In an age of global terrorism, woe betide the political leader, who, as a result of public opinion, decides to ignore the advice of those in charge of his or her nation's security.
The question is: How in good conscience can political leaders justify defying their security advisors should terrorists strike - because those selfsame political leaders, concious of negative public opinion, ignored sound advice given by them by security officials: to prevent just such an occurrence?
Therein lies the conundrum faced by political leaders in an age of global terrorism in which extremists organisations operate like multinational companies in spreading acts of terror around the world.
It is in that context that we must view the dilemma now faced by the Mahama administration - as a result of public disquiet over the presence in Ghana of two ex-Guantanamo Bay U.S. military prison detainees, Khalid Muhammad Salih Al-Dhuby and Mahmud Umar bin Atef, in Ghana.
However, the plain truth, is that that public disquiet, cannot be justified. Those two ex-Guantanamo Bay U.S. military prison detaineses pose no danger to Ghanaians. None whatsoever. They are as keen to live out and enjoy the rest of their natural lives as the rest of us - not blow themselves up at some public event in Ghana.
The reality we all must face, is that the impact of the activities of Al Qaeda-affiliated terrorist groups in Mali and Algeria, as well as the threat posed to Nigeria, Niger and Cameroon, by Boko Haram, has meant that today there is not a single country in West Africa, which does not work closely with U.S. counter-terrorism security officials.
So it should not surprise anyone that President Mahama's government agreed to take in two ex-Guantanamo Bay U.S. military prison detainees, when the U.S. government made the request for the two to be given temporary refuge in Ghana.
The government of Ghana knows that it needs the support of the U.S. to keep Ghana secure and safe from terrorist organisations like Boko Haram. In the fight against global terrorism, Ghana has to rely on the assets of U.S. military intelligence, to monitor its territory on land, in the sea and in the air, if need be.
How many satellites of its own, does Ghana have for such purposes, for example, I ask? None.
So, more than most, our leaders know that they cannot fight terrorist organisations in the region without the assistance of U.S. counter-terrorism officials. It would have therefore been well-nigh impossible for the government to have refused a U.S. request okayed by Ghanaian security officials.
Perhaps if any of those in that small army of advisors at the presidency - some, in reality, genuises being paid hefty sums, as presidential aides, for doing zilch - had done a little research, when the request from the U.S. government came in, they would have asked those in charge of national security to point out Uruguapy's experience after granting a similar request from the U.S., to the American security officials, and asked national security officials to politely decline the request from the U.S. government. But they failed to do so.
Uruguay, which once accepted to give refuge to six ex-Guantanamo Bay U.S. military prison detainees, has now decided - as a result of difficulties created by demands from the six for compensation from the U.S. government that is included in a litany of complaints they have made against the U.S. authorities - that it will no longer give refuge to any more of such detainees.
Its former president, Jose Mujica (himself a former guerrila fighter who was once detained for thirteen years), ignored polls suggesting that 58 percent of Uruguayans were against their country accepting six ex-Guantanamo Bay prison detainees, when a request for that came in from the Obama administration in 2014, and went ahead to accept the six men.
Mujica is apparently of the view that the Guantanamo Bay U.S. military prison is a disgrace to humankind - so perhaps that might have influenced his decision to agree to take in the six men: despite polls that showed that 58 percent of Uruguayans were against their country accepting them as refugees.
The two ex-Guantanamo Bay U.S. military prison detainees given refuge here,v do not pose a threat to Ghana's security, in any shape or form.
Depite our nation's many challenges, this is not some banana republic. If two fellow human beings, unjustly detained by the U.S. government, can gain their freedom because Ghana decided to give them refuge, that is fine by some of us.
As Mr. Abraham Amaliba put it succinctly, Ghana is righting an egregious wrong committed against the two ex-Guantanamo Bay U.S. military prison detainees, by America - by offering them a place of refuge that has made possible their release from prison.
They regained their freedom, after a lengthy period of unjust imprisonment, because Ghana agreed to offer them temporary refuge. That is a noble and humane gesture that one can justly be proud of as a patriotic Ghanaian.
We must never forget that in many ways we rely on the assets of U.S. military intelligence to keep Ghana safe. Some of us might not like that for ideological reasons, but that is the way it has to be - because Ghana lacks those military intelligence assets itself.
We must also remember that nations don't have permanent friends. They have permanent interests.
The abiding concern of our leaders is to keep Ghana safe from terrorist groups as far as is humanly possible - and if that means a close friendship with the U.S. at this point in time, then so be it. And if we need to collaborate with other world powers for the same reasons too, that is also okay. What matters is the protection of our nation and its people.
Keeping Ghana secure and safe from terrorist groups is a permanent national interest. Our leaders must do everything possible to ensure that.
The Hon. Hannah Tetteh, Ghana's foreign minister, must spell that out clearly to Parliament when she appears before our nation's MPs. She would be wise to ignore calls for her to resign and also ignore all their grandstanding - and clearly spell out the facts of life for all responsible governments in an age of global terrorism to the MPs.
Let those MPs who choose to bury their heads in the sand about global terrorism do so if they wish - however those who rule our country must not do so too: because they have a moral obligation and legal responsibility to ensure that Ghana can fight terrorism by joining the global alliance against terrorism. No one should attempt to play politics with this delicate matter. Period.
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