Was it worth it?

[Sir X]

Was it worth it?
TAMARA SCOTT-WILLIAMS

Sunday, May 30, 2010

UNOFFICIALLY, at this writing, the joint military operation that occurred in Kingston, Tivoli Gardens on the Labour Day weekend resulted in more than 70 killed, and the recovery of some 8,000 rounds of ammunition and six guns. But no 'Dudus'.

What was initiated ostensibly as an effort to arrest one Christopher 'Dudus' Coke for the purpose of extraditing him to the United States has failed and instead has resulted in the mass purging, the second of its kind, of young men from Tivoli Gardens. And no wonder.

The nine-month delay between the request, added to the four-day wait between the prime minister's mea culpa and authorisation of the signing of the arrest warrant and the execution of same, gave the gentleman -- who was clearly not given to waiting around for the armed forces to come calling -- more than enough time to devise an exit strategy.

And in the four days that ensued wherein Tivoli residents were held hostage, Kingston businesses were closed, schoolchildren were kept home and well-thinking people limited their exposure during the limited State of Emergency prescribed by the governor general. I took the opportunity to reread the Prime Minister's speech of May 17.

In it, the prime minister apologised no less than 12 times for his deception where it referred to the retaining of the American law firm Manatt, Phelps & Phillips in the matter of the extradition request for Christopher Coke.

The address is particularly interesting in that it was used to explain and excuse his actions in reference to the protection of the constitutional rights of one man. In a few days, nine maybe, the prime minister will be able to recycle the same address in an attempt to explain and excuse his actions where it refers to the death of nearly 80 men and heal a nation in mourning and in crisis after the Labour Day killings.

His address, which I précis here (using his exact words except for those in parentheses) and which came after "several days in deep contemplation about the issues that have caused so much anxiety throughout the society" he "asked God to guide (him) in (his) response and the decisions (he) must make."

"I regret the entire affair and it has been deeply painful for me. In hindsight, I should never have allowed it, but I must accept responsibility for it and express my remorse to the nation. The way in which this matter has been handled has raised the question of trust. I should not have been surprised because I had raised the bar as to what (the people of Jamaica) should expect of me and what has transpired has fallen short of their expectations.

"I am aware that trust can only be restored by forgiveness and atonement. That will take time and I am committing myself to do everything that is humanly possible to repair the damage that has been done to that trust. In return I ask for your forgiveness. I crave your understanding.

"I wrestled with the potential conflict. I felt that the concepts of fairness and justice should not be sacrificed in order to avoid that perception. In the final analysis, however, that must be weighed against the public mistrust that this matter has evoked and the destabilising effect it is having on the nation's business.

"I sanctioned this initiative but made it clear that it was to be kept completely separate from the government. As I later discovered, those instructions were not followed. Having sanctioned it, I cannot escape responsibility for it or the developments that have ensued, although I was not myself involved in those activities.

"On reflection, I should have, and tonight I express my profound regret and offer to the Parliament and people of Jamaica my deepest apologies. I thought deeply about it last night and recognised that if I am to continue it cannot be business as usual.

"The nation's business cannot continue to be disrupted and distracted by the ordeal.
We must put it behind us and move on and I hope that after tonight we will be able to do so. And we must do so with humility. Our lapses at times into what comes across as arrogance and disrespect must not be allowed to happen, for we are the servants of the people. Again, I express my regret."

Within days of making that impassioned and contrite speech, more than 70 men were killed by our armed forces in an operation sanctioned, we would suspect, by the chief minister of defence.

Edna Manley once said: "I love to see honesty: when you can truly take a man's word. That is how we will grow."

Makes you wonder what hope there is for us.

[Sir X]

Something went horribly wrong in Tivoli Gardens
Mark Wignall

Sunday, May 30, 2010

****
To the typical policeman and soldier, in times of conflict, Tivoli Gardens is a community to be feared.

In most of the previous confrontations there has been an almost tacit understanding that the security forces remain outside the perimeter of the community, surrounding it on all sides, on the east, north and south on Darling Street, full south on Marcus Garvey Drive, west on Industrial Terrace and from the north, the main operations are usually centred at Denham Town Police Station.

But the understanding seems to be accepted by the Tivoli gunmen too, who remain in the inner periphery of Tivoli Gardens. So while the madness takes place, the security forces pelt Tivoli Gardens with gunfire while the gunmen in Tivoli hit back with assistance from their compatriots in Denham Town. After a few days and a few more dead bodies, both sides pack it up and this crazy country returns to 'normality'.

Easily the most heavily armed and well-organised garrison community, Tivoli was always an area difficult to breach and it is nigh on impossible to carry out 'search and destroy' missions for gunmen because gunfire may come from a window while inside that particular room behind the window may be old men, women and children.

It is my belief that Tivoli Gardens never expected that the army would have entered with such force. And our army, trained mostly in mock battles in the field, was always going to enter only when firing from high rises was neutralised and, unsure as to where the next round of 'enemy fire' would be coming from, their fear coupled with a historical dislike of the heavily armed community dictated the actions of the security forces.

The question is, when the army was using explosive devices, did the commanders have x-ray vision to determine if non-combatants were in those buildings? I know it is easy for me to say this because I was not one of the soldiers on the ground, with adrenalin pumping, expecting the worst, but by what means could they neutralise enemy fire from residential high rises except to enter each unit and effect surgical operations.

Just based on the death toll and the fact that bodies were being buried in the nearby May Pen Cemetery tells me that something went horribly and tragically wrong. Many in the media have complained that they should have been allowed in during the security operations. I believe many media personnel have not fully thought that out.

I have been inside Tivoli Gardens in three conflicts: in 1996 when four young men were shot dead on Albert Street by the police after which the Denham Town Police Station was shot up by Tivoli gunmen; in 1997 when the coffin of a Tivolite by the name of Baugh was shot up by the police during the funeral procession, all hell broke loose and in a gun battle, four people in Tivoli and Denham Town lost their lives. Included in the dead were a woman and a six-year-old boy.

In 2001 came the mother of all conflicts in the mother of all garrisons. Again, because of the physical positions adopted by the security forces and the gunmen, I could remain in proximity to the community centre and feel safe because the firing was concentrated on the edges of the community.

With the army entering and firing at gunmen who are firing at them, who would be able to guarantee the safety of media personnel on the ground? Would reporters travel with army units as they entered small, narrow pathways not knowing what would be around the corner?

It is my belief that had the security forces operated with surgical precision they would have suffered much loss of army lives. In adopting the exact opposite approach, that is, use explosive devices and/or forcibly enter and kill anyone who moved, they minimised their own casualties but, in the process, must now answer for the tragic loss of innocent lives of the very people they were supposed to protect.

One man who contacted me told me that he had been firing at the security forces but had stashed his guns and ammo when operations quieted down and had gone to hide in May Pen Cemetery. He told me that at one spot he saw a pile of dead bodies, including some of his 'shotta' friends but he also saw the bodies of women and children. And he saw soldiers milling around.

Of course, I cannot corroborate his version of events, but many others have been telling similar stories.

The fact is, the security forces entered Tivoli Gardens with a mission. Granted they were met with gunfire as they entered, but the mission was botched, andnot by any stretch of the imagination can they explain 70-plus people dead and six guns seized.

A massive investigation is needed

One person who used to live in Tivoli Gardens sent me the following on Thursday last:
"The JDF was granted permission by Prime Minister Bruce Golding to 'get rid of the criminal elements' in the garrison called Tivoli Gardens. The JDF has exerted extreme force against the civilians in the community, harsh abuse that includes but is not limited to vandalising homes, burning bodies and homes, beating and brutalising males, confiscating cell phones or any electrical devices that would substantiate any claims presented by the people in the community.

"This is nothing new to the residents of the area. The JDF/JCF has no respect for human rights. The residents barricaded themselves inside the community in an effort to save themselves. The Government, including Bruce Golding and the JDF, couldn't care less about the residents of Tivoli Gardens.

"The Government has repeatedly demonstrated its unreliability and lack of trust, therefore the residents rely on Christopher Coke to protect them.

"If the police capture Christopher Coke, they will kill him. Others are stating that he is selfish due to his reluctance to turn himself in to the authorities. His father Jim Brown had surrendered to the Jamaican authorities and was assassinated in his jail cell. As a result of that incident, Christopher Coke does not want to take that chance.

"Tivoli gardens is referred to as a slum. There are decent, law-abiding citizens that reside there, but Jamaica undermines them in its entirety. A resident cannot and will not utilise a Tivoli Gardens address when seeking employment, due to fear of rejection. It is sad but it is true.

"I have relatives that I am still unable to communicate with because their cell phones have been confiscated. There are others that still have their phones because they have managed to hide or deny having any phones in their possession. It is heart-wrenching to hear them crying over the phone lines as gun shots ring out in the background. They have to whisper when speaking and hang up when the soldiers are getting closer.

They have expressed their trauma and fear of their lives. Women and children have been killed. The men are being beaten and killed, then burned or detained.

"They have lied repeatedly about the body count. There are dead bodies all over the place, which is why the media has not been allowed to enter the community. The count is far greater than 44 as it was reported on 5/26/2010. There was a young child about eight years old that was killed and had a white sheet covering the body as I spoke with my friend (who was whispering as we spoke this morning).

"They keep stating that they warned the residents and provided them with transportation to leave before this entire situation arose. But where were they going to take them? Did they make provisions or any accommodations for them? Were they going to board them at the Pegasus hotel, or just leave them in the middle of Half-Way-Tree? Most of the residents did evacuate. It's the individuals that did not have anywhere to go to that remained there. All of the residents who evacuated their homes will now return to absolutely nothing. They will have to rebuild their lives from scratch. Why?

"The JDF has sprayed their homes and contents with bullets, taken out their washers, clothes, curtains, etc to the streets and burned them, stabbing refrigerators and have also helped themselves by defecating in these residents' bathrooms. (I don't recall that being a part of their training). Any homes that had glass windows were deliberately broken. Items were also stolen, vehicles have been burned as well.

"My cousin's house is flat due to the grenades that were released. The Jamaican Government has denied these accusations but when all is said and done, someone will have to explain why a house that was previously standing has completely disappeared.

"Women, including children, have not had anything to eat for three days, because they are being held hostage. Residents from the buildings have been removed from their apartments and placed into one bundle, piled up like sardines, on top of each other, in one assigned apartment, where soldiers guard the entrance.

"A woman also tried to escape from her house, as it came under fire, due to the grenades, but she was assassinated while running from her house.

"A section called PWD/Rasta City has been burned. Where are these residents going to reside (that is if they are not dead), now that they do not have a home. The initial plan was to 'remove the criminal elements' but instead innocent lives have been lost, and not because they were in the streets. Their doors were kicked in with force by the JDF, these individuals were removed and killed in cold blood.

"I was born and raised in Tivoli gardens and I feel their pain and mental anguish. We are all human beings and should be treated as such. Regardless of our upbringing and our origination, we all bleed, we all have hearts, we all have feelings."

Where are the guns?

As long as members of the security forces carry out their duties professionally I have no problem with them. But of course, we know the age-old problem.

Already cracks are beginning to show in their operations even as we are forced to acknowledge that it is their own show of force that has kept roving bands of gunmen at bay.

I am not as perturbed as some that only a few guns were recovered. The guns are there and many citizens would like to see that cache or arms and ammunition discovered. Of course, the security forces must have now recognised that 'Dudus' is an extremely smart and unusually resourceful man. How else could he have slipped through a supposedly tight ring of police and soldiers?

My advice to him is signal to the Americans that he is willing to be taken in. Living a life on the run while the police and soldiers are after him will be extremely stressful because it will be difficult for him to escape with his life.

That, of course, would please some of the players elsewhere and it would allow them to continue as if they are altar boys.

While the population grows sick of the politics of the day, we are pressed to the wall by the large number of guns in the hands of young men, many of whom have been presented with no workable options to advance their lives. Fact is, it is unreasonable to ask a population of people to empathise with them while the guns are still out there.

For that reason I will support all efforts on the part of the security forces to bring in the guns.

Golding thrown under the bus by Seaga

Early Thursday morning I received an e-mail from a bright young man in the JLP. We later spoke by phone and one of the things he said reminded me of what Seaga had said of Golding in 1995 when he opined that Golding was a vacillator.

Said the young Labourite to me, "When Bruce has a decision to make he goes back inside his head too many times."

Now that Seaga has spoken and has said that Golding should resign, the popular sentiment will gain traction, not because Seaga is popular, but because Golding is so disliked at this time.

One woman wrote, "I still cannot recover from the disappointment in Mr Golding. I maintain that he should resign. I notice that he is being hit from left, right and centre. In the short run, he will not be able to stand the heat and will resign.

"In fairness to him, though, he did not create Tivoli, he inherited it. In all of this bangarang, you journalists have allowed Eddie Seaga, the architect of this fiefdom, to escape free. Tivoli community is the creation of Edward Seaga and he is to take most if not all of the blame for the bangarang."

Another person, a man wrote, "Just read your article entitled 'You still there, Prime Minister'? and it appears to me that you are really sick, tired and hurt over the situation!

"What to say? My position has always been that Bruce should have resigned (not that it would make a difference to what is happening now), but I still believe that it would have set a better precedent than the apology-precedent that has been set now.

"Can you imagine all others after him will use the 'apology factor' to stay in power no matter what they have done? We got to start seeing 'relevant' Heads of Gov't resigning, Mark. We got to!!!

"Thank you for your contribution in the paper... I am definitely addicted to your columns. But when this thing is over, it is going to surprise even you."

The calls for the prime minister's resignation were also echoed among many in the Diaspora, including young people studying and waiting to return home. Said a young woman, "Your editorial today, May 27, is most profound and explicit. It captures all my thoughts and no doubt those of other well-thinking Jamaicans. I've had it with this PM and most of his 'puppet' ministers. I agree with you they need to go! How can they even think about addressing people with a brain; there are no spins left to be placed on the information already in the public domain.

"I personally would like to give them directions to the network of caves in the Cockpit Country; It will provide a large enough rock for them to crawl under -- and at some point we just seal it with them in there.

"This is totally disgusting and while I'm unable to remember feeling anything about Manley in the 70s (because I was a little young then), I understand exactly what you mean based on how I'm feeling about the current situation. Your editorial resonates with me and I'm fed up with the leadership of my beloved country. I'm depressed and embarrassed -- as a proud Jamaican studying overseas -- to return to help build my country and improve the lives of my people. The events of the past couple of days have been very discouraging."

Some believe that Eddie Seaga did not have to throw Golding under the bus because the bus was already broken down and Bruce has been, for the last 10 months at least, under it trying to repair the transmission.

Ten months under a bus? We need a new one and a new driver, but this time around he has to have a licence to drive it.

observemark@gmail.com

[Sir X]

I will say 1st it was worth it and things were expected to go wrong on the levelling process,nothing less than 200 dead and it would not be considered a brilliant military exercise.

My concern is after the exercise, we dont need soldiers running around doing police work , the state of emergency needs to be called off , T.G should be occupied by a contingent of soldiers , but so should all the so called garrisons as quick responders for attacks on the state.

Duduss will be caught , we dont need an army to do that ! The so called Dons need to be released so we can continue the process.

[Sir X]

The politician ....Bruce ...lolol...how they play with poor people lives.

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/7343895

[Gamma]

wiggy writing as if he is afraid of becoming irrelevant!

[ReggaeMike]

The problem though is that the JDF reserve battalion (3rd battalion) apparently has 800 soldiers according to one of the newspapers last week. If we apply this to the two regular battalions then the JDF would have about 2,400 soldiers at it's disposal (maybe 3,400 if the 1st and 2nd battalions had 1,300 soldiers each). How many soldiers would you need per garrison and what is going to happen to the reserve battalion's members and their normal jobs? Given that it apparently took 2,000 JDF soldiers to pacify and control Tivoli (out of probably 4,000-6,000 personnel in the JDF in total), what kind of "garrison" force would one need for just Tivoli alone after the SoE is over?

And why not just build a police station in Tivoli? What kind of "model community" has no police station?

[Gamma]

it has/has a police station ...... commissioner dudus gave the orders.

[ReggaeMike]

No not a Republic of Tivoli police station, a Jamaican police station.

[Gamma]

oh..

[ReggaeMike]

But the new Jamaican police station should probably keep the crocs though...as guard "dogs".

[Sickko]

you mean he is afraid of becoming what Mutty is now?

[Willi]

I always heard that the JDF has 5,000 soldiers...regulars and reserves.

[Mosiah]

we really should have forgotten about him when he singelhandedly killed the Carl Stone Polls, with that non-scientific election prediction of his some years ago.

[Muadib]

yuh can only aspire tuh dat..

lol

[ReggaeMike]

I always heard that the JDF has 5,000 soldiers...regulars and reserves.

Yes:

1st battalion

2nd battalion

3rd battalion (reserve)

support and services battalion

engineering regiment

combat support battalion

With 5 battalions at about 800 per battalion that would be 4,000 soldiers. Throw in a regiment (which can be a ceremonial term for "brigade") and one can get 5,000-7,000 soldiers in total. Various administrative and support units (headquarters, intelligence, etc) will round out the figures.

But still I would think that the JDF would need an extra 2-3 normal battalions (regular or reserve) to carry out an extended policing of the garrisons.