees against dictators and tyrant, no country in the World puts the interest of another country before their's, especially when it comes to matters of national security and economic interest and they only act if this interest is negatively impacted by the actions of that country, and in some cases, such actions are sometimes clothed in a semblance of coming to the rescue of another nation or it's people, but that is never really the entire story. The proof of this is that there have been and there continues to be many tyrants in the World with whom countries that sell themselves as the bastions of democracy are working hand in hand because such cooperation serves either their political or economic interest while untold atrocities are being committed against the people in those countries even as this cooperation is taking place. For example, the United States has now branded Saddam a tyrant, but he was once a tyrant they supported with the tools he used to commit some of the crimes he is now being vilified for. Why? At the time he was the ally of the United States in their efforts to fight Iran and what made the U.S act now is that he stood in their way to get the oil lying under Iraqi soil, and the acquisition of which they deem vital to their national interest and security. So suddenly, the human rights violations on his people are remembered and used as the reason for invading them and turning their lives into a living hell. Before that, the U.S was well aware of all the atrocities Saddam was heaping on his people just like they are well aware of everything that is happening all over the World. The country reports the CIA puts together from detailed information they gather every year on every country in the World is far more comprehensive than any information anyone can give them. Likewise, the British, French, Germans, Russians, Chinese etc have their own intelligence gathering apparatus that does the same thing, and the number one reason these countries have this machinery is to protect their national security and interest first and foremost, and not because they want to police the World so they can go to the rescue of the people whenever some despotic tyrant emerges somewher e. So in this case, the United States used the same methods that governments can utilize and hide behind to attain their goals and which unfortunately for us, our tyrants have also become aware of, they went through the motions of going through the U.N which in truth they control, to give a semblance of exhausting all diplomatic means before they let the bombs fall on the same people they say they are bringing democracy to while Saddam escaped the mayhem. He is now on display complete with a show-case trial and charges that are carefully crafted to avoid any risk of exposure of any information regarding where he got the gas that he used to kill the Kurds for example. A quick conviction and execution will follow no doubt because dead men don't talk and the U.S can then get on with the business of setting up a new puppet regime that will allow them to accomplish their real reason for going to war in Iraq, which is to secure control of the oil in that country for American oil companies. So the good guys going out to save the people from oppression is never the reason. Anyone with even a rudimentary knowledge of International law and diplomacy is well aware that the United States or any other western power to whom we are asked to look to as saviours from the tyrants that ravage our countries only get involved in the affairs of another country or act to supposedly protect them if the activities of that country impacts or has the potential to impact their national security or economic well being, no exceptions. Unfortunately, the tyrants and their helpers also come to learn how to play this game very well, so they can invent lies and traps and then use internationally accepted methods and code words to give a semblance of legitimacy and get away with all kinds of illegal acts.. These tyrants also know that they can hide under the banner of National Sovereignty which ensures that no other country's leader can issue any decrees, write any letters or pick up the phone and order the leader of another country to do anything because that would be interfering in the internal affairs of that country. These so called decrees and acts of intervention when done, are clothed in carefully crafted excuses and unfortunately, The Gambia does not hold any precious deposits or have a large population of ex-colonialists in the country whose private property holdings, albeit illegally acquired, are in danger of being taken from them such as in the case of the Ex-Rhodesians in Zimbabwe. The U.S and other western nations who present themselves as the champions of freedom and democracy all have embassies in The Gambia and all of them have been right there on every occasion that the Jammeh regime has openly engaged in acts against the people that require no interpretation to label them what they really are, and which acts are completely unjustifiable under any democratic principle, and yet, not one of them has interfered in any form or manner all these years, we are still crying to the international community and some are blowing smoke screens at us to make us believe that the so-called international community can just march in and rescue us. Unless we want to apply to be a protectorate or revert to being a colony of another country or to invite them to invade us, there is no government that can intervene on our behalf. With enough attention to our cause, boycotts or sanctions may be possible, but what market share or what precious commodity does The Gambia hold to make that a credible threat and sanctions hurt no one but our people. Sanctions and decrees are issued in the case of countries like Zimbabwe because of the White Minority that is impacted by Mugabe's decisions or actions and not because anyone cares about the plight of the indigenous people in Zimbabwe. In the case of Sierra Leone, the U.S government's concern that terrorist groups will use the diamond trade to launder funds they cannot pass through the Federal Reserve banking system ( which by the way is not a U.S government entity, but a private enterprise set us and controlled by monied families in Europe and United states years ago, families like the Rotschilds, Morgans, Rockerfellers etc) and in the case of Liberia, some U.S business enterprises are stake holders in that economy. There was no worse atrocity than apartheid and how many years did that evil system survive with the money flowing from South Africa's wealth into the pockets of major financial stake holders all over the World and the Africans were being murdered and treated like slaves all the while? Sanctions and the ANC resorting to giving the Boers an eye for an eye is the only reason that evil system came to an end and not because the international community rode to our rescue there. You also wrote: "Yes, it is unfortunate that we should call Senegal a foreign country, despite our ethnic affinity with its people. But I have no doubt that the regimes in both countries will be pursuing their national interests, or rather the interests of the power elite, even if that should be detrimental to the wishes and hopes of large sections of their populations. Senegal, has shown time and again that it has little regard for the security of ordinary Gambians: The second most violent student demonstration in Gambian history was prompted by the severe beating of Gambian villagers by armed Senegalese soldiers in the early seventies. The soldiers crossed the border and attacked villagers in the North bank. Days after the tragic killing of Eku Mahoney in October 1980 at the police depot, Senegalese air force personnel landed at Yundum international airport and forced its closure. (And you know, I was a trainee communications officer at the airport, and I was on duty, and a certain colonel Ngom, a graduate from the university of Dakar, said to the air traffic controller and myself that he could not explain the reasons behind the order; that he was simply following them). Others had embarked and occupied MacCarthy Square in Banjul. It was nothing short of an invasion. President Jawara went on the air and lied that their presence was on account of a joint military exercise! Then came the Kukoi rebellion, and perhaps more than a thousand Gambians were killed by Senegalese soldiers; and then the Confederation and its lopsided arrangements in favour of Senegal.. Senegal will pursue its strategic objectives irrespective of who is Gambian president. So while Jammeh-bashing is in vogue, it is perhaps all the more necessary to cast a glance across the the border once in a while." We must be honest in admitting that in 1981, the Senegalese army did not just decide one fine morning to invade Gambia in pursuit of some national agenda. They were invited by Jawara whose government was in the throes of being overthrown, and they came in to resolve the situation and regain control of his government for him. I think we can all agree that in such a situation, an air communications tower at the airport such as the one where you brother Momodou were a trainee is one of the most strategic points in a situation of a coup d'etats. Therefore, a Senegalese soldier commanding control of such a place was to be expected I would say unless the assumption is that the soldiers should have come in and work with the rebels instead of to honour the security pact between the two countries and work to contain the attempted coup which by the way they did. The behaviour of the Senegalese soldiers in such an instance should have been outlined within the agreement between the two governments and there should have been allowances made to address any improper behaviour if such occurred while the Senegalese were in The Gambia to quell this uprising, and The Jawara government should have investigated and addressed those issues after the incident if they cared about Gambians and their welfare as well as the sovereignty of the country under such a pact, but I expect they were just happy to get their kingdom and power back, so we really cannot just lay the blame on the Senegalese. Also, during the attempted coup of 1981, all of the people who died were not killed by Senegalese soldiers. Did the coup makers not open prisons and free and arm prisoners? In such a situation, who knows how many were killed by these culprits? Did the police not arrest masses of people some of whom they locked up in places that lacked proper ventilation resulting in the deaths of many, including a near and dear friend of mine? In addition, some of the coup makers were armed with machine guns and went into neighbourhoods looking for certain individuals who they considered helpers of the Jawara regime. I know this for a fact because one of these people is an individual who grew up in the same neighbourhood with me and the person he was looking for was none other than my own grandmother who was a Yai Compin for the Jawara regime, a position that pitted her against many a member of my own family to no avail but that is another story. This individual in the company of two other young men armed with machine guns went to my grandmother's house three times asking a young female cousin of mine in the house for her whereabouts. My grandmother and the likes of her are pawns for the regimes that use them and to me looking to shoot such people is a misguided effort. They are victims who are in the lower echelons of the food chain in these power hungry regimes who will use anyone, and the sad thing is they do not realize it. They need to be educated, not shot, but that is only my opinion and not just because it was my grandmother.My mother by the way was being hidden by my own mother because that was her mother, and if that individual had known that, he may have gone to my family compound near by and which was full of all kinds of people including families who were our tenants and if they opened fire in such a situation or attempted to, who knows how many people would have died and maybe their deaths would have also been attributed to the Senegalese and has the Jawara regime ever set up any commission of enquiry to find out who killed whom and to address any possible violations of the military pact they had with Senegal? I bet the Senegalese would have set up such a commission to address and resolve such an issue for there people if they were on the receiving end of this. If Gambia and the rest of Africa wants to take their place among the community of nations and earn respect, we must first have both leaders and citizenry whose main objectives are to protect the interest and security of their country and people instead of adopting a course that is geared to the protection of just their own personal quest for power and then blaming others when they act to protect their own national interest. We must also begin to see the World realistically so as to be able to asses our place in it and to be able to know how to proceed effectively to secure our own national interests and that of our people but it has to start with genuine conviction to want for ourselves what we want for everyone else or it will never work. We have to do away with what I call Africa's lost little boy syndrome where the combination of power hungry leaders and an ever present line up of potential successors ready to follow in their footsteps leaves our people crying out to the World to come save us. These leeches keep alive a culture that is along the lines of the old adage that in the land of the paupers, it is easy to be king. They keep alive a culture that says that political office is a private enterprise for the purpose of enriching oneself and to attain it, one must avoid telling the truth by all means, especially when that truth may jeopadize our chances of some personal gain or even political office God forbid. And when we succeed in gaining that political office, we then contribute our quota by just posturing in our positions and letting the country rot and the people suffer, keeping people ignorant and poor so that the pre-occupation of daily survival by the masses of our people ensures that no one has time or the courage to think about their rights while the real business at hand for those in power is the concentrate of one's efforts towards the sustenance of the mafia-like organization in place to ensure personal gain and there is never a shortage of cronies lining up to get a piece of the action. These would be successors have also learned to play the game well after years of observance of those in power and they know all the right code words and rules of the game and how to play it. The people who had colonized Africa and carved her up into all the pieces we are comprised of today are now forming unions like the European Union and in the Americas, efforts are ongoing to forge trade and other treaties to foster economic and political well being, and in contract, it is only in Africa that we have people fighting to hold onto their own piece of fifedom even when it not economically viable, because they see any attempt at unity as something that may prevent them from holding the ever important post of president, or secretary of state which our people are ready to kill for. It is this same thing that prevents us from even genuinely pooling our efforts together for the greater good of all because we always undertake these efforts with one eye on the effort and another on the lookout for any possibility that we can make it on our own thereby ensuring more personal gain as opposed to something for the greater good of all. What a sad state of affairs for our people. There is clearly a need to create opportunities for people to make their mark in life through other avenues. I am sorry I have rambled on and on and included all manner of things that I have had on my chest and needed to vent. Hope you are having a good Sunday Sister Jabou Joh In a message dated 12/1/2005 10:34:49 A.M. Central Standard Time, [log in to unmask] writes: Sister Jabou wrote: "...Jammeh would have found other means of making good on his threats against these men. He made the promise himself for all Gambians to hear and record. He stood before Gambians and dared to say that some people will not witness the 2006 elections". Well Sis, my point of departure is simply that the threats themselves were the effects of President Jammeh's knowledge of the purported forgeries. So again, whatever means he finds to make good on his threats will have been indirectly produced by the decision by the Senegalese authorities to make him privy to the contents of documents of dubious origin and authenticity. Consequently, even now, when NADD should have been strategising for the campaign, consolidating it positions in different constituencies, selecting its flag bearer, the little resources they have in terms of money and time, are going to be channeled into securing the unconditional release of its leaders. Yes, it is unfortunate that we should call Senegal a foreign country, despite our ethnic affinity with its people. But I have no doubt that the regimes in both countries will be pursuing their national interests, or rather the interests of the power elite, even if that should be detrimental to the wishes and hopes of large sections of their populations. Senegal, has shown time and again that it has little regard for the security of ordinary Gambians: The second most violent student demonstration in Gambian history was prompted by the severe beating of Gambian villagers by armed Senegalese soldiers in the early seventies. The soldiers crossed the border and attacked villagers in the North bank. Days after the tragic killing of Eku Mahoney in October 1980 at the police depot, Senegalese air force personnel landed at Yundum international airport and forced its closure. (And you know, I was a trainee communications officer at the airport, and I was on duty, and a certain colonel Ngom, a graduate from the university of Dakar, said to the air traffic controller and myself that he could not explain the reasons behind the order; that he was simply following them). Others had embarked and occupied MacCarthy Square in Banjul. It was nothing short of an invasion. President Jawara went on the air and lied that their presence was on account of a joint military exercise! Then came the Kukoi rebellion, and perhaps more than a thousand Gambians were killed by Senegalese soldiers; and then the Confederation and its lopsided arrangements in favour of Senegal.. Senegal will pursue its strategic objectives irrespective of who is Gambian president. So while Jammeh-bashing is in vogue, it is perhaps all the more necessary to cast a glance across the the border once in a while. Many thanks, Momodou いいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいい To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?S1=gambia-l To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] いいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいい いいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいい To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?S1=gambia-l To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] いいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいい