Crime, Corruption, Stupidity, now Terrorism

Jun 03, 2007

Trinidad and Tobago and the Caribbean have once again hit the international headlines for all the wrong reasons. We have come to be known as a crime ridden society where every major country has had to warn its citizens about travelling to T&T. The global corruption index shows that every year we are perceived to be more corrupt. The Prime Minister's friends hail his stupidity internationally and now Trinidad and Tobago has the international image of being a harbourer of terrorists.

On the face of the reports of possible attacks on JFK Airport in the USA (a position that must be taken with a spoon of salt given the history of terror reports coming out of the USA) it would appear that there was need for concern of a possible "terrorist" attack. The USA authorities have clearly stated that there was nothing in place for such an attack to actually take place and that the "conspiracy" had not gone past the planning stage.

Nevertheless, the citizens of this country must breathe a collective sigh of relief that arrests were made in the planning stage, because had the plot succeeded we could have easily woken up to the sounds of US war jets dropping bombs from on high unto our homes and cities - a very real possibility given the recent behaviour of the USA. Afterall, a case can easily be made out for government's link to so called extremist groups as it is well known that this government has had very intimate links with the named terrorist organization in Trinidad and Tobago.

The MND notes that Mr. Big who was identified by the Prime Minister as having been responsible for the small scale bombings in POS and environs still remains at large years later.

AND, we have seen where intimate links and incompetence have led to invasion in other parts of the world.

The MND condemns any person, group, organisation or nation, that will attempt to control, coerce or strongly persuade other people, groups, organisations or nations, to follow their way of life, thinking, religion or governance structure, through the use of force or violence. This tactic never leads to peace, security, safety or more comfortable living conditions.

The MND is clear that civilised society must show respect and equity for all citizens regardless of religion, ethnicity or social standing and failure to do so will always lead to unrest of some kind or another.

BUT the MND is aware that wealthy people and wealthy nations need to come to terms with the fact that the poor understand that many times wealth has been accumulated only after the poor have been hoodwinked, plundered or kept at bay. Whilst this cannot be a reason to justify the taking of innocent lives, leaders and citizens must be aware of that reality.

The MND believes that terrorism and the threat of terrorism will be more effectively addressed if people and nations focused on equity instead of segregration, racism and greed and that the time has come for us to show respect to our fellow man and to be our brother's keeper.

HOWEVER, the MND will not tolerate terrorism of any kind!

The MND notes that we still have to be very concerned of the possible consequences and backlash that could arise to the detriment of law abiding citizens of Trinidad and Tobago and the Caribbean resulting from this foiled attack. It could certainly make global travel more expensive and more of a hassle for Caribbean travellers, whilst encroaching even further on our privacy.

The MND therefore calls upon all politicians and citizens to strongly rethink relationships with anyone that would use violence of any kind to strip citizens or any other human beings of their fundamental rights and freedoms. 

All Position Statements