THE purge of the Jewish population in Europe by the Nazi party in the late 1930s to mid-1940s, during its reign, occurred step by step.

It was so slow that some wonder why anyone really stayed long enough to end up on that train ride to death.

It began with simple mandatory registration, this was then followed by restriction after restriction that ranged from forced deportation to forced relocation, depending on what country you were in.

In Poland they were herded into a specific, walled-controlled section of Warsaw known as the Jewish Ghetto.

Irrespective of where in Nazi-controlled Europe you were and what route the repression took, it ended with a train ride to a death camp.

If you were in Germany you could likely end up in one called Belsen, and in Poland you could end up in Auschwitz. Different names, different countries, same death camp agenda. Six million men, women and children.

Many asked later, how could it have happened? How could it have been avoided?

Well, hindsight is 20/20. Looking back, it’s clear what happened, but when you’re experiencing the process you don’t know the end result. Often, you can’t fathom what’s coming.

It happened to Europe. They had their crisis. They never knew better. They couldn’t imagine what was coming.

The journey of Jamaica becoming a version of Haiti is well en route. If you’re looking on social media videos of those two recent robberies in Portmore then you can imagine where Jamaica is on the train ride.

A few years ago, after the May Pen Chinese shop robbery, which was caught on video, I wrote an article entitled ‘The new death squads they have given us’.

I was criticised, even by friends who work at INDECOM, and likewise earned potent enemies.

I warned all of you that the beginning of the end of our country, as we know it, was in play and we had to take specific decisions that treat the gangs a particular way — that being as enemies of the State, or similar to how you would treat a threat from a foreign entity.

So I can hear the voices of those in the ivory tower even before they speak: “No Jamaican must be treated any different from any other, Human rights come before national security.”

So tell me, how worried are you now about the human rights of the men pumping bullets into those Beryllium security guards? Likely not so much. Why? Because the blood was being shed in places where you and your family frequent.

If this was taking place in some squatter settlement, this wouldn’t be that much of an issue to you.

So, back to the issue. I recommended some really harsh stuff. I was angry. I still am. I recommended internment, mandatory conscription into the armed forces and the disbandment of INDECOM.

A few years later, a few thousand more are dead and I still believe my recommendations would have ended the walk to where we are now.

However, I accept this would have been a scorched earth approach that likely would have resulted in economic collapse, based on international sanctions. But thousands of lives would have been saved and at least one security guard would still be alive.

Would it have been worth it? Maybe to some, but definitely to the family of the fallen.

You see, what is being demonstrated by the attacks you have seen recently is indicative of a group that no longer fears the armed forces of it’s country. In essence, Haiti!

Can we defeat this group? Yes, but we first have to accept that drastic changes have to occur.

I concede you can still keep INDECOM. It has changed somewhat over the last few years, but not in its present form.

There can be no propaganda branch of it. There can be no foreign staffing, influence, or funding from foreign entities. Most importantly, it must have the trust of Jamaica’s armed forces.

Let’s be frank. I really think highly of its investigative practices and its integrity.

That being said, it’s one thing when you are being regulated by an organisation that is looking to see if you made a mistake. It’s a totally different issue when you are being regulated by a body that is hoping you make a mistake.

That is the sentiment of the lion’s share of our armed services officers. If you doubt me, conduct a poll. This is because of how the organisation began and the action of its propaganda division.

Do you realise that if a police officer had come to the assistance of those security guards and shot a few of them it would have been counted and represented to the public as another fatal shooting by the armed forces, added in the same column as the officer who shoots his wife.

Think about that!

If we as a country are to fight this group of terrorists we call gang members then we must have the power to treat them differently from regular citizens, once they are so defined, very similar to how the Americans’ Homeland Security Act can legally alter the status of citizens once defined as terrorists. This allows for indefinite detention of the terrorists.

We may have to remove ourselves as a signature to the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms to allow for these laws to be passed.

That is sad, but it’s our reality.

There will be consequences to our actions. They will be severe; however, if we don’t we may lose the country as we know it. The gangs are getting stronger and our continued pretense that we can halt their growth with normal judicial practices is assisting that growth.

It’s rather like the Jewish citizen in the 1930s in Germany who could not fathom leaving his home to be a refugee, that because he could not fathom being gassed in a death chamber.

Most will consider my recommendations untenable. That’s because they can’t imagine their country being Haiti, their women raped at will, and their sons slaughtered.

Until this becomes their reality then, like the Jewish citizen who didn’t opt to run, the former reality becomes much more acceptable than the current.

In the short term, declare a national state of emergency and let those who continue the violence be the ones targeted.

Don’t interfere with business or the regular citizen. Make it be about the gang member.

Change the INDECOM model. Save us from becoming Haiti!

Feedback: drjasonamckay@gmail.com