Jamaican Soldiers Protects Queen

A story on the British Telegraph newspaper website titled "Jamaican troops serenade Queen with reggae" provides an interesting spin on the real news behind this article. The first line of the article reveals that Jamaican soldiers have been called up to protect the Queen at Buckingham Palace. They are part of a contingent of 140 Caribbean troops that will fulfil this new role in light of British troop’s deployment in Afghanistan.

Kudos to Jamaica and the faith that the British government and especially the Queen has place in the ability of Jamaican soldiers to perform this “important” duty. Personally I think the title should have been “Jamaican Soldiers Protects Queen”. This is a more fitting title. Why do foreigners think of us as “Yardies” or “Reggae Singers”. We have examples of Asafa Powell 100m world champion and General Colin Powell (well his parents were Jamaican) to prove that we are good at other things.

I think we should watch this one closely, soon the US government will be asking the Jamaican government to help out in Iraq or Afghanistan in exchange for “debt reduction” or a few thousand “greencards”. Given the volatile nature of several inner city communities in Jamaican with the pending election in Jamaica, perhaps the Jamaican government should have put these soldiers to better use.

Does this confirm that we are valued more in foreign countries than in our own? Could it be that the years of neglect and half baked solutions have made things worst? From the sidelines, I see this as an opportunity to earn foreign exchange. I will be watching to see what happen next.