Editorial

Why we should remember

This weekend it is Remembrance Day. Many of us will be at Elmslie Memorial Church to watch the moving ceremony there as we remember.

The majority of those there will not have anything to remember. They are too young.

Even myself in my early 70’s have only very vague memories.

So what is the purpose of it?

It doesn’t stop any wars from happening again.

In fact the world is in such bloody turmoil now that the lessons everyone of us on earth should have learnt from remembering those two wars of 1914 and 1945 have been ignored.

That is, if anyone now even wants to read or watch what happened then.

Do we want to read or watch veterans remember their horrifying experiences they suffered to save you and me from tyranny?

Do we want to read how their bravery gave us the relative freedom we all enjoy now?

The wars raging in the world today are mainly not to give people freedom. They are the opposite. To push a rule on persons and make them subservient to what the perpetrators call God. Their God. Whilst these mad men (and women) have the freedom to do whatever they like – they impose the most claustrophobic ideals on everyone else – in the name of their religion. A religion of hate.

And they have plenty of converts to their madness. There are plenty of persons who love the power of dominance over some one else.

It is easy to invent some cause they say they are fighting for.

“I am a freedom fighter. I am not a terrorist!” They cry.

The word ‘love’ does not enter their vocabulary except when it is applied to themselves.

In case any of us should shrug and pretend it won’t happen here in our cosy backyard,  you should remember. You should read and hear the remembrances of those who did fight the same things that were happening in our own cosy backyard back in 1914 and 1945.

War should be remembered for what it is. An unnecessary act that has been glorified by movies. We should remember the horrors that our fellow men and even women had to bear in the hope war would never happen again.

That’s why we should remember.

I leave you with this article written by an unnamed veteran who is “proud to have been able to serve my country but I am not proud that we glorify war and that my country continues to be involved in unnecessary wars”.

From http://doawebsite.com/iconject/glorify.html

Why are our returning troops hailed as heroes? While many of them performed above and beyond their duty, and some have certainly performed heroic acts, they are all victims of ill-conceived wars and political incompetence! Even those that are lucky enough to return with a complete body are victims. The many that return in caskets, or with missing limbs, are victims in the worst way. Also, the mental damage that most of them suffer is long lasting and a terrible price to pay for being victims of wars that did not need to be fought. We should certainly appreciate and recognize their sacrifice, but we should not glorify war by hailing them all as heroes.

From the time children are very young they are taught in our schools to glorify war and to believe those that fought in the wars were heroes. They should be taught the real reasons that our country has ended up in so many wars that could have been avoided. Like how the western world leaders ignored, and even helped, Hitler for years before WWII. He could have been stopped before he became so powerful and took over so much land that it was impossible to avoid WWII. Even the Japanese attack at Perl Harbor could have been avoided if the U.S. government had not been previously irritating Japan over their involvement in China. At the end of WWII we could have agreed to a united Korea and over 35,000 U.S. troops would not have been killed.

Our leaders completely over estimated the threat of Communism and got involved in Viet Nam to prevent a so-called “Domino-Effect” of letting Communist North Viet Nam take over South Viet Nam. Now all of Viet Nam is a Communist, but thriving, country and well over 50,000 American troops died in vain! The Viet Nam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington D.C. should be called the Viet Nam Victims Wall of Shame. It is hard for people to accept that their loved ones died in vain but that is exactly what happened. They were unnecessary victims, we should morn their death but we should not glorify their death.

War has long been glorified in movies. The movies may show the death caused by war but they usually portray our troops as heroes and people get a sense of patriotism from watching war movies. The U.S. Military works closely with movie producers by providing them with the free use of ships, planes, tanks, and such. Movie scripts are often written to make the military happy so the movie will receive valuable military support. The military likes war movies as they are good for recruitment and help convince the population that war is necessary and good. War toys and war video games are also a media that promotes a love for war. Boy Scouts, ROTC, and military academies are all intended to prepare our youth for war. We are a society groomed for war.

Many other things are done to glorify war and thereby falsely give the impression that wars, and war deaths, are to be honored. Veterans can have a flag covered coffin and a military honor guard at their funeral and be buried in a veterans cemetery. Veterans on motor cycles escort many funeral processions. Military cemeteries, war memorials, and statues of war heroes are also ways that we glorify war. Maybe if we did not have/do all of these things we would be sobered by war deaths and not feel that the death, and war, was justified. There are no “just wars”. All wars result from our governments mistakes and incompetence!

Memorial Day is celebrated the last Monday of May every year to commemorate all the troops that have been killed in the many wars since the founding of our country. The celebrations include parades and events that usually feature veterans on display in their military uniforms and they are hailed as heroes. The general feeling seems to be that it was great that we fought all those wars and people feel patriotic. Fighting a war always represents the failure of our leaders being able to avoid war. War is not something to be proud of! Memorial day should be a day of shame as it is shameful that our leaders got us into all those wars. Yes, we should mourn those killed in the wars but we should not mask the shame of the wars by falsely putting war veterans on a pedestal and hailing them as heroes. They should be remembered as victims of missed opportunities to avoid war. Memorial Day, and every day our troops are in a war zone, should be a day of sadness, a day of mourning, and a day to reflect on the unnecessary death and suffering caused by wars that could have been avoided.

END

 

The following Letter to the Editor was sent to us by Peter Binose and has also been published on Caribbean News Now. The views contained in the letter are the views and opinions of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editor of iNews Cayman.

 

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Once upon a crime in St Vincent and the Grenadines

By Peter Binose

Dear Sir:

An open letter to the US State Department, via the Barbados Embassy

Please, US government, we need help in SVG, we are being drowned in the spittle of nasty left wing corruption. Please! Please take note of the following.

letters_icon.jpg Perverting the course of justice in English Law, Canadian, Hong Kong, and Irish Law, is a criminal offence in which a person prevents justice from being served on him/herself or on another party. It is a common law offence carrying a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

Perverting the course of justice can be any of three acts:

• Fabricating or disposing of evidence
• Intimidating or threatening a witness or juror.
• Intimidating or threatening a judge

Also criminal are:

• conspiring with another to pervert the course of justice, and
• intending to pervert the course of justice.

Can the government of St Vincent and the Grenadines pervert the course of justice? Certainly they can, and I firmly believe they have and will do again.

Can they be prosecuted for such? I am not sure that they or our ruling regime leaders under the current system and the easiness to abuse it can be prosecuted for anything whilst they are in a position of power.

Most decent Vincentian people believe so, and I believe they are right, when a government does things in the name of justice for the people, it’s one thing, when they do things in the name of justice for themselves, it’s something else.

Can the director of public prosecutions [DPP] pervert or change the course of justice? In SVG, he can should he wish; he has certainly openly changed the course of certain cases, but claims a right to do so under the terms of our constitution. He doesn’t call it a perversion of justice. he calls it a right to adjust justice as he sees it, for the public good. No one can question him even. He is the judge, jury and executioner.

Although the things he has done may be deemed legal, in my non-legal mind there are cases that appear to me as having perverted the course of justice. When the DPP does things in the name of justice for the people, it’s one thing, when there is a growing public opinion that he is doing things in the name of justice for the government and selected government and party members, which I really honestly believe he has, that’s something else for us to consider.

I believe the DPP has intervened in more cases than any DPP elsewhere in the Caribbean. Ralph Gonsalves, charged with rape and accused of sexual assault, he ruled no case to answer. When the registrar is accused of stealing EC$360,000, he allowed the charges to be altered to EC$22,000, then upheld the slap on the wrist punishment that she received. Even disallowed one of the charges against her.

In my mind, and it’s my personal opinion that the man is a disgrace, but I am not allowed to say that, I am not allowed to question anything he does, because he has the constitutional right to do as he pleases. Can anyone believe he has such power? It’s okay having such power, as long as it’s not abused, and I actually believe it has been grossly abused. I am aware that I can go to prison for just making such remarks, the man is untouchable. In St Vincent, if they could even prove you thought such a thing, they would lock you up.

Putting aside the matter of the DPP.

Doing an act tending and intended to pervert the course of public justice is an offence under the common law of England and Wales, the same laws that govern SVG.

This offence, and the subject matter of the related forms of criminal conspiracy, has been referred to as:

• Perverting the course of justice
• Interfering with the administration of justice
• Obstructing the administration of justice
• Obstructing the course of justice
• Defeating the due course of justice
• Defeating the ends of justice
• Effecting public mischief

This proliferation of alternative names is “somewhat confusing” even to some lawyers.

This offence is also sometimes referred to as “attempting to pervert the course of justice”. This is potentially misleading. An attempt to pervert the course of justice is a substantive common law offence and not an inchoate offence. It is not a form of the offence of attempt and it would be erroneous to charge it as being contrary to section 1(1) of the Criminal Attempts Act of 1981.

When a government does things in the name of justice for the people, it’s one thing, when they do things in the name of justice for themselves, it’s something else. The ULP government went to parliament and changed laws so members of the government could not be tried for certain offences under the Election of the Peoples Act. They changed the laws retrospectively so those accused of illegal acts could not be tried and punished for those acts. This did not benefit the people in any way it only benefited those bent government employees and bent politicians that it saved from prosecution.

Although what they did was deemed legal, in my mind it was a clear case of perverting the course of justice. When a government worker carries out a crime of theft and corruption against the state, against their employer and the people of St Vincent and the Grenadines, and the government or someone within the government decides that a person will not be charged, or will be charged with a lesser charge than due, that in my mind is a most clear case of perverting the course of justice.

Remember the case of the three police officers who were charged with lesser charges than they actually committed. I believe that was a clear case of perverting the course of justice.

Remember when a young man, an employee at the agricultural warehouse, a government employee, the son of the speaker of the house, was found to be buying goods and selling them on at hugely inflated prices to his employer via a company or firm which he owned. That in my mind was a case for which corruption charges should have been brought. He went scot-free, no charges were brought and he was given a better job in another government department. That in my mind and in my opinion was a blatant case of perverting the course of justice.

Remember the case of the man Morgan, a relative of attorney general Judith Jones-Morgan? He was given a diplomatic passport in 2001. He was not a Vincentian diplomat, he did not work for the government, yet he was given a diplomatic passport. In 2004, he was travelling to a family affair in the UK. Judith Jones-Morgan was travelling to the same family affair, but on a different flight. He was caught at a London airport carrying one kilo of cocaine. Because he was travelling on an SVG diplomatic passport he was sent packing back to SVG. A kilo of cocaine in the UK usually earns you a ten to twenty year jail sentence. The man had a Canadian passport and a normal Vincentian passport, but he chose to travel on his SVG diplomatic passport. When he got back to SVG he was not charged here for anything. He went scot-free, no charges were brought. That in mind and in my opinion was a blatant case of perverting the course of justice. Perhaps the people who arranged for, and gave him such a right to have a diplomatic passport should also have been charged.

These things are being done on a regular basis, why are the done? Because they know they can do it and no Vincentian will lift a finger or complain. They know that no other country is going to reprimand them. They know that, if they prosecute and lock up their supporters and those they identify as the ULP family, just about the whole ULP party membership, perhaps much of the judiciary will be in clink, in prison. They know that once they let those people off the crime, those people will owe their minds and souls to the party and its dirty leadership.

Yet poor people can go to prison for stealing a hundred dollars, much less $360,000. Can you believe it has come to one law for the party hierarchy and party family, and one for the poor man?

It’s also my belief that all these matters carry with them an abuse of power by the prime minister, the DPP and some of the judiciary and SVG government. Abuse of power is an act of using one’s position of power in an abusive way. This can take many forms, such as taking advantage of someone, or just manipulating someone with the ability to punish them if they don’t comply. But in these cases not punish people and persons who should be brought before a court for their actions.

Abuse of power, in the form of “malfeasance in office” or “official misconduct,” is the commission of an unlawful act, done in an official capacity, which affects the performance of official duties. Malfeasance in office is often grounds for a for cause removal of an elected official by statute or recall election. These abuses of power, which I believe are manifested in the deliberate act of perverting the course of justice, and the manipulation of the judiciary to the negative fortune and goodwill of the people.

I am disappointed that the governor general has failed to make any public comment about the situation. He should be the final protector of the people, not covering his own arse lest he loses his position. The man should speak out, because at the end of the day history will judge him, not just for what he did, but for what he didn’t do, his failures.

Even most SVG’s lawyers fail to speak out, because many of them stand accused by the regime of tax fraud and are too frightened to even murmur a complaint. Well, if the regime knows who the lawyers are who they say have committed tax fraud, that in my mind was a blatant case of abuse of power whilst perverting the course of justice.

Can you believe that people are languishing in prison for petty crimes, when the big time thieves, friends of the regime can hide behind their sunglasses entering and leaving court, and snigger into their fancy handkerchiefs in court, as they walk free. Or as we have seen in many cases they are just not charged with anything.

Can you believe that some of the thieves are just invited up to the financial complex for a little chat and chastisement, perhaps even a little spanking, again we cannot say or even think that.

Are we stupid? Are we idiots? Must we suffer such humiliation? Not if I have my way, and all this Marxist scum is swept from office during the next elections.

What is most concerning is that there are people who are still willing to support this regime, still willing to close their eyes to corruption, still willing to see thieves and crooks walk free, after looting our coffers.

I cannot blame the poor, uneducated and ignorant. I blame the educated, the intelligentsia, and the people in the Diaspora, yes you people who can make a difference if you are willing to put your foot down. You are supporting this crap whilst people in SVG suffer the consequences.

Wake up people and smell the corruption

Please send this letter to all your friends, load it on Twitter and Facebook, let the world know how I and many others feel by what we see happening in SVG.

PS: The fellow Morgan that I mention in my letter regarding the kilo of cocaine is called Reuben Morgan he is the uncle of Desmond Morgan whose wife is the Attorney General Judith Jones-Morgan. Desmond Morgan was removed from the chairmanship of the National Commercial Bank [NCB] in 2008, when it was made public he had taken out a huge loan there which he was not servicing.

Our Prime Minister Gonsalves apparently had one of his master stroke plans and he told Parliament in 2008 that Morgan had done such a good job at the NCB that he had asked the businessman to leave the “the prestigious work” to be chairman BRAGSA. Desmond Morgan, became chairman of the state-owned Roads, Buildings, and General Services Authority (BRAGSA).

The High Court, in May 2010, ordered Mr. Morgan, proprietor of Blue Skye Communication (SVG) Ltd., to pay the NCB EC$2.251 million as repayment for loans and interest accumulated. According to a May 19, 2010 High Court writ, EC$2,001,143.09 was to be paid for the amount claimed, along with interest at 9 per cent on EC$1,530,551.29.

Morgan’s company was also ordered to pay interest at 10.5 per cent on EC$225,000 and a further 10 per cent interest on EC$225,580 along with other miscellaneous fees, totalling EC$2,251,991.62.

Myself and the public in general do not know if he ever repaid that money or if it was written off at the time when the bank had to be disposed of because the government owed it so much money. It was sold to a St.Lucian banking firm and renamed Bank of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

You see how all this crap is interwoven, we must rid ourselves of this whole regime so as we can carry out an unhindered forensic audit on every single thing touched by the ULP government and its cronies.

Peter Binose