73 Dead In Jamaican Violence

73 civilians have reportedly been killed by Jamaican security forces during an assault on Tivioli Gardens, a very poor community in West Kingston.

More than 500 people have been arrested and transferred to the National Stadium for detention. Distraught relatives have gathered outside the gates of the stadium in an all to familiar scene, looking for sons, daughters, husbands, and wives unaccounted for. Police have reportedly burned several bodies on the streets to prevent identification and autopsy of the remains.

As a result of the assault, the security forces recovered 22 weapons, 8000 rounds of ammunition, and some local and foreign currency (they didn't say how much). The security forces reported 2 police officers killed and 58 wounded during the "operation".

Meanwhile, Christopher "Dudus" Coke remains free. Robin Hood Lives in the countryside protected by the citizens of Sherwood Forest. Not wanted by his own country, but, by a foreign country unable to control it's appetite for illegal drugs.

The manhunt and killing will continue until Mr. Coke is caught or the government falls. Or both.

The people will begin to ask a lot of tough questions after this whole episode is over. Such as, was it worth the lives of 73 innocent people to apprehend a person not wanted by our state? How is it that only 22 weapons were recovered in a community supposedly armed with 50 caliber machine guns? Was Christopher Coke even in the neighborhood at the time of the assault? Why is the Jamaican government doing the bidding of a foreign power? Would the US government kill 73 of it's citizens to capture a person wanted in Jamaica? What happens to the approximately 500 people being held at the National Stadium?

There has been virtually no comment of any kind coming out of the White House or Justice Department about the war on the streets of Kingston. They could care less how many Jamaicans are killed as long as their scapegoat is caught, tried, convicted, or conveniently shot.

Somewhere Bob Marley and Marcus Garvey are crying.