Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi minister of propaganda, is purported to have said, “If you say a lie often enough, it becomes the truth.” I say purported because I have never actually seen proof that he said it. But there’s one thing for certain, it certainly would align with his general conduct as a Nazi minister during his reign.

Propaganda and its many uses did not die with Joseph Goebbels. It is a much-used tool of political parties all over the world, particularly when they are in Opposition. Why propaganda works is that it does not take place in an environment that allows for debate. One member of an idiocracy says something on a particular subject in an environment where only they are speaking. Then, when people start to attack the credibility of what they are saying, they just don’t answer.

As a man who loves a good debate, I have found particularly frustrating the use of propaganda by the Independent Commission of Inquiry (Indecom), Jamaicans for Justice, and a few other organisations that, based on their pronouncements, appear to give more weight to criminal rights.

This is because they hold these press conferences where the boss doesn’t speak, but the foreigners do. They make unsubstantiated allegations and give information in a vacuum and then descend into total silence when the detractors oppose what they are saying. Even more frustrating, they refuse to answer questions that emanate from their own press conference.

Perfect examples are: Who is paying the foreigners? How much are they earning? What are the deliverables? Is their pay more than the people who are senior them? And the list goes on.

Who thought that we could live in a Jamaica where inquiries about public servants’ salaries are met with silence? Not to mention questions about them accepting money or resources from critics of the Jamaica armed forces, questions that are also met with silence.

So human rights organisations, to include Independent Commission of Investigations (Indecom), have been flying the flag that the Jamaica armed forces are involved in extrajudicial killings when guns are found. I have countered this garbage with the point that the Gun Court is bursting at the seams because of the number of Jamaican killers who are charged for gun offences, and I have never seen even one ‘duppy’ on trial at the Gun Court.

Most recently, the most wanted man in Jamaica since the 80s, the notorious “Blood Stain”, was captured by the St Catherine South Special Ops unit and brought in alive. He was brought in alive because he chose not to engage the police in a shoot-out. This is all the police high command has been asking for; simply for gunmen to surrender.

Can you imagine what a difficult task this is when the propaganda machinery of the human rights organisations is telling Jamaica, and, by extension, the gunmen that they will be murdered by the police if they surrender?

This they state with no evidence being presented by them. They call for body cameras, we present pictures that show what they look like on the officers’ chest, and, by extension, demonstrate how this makes us a target. More silence. They just wait a few more weeks and call for them again, with no response to the photo we have presented or the increased risk the body cams create for the police.

If police lives don’t matter, then say so!

The Firearms (Prohibition, Restriction and Regulation) Act, 2022 has contributed greatly to the peace we are currently experiencing. I am grateful for it. However, when gunmen know it’s 15 years plus that they are looking at they fight to the death. And I accept this. I accept the risk associated with fighting the well-armed and desperate.

What I don’t accept is that good people should be further terrifying them by the message that they will be murdered if they surrender. This is pushing them to fire, and the results are showing up in the statistics. That lot which is terrifying them with that message is playing its part to encourage their violent response.

Now, let’s go back to Blood Stain. He came in alive, captured by a team that you have vilified. You don’t think this was worthy of a comment by your public relations team? I bet if there were voices saying otherwise you would have been out there on your horn. This is the type of behaviour that questions your “independent” status.

This is why police officers fear being investigated by you. The public relations section of your organisation is doing a disservice to the investigative arm, which is, in fact, an extremely effective investigative unit.

If we are to win this war, we all need to appear to be on the same side. We need to appear to disapprove of their activities, fearful of their weaponry, but determined to see their demise.

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