By GHK Lall- I will give some recognition to a man, a leader, who puts all on the line in the interests of his people. A leader who battles his own allies for the security of his people. A leader who defies the odds to win, by any means and at all costs, a victory for his own people. If I have to be the only man, the only Guyanese, to laud Excellencies Ali and Jagdeo for personifying any of those three elements/attributes-all on the line, battling own allies, defying the odds [for his own]-then it would be an honor to do so.
If they were to manifest all three, I may (may) add two Guyanese heroes to my too short list. There’s a man and leader on which this public service contribution is focused. He is not Guyanese. He is Harvard alumni, Israeli born, Benjamin Netanyahu, First Citizen, First Soldier, first to fight. A man ready to do battle, even though he may be the last man standing. Even with the battlefield already seemingly lost, Netanyahu is still willing to be the last casualty.
How can such a leader not be thought of in some small way? Notwithstanding Gaza and that holocaust. Most solemnly, if there are any who should know of the enduring incendiary devastations of holocausts, the Jewish people stands at the head of the line. Deep inside, it’s why Netanyahu has become the living ideal of “Never Again.” So, he overcompensates. He overkills. He overextends himself. From old ordeals of the Jewish people,
I travel to the present squalors of the Palestinian people. Yet, Netanyahu fights on, remorselessly, relentlessly. How I would love to see that in Drs. Ali and Jagdeo, and not this puny, sickly, slippery defense of sanctity of contract that has become their holy of holies. Their sacred text, their new Little Red Book, their own handwritten and newly translated Capitalist Manifesto.
Netanyahu can go toe-to-toe against a peaceful warlord, such as Pres Donald Trump, even when his cause loses strength. Risking his own standing with America; he fights on. A man for his people, whether one likes him or not. He is a hard man to be liked. It’s difficult not to absorb his regular and irregular wars waged for his country, his people. Absorb, not agree, nor absolve.
In Guyana, Drs. Ali and Jagdeo faceoff against a middleman, such as Mr. Alistair Routledge and they wither, lose their druthers, and keep retreating. And retreating. So as not to offend. When they should be fighting with their last breath (like Netanyahu) to defend their own people, protect the people’s wealth, they fear offending an oil power. They fear getting on the wrong side of Donald Trump and his Cuban strongman.
What happened to guts? Are those, if they ever existed, only for bullying objectionable Guyanese? Who is Netanyahu’s people, his allies, at the core? Those in Israel, and those in the U.S. who wield such disproportionate power. Power that they labored to accumulate, but awesome power, nevertheless. Instead of rallying their best assets, the Guyanese people locally and globally, Drs. Ali and Jagdeo prefer to help them find the soft spots in each other’s throats.
Behold forceful, resourceful Guyanese leadership. Rather than unite, they blight. Instead of bringing towards a common vision, the best from this oil for the common good, a grand Guyana, there is this skulking, backpedaling, sidestepping leadership mission: sanctity of contract.
Seeing that the Guyana Government nurtures close ties to the Israeli Government, there’s a recommendation for Drs. Ali and Jagdeo. Consult with Benjamin Netanyahu to learn what makes him so courageous for his own, such an indomitable leader for his people. Even when it means he must get in the face of his country’s closest friend.
