Dear Reader,

The events of the last few weeks ring ominously for our beloved country. It is not only that the security and social fabric of the country are unravelling at an alarming rate, but the overarching umbrella of governance is crumbling as well.

The evidence is clear. Serious crime, especially murders, gang violence and wholescale terrorist assaults on communities have become permanent features of daily life. The almost total breakdown of the rule of law, manifested most glaringly on the country’s streets, has become such a norm that it is a topic no longer worthy of national discussion. Instead, what I have noticed is that people who appear to be law-abiding citizens are joining the ranks of the lawless. The country is in anarchy, but what is even worse is that the institution which is supposed to be providing the solutions, namely our government, has itself become a part of the problem.

Central to the issue of the deepening failure of Jamaican politics and politicians is the current standoff between the Golding administration and the US Government. It is not only that the opinions and conclusions formed by the State Department cast an ugly light on corruption in Jamaican politics, it has typecast an image of Jamaican society that, if not reversed quickly, may place us in a “clique” that has few escape routes and even fewer friends and allies in the West.

Of course, the question that must be asked is whether or not our government has officially embarked on realpolitik or cold war politics? Is Jamaica at a point where we are being called upon to decide who are our friends and who are our enemies, and what is the role and responsibility of the citizens of Jamaica in all of this? Is the Golding administration undertaking a de facto referendum for us to choose between Uncle Sam or our son of the soil, Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke?

As a citizen of Jamaica, I need to know if I have been involuntarily drafted for war with the United States. As a full and active supporter of the overthrow of the apartheid regime in South Africa, and an admirer of liberation struggles wherever they have taken place, I have no problem taking on a fight with the imperial powers. The problem I have, however, is that if I am called upon to fight a war, it must be for a righteous cause, and the matter of the extradition of Christopher Coke doesn’t fit the bill.

What is extremely disturbing about this public boxing match between our country and the US is the fact that we have allowed the US to expose our underwear most shamefully. What is even more distressing is that all of us who live here have been largely silent about the state of corruption and the links between political parties and criminal elements. We did nothing to clean up our own house and as a result we have now left ourselves naked, to be scolded and ridiculed before the entire world.

The US Government’s International Narcotics Control Strategy Report 2010 has painted a damning picture of Jamaica. Addressing the extradition standoff specifically, the report stated that “Jamaica’s processing of the extradition request has been subjected to unprecedented delays, unexplained disclosure of law-enforcement information to the press, and unfounded allegations questioning US compliance with the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty and Jamaican law”. The report claimed that “while cooperation between the Government of Jamaica and United States law-enforcement agencies remained strong, delays in proceeding with the significant extradition request for a major alleged narcotics and firearms trafficker who is reported to have ties to the ruling Jamaica Labour Party, and subsequent delays in other extradition requests, have called into question Kingston’s commitment to law-enforcement cooperation with the US”.

The wider observations and conclusions in the report are equally embarrassing for the country. Labelling Jamaica as the Caribbean’s largest supplier of marijuana to the United States as well as a trans-shipment point for cocaine entering South America, the US government criticised the Golding administration’s handling of crime and corruption. This newspaper’s story of March 2, “Dudus’ backlash” quoted the US’s report which stated that “the government of Jamaica’s ambitious anti-corruption and anti-crime legislative agendas announced in 2007 remain stalled in Parliament. Five anti-crime proposals under consideration as part of an extensive agenda to address the widespread crime challenges have yet to be debated in Parliament”. It also noted that “for the first time, corruption ranked first to crime and violence as the area of greatest concerns for Jamaicans. It remains the major barrier to improving counter-narcotics efforts”. The report added that Jamaica’s delay in processing the extradition request for Coke “highlights the potential depth of corruption in the government”.

So the Golding administration has pulled us all into a fight with America over the extradition of someone described as an alleged narcotics and gun trafficker and is essentially asking the people of Jamaica to choose. So who will it be: Jamaica, Uncle Sam or our own son of the soil?

With love,

bab2609@yahoo.com