Dozens killed in Jamaican violence

There are at least 27 people dead in Kingston, Jamaica from a drug bust on a suspected drug lord. His name is Christopher Coke and he was charged last year for illegally distributing marijuana, cocaine, and firearms in the United States. Security forces took such strong action to get rid of this problem. However, in his own country, Coke appears to be somewhat of a hero. He has helped the community by handing out food, sending children to school and building medical centers. Some people are questioning whether or not he needed to be busted. 26 of the 27 dead were Jamaican civilians, and the other one person was a Jamaican Defense Force member. Most of the people killed were males is what the government recently reported. Some citizens of Jamaica think this deal should have been handled by the Jamaican government, not the United States' government. One man said Jamaica is falling so far that they can't use the kind of help that the United States provided for this; it just doesn't have the right effects.

When I was reading this article, I couldn't help but think about the last homework assignment I did for this class. It was all about situations like this. Christopher Coke may be a drug lord, but since he's using all that money he makes to help this poor country, should he be arrested or not? That's a tough question I think, especially in a country like Jamaica. They don't have the wealth that many countries have, so when a rich man offers his money to help the community, why wouldn't they accept it? Since all he's done in America is illegally distribute drugs, then I guess we have a different outlook on us. To us he is just a man who is breaking the law. Many people there, however, viewed him as this big hero. The article even said that some people relate him to Jesus. What effect will getting rid of this figure have on the people living there? Hopefully we didn't make a mistake by doing this. I understand we were just trying to get rid of a possibly dangerous person. It's just extremely unfortunate that 26 people had to die in the process. There should have been a more thought out method to capture him, one that didn't result in the death of 27 Jamaicans. Maybe next time we'll consider that when we need to get rid of a drug lord.
http://http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/05/25/jamaica/index.html?eref=rss_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_topstories+%28RSS%3A+Top+Stories%29