Thank you Mr. Touray. This is a very revealing piece.


 -------------- Original message ----------------------
From: bailo jallow <[log in to unmask]>
> Brother,
>   Maximum respect to you. 
>   Bailo
> 
> Muhammed Lamin Touray <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>   Could anyone imagine a few years ago that Saddam Hussein would be executed 
> like a common criminal by his fellow citizens with American support? I wonder 
> what was going around the dictator’s head when he knew about his eminent 
> execution, when he was handed over to the Iraqis for execution, when the judge 
> read to him the death sentence and that it was time to carry it out, when he was 
> escorted by guards to the death chamber, and until he was finally death? Was he 
> thinking about the brutality he inflicted on Iraqis and other nationals, or was 
> he thinking about himself as a martyr, who fought for the Iraqi interest? 
> 
> The Iraqi government official video of Saddam’s execution show a fearful and 
> angry man facing death, while a low quality unauthorized video shows Saddam’s 
> executioners taunting him and Saddam’s usual defiance. I wonder what the Bush 
> Administration and the Iraqi government is trying to proof? The consensus is 
> that Saddam was a tyrant dictator who orchestrated countless atrocities against 
> the Iraqis and their neighbors but the manner in which he was treated by the 
> Americans and the Shia led Iraqi government also tantamount to inhumane 
> treatment. Saddam was treated, exactly the same way his regime used to treat 
> perceived or real enemies. Nothing has changed. The reason to overthrow Saddam’s 
> regime is to change the status quo from brutal dictatorship to democracy, rule 
> of law, human right. 
> 
> The lousiest trial of the century is the trial of Saddam Hussein for genocide in 
> Dujail after at attempted assassination on his life. The whole trail was marred 
> with drama. Some of defense council members were executed or barred from 
> attending hearings; the chief judge was fired for being lenient to Saddam and 
> replaced by a judge who clearly has scores to settle with Saddam. Majority of 
> prosecution witnesses unveil their testimony behind a vile of dark curtains, 
> limiting the defense’s ability to cross-examine the evidence presented. 
> 
> I wonder why the Iraqis hastily execute their former dictator before trying him 
> on more severe charges. Why was he executed on the day of Edi Adha? According to 
> media reports, the Kurds are not happy with the hasty execution; they wanted to 
> convict Saddam of crimes committed against their people with chemical weapons. I 
> agree. In order to promote nation unity, Saddam should be tried for all major 
> crimes his regime is accused of committing against Iraqis and their neighbors. 
> It would be like a “truth commission” to bring about a permanent closure to the 
> atrocities meted against them and final reconciliation and reconstruction. 
> Execution of Saddam at the very eve of Edi, which is the biggest Islamic feast 
> in the year for Sunni Muslims, is a similitude of Abraham sacrificing his son 
> Ismaila. It is a serious mockery to Sunni Muslims. It seems to me that the Shi 
> led government is indeed deepening the religious and sectarian divide in Iraqi. 
> They are dispensing their majority
> with dictatorial tendencies. 
> 
> The living standard of Iraqis has deteriorated very severely and security is 
> still a formidable problem. According to UN count, more than 650,000 Iraqis have 
> been killed since the start of the American led invasion and other estimates 
> have it that 3,700 Iraqis die each month due to the war efforts. Iraqi life is 
> shattered into pieces; their future is being destroyed. One of the richest 
> countries in the world is being destroyed at an unsustainable rate. All the 
> current hardships are caused by Saddam’s misrule. The country is literally 
> divided along ethnic and sectarian divides. Even the political parties and 
> support is based on these lines. This is very dangerous. 
> 
> I think this is a good lesson for all dictators to learn that the power they 
> dispense over the people is not theirs. It must be borne in mind that true and 
> lasting power belongs to the people. You can only deceive people for so long. 
> Dictators must understand that their actions lead to multifaceted consequences, 
> some of which are difficult to envisage but they are deadly and long-term. 
> 
> For example, several innocent Gambians are currently being detained by the 
> government in violation of the constitution, which Jammeh was, a few day ago, 
> sworn in to uphold. The detainees range from former government officials to lay 
> average people. Kanyiba Kanyi was arrested by the security forces at his home in 
> Bonto a few days before the last presidential election. Despite a court order to 
> release him unconditionally, Kanyiba is still detained at an undisclosed 
> location. No one has seen him since his arrest. 
> 
> Kanyiba is the breadwinner in his family and his absence is causing havoc for 
> the family both financially and psychologically. According to one account, 
> Kanyiba went to attend a meeting relating to his job at a village in Kombo east 
> where APRC political rally was taking place. When he (Kanyiba) past by the 
> meeting, one of the APRC official saw him and accused him of attempting to 
> disrupt the APRC meeting. Kanyiba did not even stop at the meeting; he 
> immediately proceeded to the official function that brought him there. Where in 
> this world would a citizen be infinitely detained for such a flimsy charge? 
> Thousand of Gambians are subjected to such unconstitutional treatment by Jammeh 
> and his boys. 
> 
> During the trial of the March 21, 2006 abortive coup, suspected croupiest 
> narrated severe torture being meted on them in the hands of their fellow 
> Gambians. So many Gambians have disappeared during Jammeh’s rule, so many are 
> killed in broad day light. The perpetuators of these heinous crimes are never 
> found or brought to justice. If Jammeh’s intelligence can foil almost a dozen 
> coup attempts, why the same intelligence cannot find the murderers killing our 
> brightest? 
> 
> Is it not true that Saddam was doing a similar thing for more than two decades? 
> Saddam used to win the ballot by 99 percent; similarly, Jammeh won the last 
> presidential ballot with a bigger margin. Now we know that Saddam’s popularity 
> was imposed on the people without alternative. Is this not the same in the 
> Gambia today? Jammeh used the public resources to exert his power on the people 
> so much, so that to be seen as opposing him is equivalent to excruciating pain 
> at Mile 2 and NIA headquarters. According to media reports, Saddam is 
> responsible for killing more that one million people during his era. On the 
> other hand, since 1994 when Jammeh came to power by force, several people, 
> including military civilian and students were killed, detained, disappeared; 
> independent media houses are harassed, burnt down, closed down, journalists 
> killed and imprisoned in violation of the law. These people have family and 
> friends who love them and would never forgive your government’s
> inability to protect their love one’s life. This is why thousands of Iraqis 
> applied for the position of Saddam’s executioner. Most of them said their 
> families members were killed or tortured by the Saddam’s regime. I hope Jammeh 
> understand that his recent electoral victory cannot be taken to represent 
> reality on the ground. His popularity is imposed on the people through the 
> Governors, chiefs, Secretary of States, the media, and other governmental 
> machinery. We have to realize that Jawara was very popular just before his 
> government was overthrown by Jammeh. The popularity evaporated into space within 
> days of the coup. Dictators always fail to understand that their power 
> originates from the people and they can take it back any time they want it. As 
> Bob Marley says, “You can fool some people some time but you cannot fool all the 
> people all the time.” Any time people realize themselves and their duties and 
> rights in a society, they tend to revolt against injustice inflicted
> on them. This means that no matter how long it would take, one day, Gambian 
> people would revolt against your human right violations and take you to task.
> 
> The responsibility of President is an enormous challenge and a wonder 
> opportunity to serve the people. According to Plato in the Republic, only 
> philosophers, who care deeply about truth, are imbued with great integrity, and 
> overriding concern about the welfare of the public, are qualified to be leaders. 
> I think this is abundantly true. It implies that good leaders work towards the 
> welfare of his her people and bad leaders orchestrate atrocities against their 
> people and work towards their self-centered desires. 
> 
> Jammeh’s regime is credited with many infrastructure developments projects but 
> this is not matched with required technical resources to operate them 
> efficiently and effectively. When you go around the country, you would see, many 
> white elephants projects or semi white elephant projects which amounts to 
> wastage of precious resources. The life of an average Gambian has not improved 
> during the past twelve years; instead, it has plunged to almost unbearable 
> levels. 
> 
> I wonder what Jammeh is gaining by refusing to uphold the constitution and the 
> laws of the Gambia? I think it would even be easier to uphold the constitution 
> than to violate it as president of a republic. What prevent Jammeh from tapping 
> the Gambian intellectuals into national development? Why Jammeh cannot allow 
> technical professional to design, implement and evaluate government programs and 
> projects to ensure economic viability and feasibility? Why Jammeh cannot make 
> sure that all rights accorded to us by the constitution are protected? Are we 
> free from arbitral detention, disappearance, killings? Does being president make 
> anyone more important than the other citizens? No. Being president is like being 
> employee of the state. Good employees dispense their service with utmost 
> truthfulness and desire to improve the living standard of citizens or employers; 
> bad employees dishonestly render their service. 
> 
> Is it not a shame that we cannot judicious utilize our precious resources to 
> translate them into prosperity for all? I think Gambians are equal to everyone 
> else; therefore, if others are able to maximize prosperity for their people, 
> Gambians are capable of the same thing or even more. Good leadership is the key 
> ingredient to the soup of prosperity. Under good leadership, the opposition 
> would be seen as alternative governments and are guanteed all the rights 
> accorded to them by the constitution. The media is free to operate independently 
> to provide relevant information to the citizen so that the people would evaluate 
> the programs and projects. A vibrant civil society is a prerequisite for 
> economic, political, and social development of any society.
> 
> Muhammed Lamin Touray
> 
> 
> 
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