THE EDITOR, Sir:
I refer to your article ("We are worried - Forstmayr - Jamaican connection to sniper case worries tourism officials", published October 25, 2002) and I am compelled to say:
Here we go again! Head in sand, consumed by the guilt of our association with a person of Jamaican descent. Already, we appear to concur with the view that he is guilty and are estimating the potential cost to our tourist industry.
There is no doubt this was an outrageous act of mindless killing in which a Jamaican family suffered the loss of a father, husband, etc. We have not heard the American people reflecting the barbarity of the crime on themselves and in the manner of the incessant shame we have time and again shown in these circumstances.
Here is a man - John Allen Muhammad - of American decent and not dissimilar to the terrorist Walker who was captured in Afghanistan. Trained by the US military to the highest standard of his expertise. A convert to Islam, it has been alleged he is a sympathiser of those who undertook the atrocities of 9-11 in which many Jamaicans lost their lives. By chance he formed a fragile relationship with a lady of Jamaican stock and undoubtedly became a source of influence over her son. Why is media seeking to deny him his part in the "American dream"? After all, he was OK during the Gulf War, wasn't he?
The conspiracy to commit the crime was not ours. The association between John Lee Malvo and John Allen Muhammad did not require our consent.
Our concern should come when and if Malvo is deported to Jamaica. In that eventuality we will have to worry about the skills he no doubt gathered since his association with Muhammad and during the carnage of recent weeks.
I am etc,
AUBREY ESCOFFERY
aecrest@aol.com
Streatham, London
United Kingdom
Via Go-Jamaica
