A Caribbean comedy playing in the US

The Caribbean has in recent times been making headlines around the world for the wrong reasons. It was not too long ago that a World Bank report described this part of the globe as the most murderous region in the world. Then there was the World Cup fiasco which has become even more ludicrous with the latest news from Scotland Yard that Bob Woolmer was not murdered after all. {{more}} The original news that he was murdered was one of the things that cast a shadow of gloom over the World Cup and set the tone for what was to happen later. When I last checked there was no response from the Jamaican police who had up to then been maintaining that he was indeed murdered. On the political scene among other things we treat diplomacy like an amateur game. We have found ourselves trapped in the China – Taiwan merry- go- round. Today it is China. Tomorrow it is Taiwan or vice-versa. He who is prepared to pay the piper will always call the tune and we will always be ready to dance to it.

Last weekend we were at it again. This time it was our own version of the Gang of Four. Four Caribbean people embroiled in a plot to blow up a fuel tank and pipe lines at the John F Kennedy airport in New York. Terrorism is a serious issue that we can never treat lightly after 9/11. But at the same time we have to be concerned and denounce those that play on our fears about terrorism for their own ends; those who produce colour alerts as it suits them. The plot as reported sounded like a botched comedy show by amateur players. One of the plotters is reported to have said, “Americans love Kennedy and if we hit the airport this whole country would be in mourning like he was killed twice.” Doesn’t this sound like ole talk by people who are returning home from an all night drinking spree? Is this really the stuff of which terrorists are made?

The plot such as it was, was revealed to the security officials by an informant who was a convicted drug trafficker whose sentence depended to some extent on his cooperating with the police. The police claimed to have been monitoring the plot for over a year but questions arise. Why the arrest at this time? The answer we are told is that the authorities decided to end the surveillance and arrest the men because of concerns (not information I presume) that at least one of the plotters was about to flee. How interesting! To where was he fleeing or was it that he was flying, to- Iraq, Iran, Trinidad, Guyana, Mars! Did this have anything to do with the fact that Kadir from Guyana was going to Venezuela to get a visa to go to Iran? Does it have anything to do with Bush going to the G8 Summit or to his proposed meeting with Caribbean leaders or the bashing he has been getting from some of the presidential candidates?

The US Attorney General for the Eastern District of New York declared victory, it was said, and labelled the plot ‘one of the most chilling plots imaginable.’ His declaration of victory sounded like George Bush declaring victory over Iraq. One official hints at the real picture by describing the men as ‘capability low, intent high’. Furthermore the US Attorney General for National Security stated “The defendants sought to combine an insider’s knowledge of JFK airport with the assistance of Islamic radicals in the Caribbean to produce an attack they boasted would be…devastating.” Who were these Caribbean Islamic radicals that were to lend their expertise? Well, who else but the Jamal Al Muslimeen? Apparently since they could not have taken over the Trinidad Government in 1990 they appeared to be moving to bigger things that are within easier reach- like blowing up fuel tanks and pipelines at one of the best protected airports in the world.

But what were the details of the plot. It was in its earliest stages or even more it never got beyond the planning stages. What the authorities know for sure is that at least their intentions were never in doubt. The plotters were supposed to be using insider’s knowledge of the airport. Apparently one of the men worked at the airport in the 1990s, it would appear. But that was some 17 years ago. So much has changed in response to the September 11 attack! As far as the information coming out shows, the Gang of Four lacked financing, and the technical expertise that would have been required to do the job that they were apparently thinking or dreaming of doing. Authorities connected with the airport claimed that it was virtually impossible to cause an explosion in the fuel tanks and pipelines. A member of the National Transport Safety Board stated that if the plot was carried out the most ‘that would have happened would have been a fire but little else- the impact would have been limited.’

Many doubt the credibility of the plot. For me the fact that the plot which appeared to have been in the men’s minds more than anywhere else was revealed by the police authorities at this time is really itself revealing and sounds very fishy. The reason given about one of the men being in the process of fleeing makes the thing sound even less credible. We need also to find out more about the role played by the informant- the convicted drug trafficker. But we are pulled into the comedy even more for some persons are now jumping to the conclusion that the Caribbean is a breeding ground for terrorism, especially with one of the gang having been a former opposition member of the Guyanese parliament. Terrorism, I repeat is a serious matter. The language used is what one would call a hyperbole. But this highly exaggerated language, if it continues, will only make most of us become lax about terrorism.

We must thank the security agencies and personnel for foiling a plot that was seemingly still in a state of conception. After making a mess of Iraq in the area of intelligence gathering one understands their wanting to make it appear that they are now on the ball. Let us be clear about this. I am not saying that there was no plot or no intention but they have to remember that it is not as if they have just captured Bin Laden. So why a victory party?