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CounterPunch
January
10, 2003
"As regards John
Allen Muhammad, Antigua has been the victim of a highly US trained
military gun expert, who made use of the doctrines learnt in
his US military psycho-ops manual on a small island community."
John Malvo: the View from Antiqua
By MAKEDA MIKAEL
former
chief of staff to the Prime Minister of Antiqua
Elaine Cassel's piece on the shameful treatment
of John Lee Malvo (published in Counterpunch
on November 23, 2002) covered all of the areas which concern
us and which should concern all those who expect democratic direction
from the United States.
I am hereby responding to Ms. Cassel's
piece.
The rage of America, and in particular,
of President Bush and A.G. Ashcroft, has the governments of the
Caribbean trembling at the thought of the backlash to the sniper
dilemma. Already carriers of Antiguan passports are subject
to severe scrutiny, refusals of US visas, and the rounding up
and deportation of Caribbean people is on the increase. We fear
that our mainstay tourism may be cut off, and our airports downgraded
by the FAA/TSA. Because of this fear, any outcry by Caribbean
officials against the treatment of the minor, Malvo, is silenced,
and downplayed. Malvo is on his own.
It is sad, but the very persons whom
this youth was trained to terrorize are the ones on whom the
onus must fall to protect him, and thereby protect the principles
of justice and fair play for all America and the free world.
As regards John Allen Muhammad, Antigua has been the victim
of a highly US trained military gun expert, who made use of the
doctrines learnt in his US military psycho-ops manual on a small
island community. I understand that, among his belongings, which
were in the possession of the police, was his US Military psycho-ops
manual. The normal friendly Antiguan welcome given to Americans
(tourists) is only a small part of the brotherly love that Black
Americans receive in these islands. John Muhammad's good-natured
way with people opened all doors on the island, and his fatherly
way with children warmed the hearts of teachers and neighbours
alike. When Malvo was left alone by the departure of his mother
to the United States on documents provided and obtained by Muhammad,
the young boy, Malvo, was taken over by Muhammad. For the first
time he received the fathering which he never had. Absent father
syndrome is a most vulnerable state, one with which most Caribbean
youth is all too familiar. From all persons who knew Malvo,
he was a nice kid, intelligent, malleable, needy and appreciative.
The gift of an American father was all he could hope for. The
training in his father's art form, crack shooting, was something,
which drew Muhammad the boy close together, like father and son.
Malvo's excellent performance must have made his new Dad proud.
From all reports Muhammad passed the
child off as his son and behaved accordingly. Equally the boy
called him father and behaved towards Muhammad as if he really
was his father, loving Muhammad as a son should. His newfound
religion, Islam, only made them closer and the military training
and fitness regimen readied him for his holy war. The boy was
clearly brainwashed, outside of his cultural milieu, totally
dependent in all on America and on one man - John Allen Muhammad.
John Lee Malvo now needs the urgent help of the fair-minded in
America, who can see past the deed even as in the Patty Hearst
affair - except that Malvo is a poor, abandoned, black youth,
a minor, an illegal immigrant on false documents, from a Third
World country, whose bad luck was to find an American Dad who
promised him a wonderful life in America.
In Antigua where I live, I have spoken
with the Roman Catholic Archbishop who has agreed to write to
his fellow Bishops in the US to seek possible help. I am hoping
that the next move will be to find proper legal representation
for Malvo, which could also give courage to the governments of
his home country, Jamaica, and the island from which he was abducted,
Antigua, to join the fight for equity and justice under the law.
Makeda Mikael
was Chief of Staff to Lester Bird, now Prime Minister of Antigua,
for seven years in the 1980s. She now operates an aviation company
in Antigua and is the mother of a seventeen-year-old son. She
can be reached at: psltapa@candw.ag
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January
4, 2003
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