In the interest of national security
Editorial
ONE of the main resource persons at the National Security Strategy Seminar which started at Le Meridien Pegasus Hotel in Georgetown yesterday was sure it will turn out to be a fascinating and ground-breaking event. We agree. It has all the ingredients to put it among the major milestones in this young nation that has battled, is battling and will be battling immense difficulties in preserving its democracy and vital interests. Some of these have and will continue to test its foundations but the important thing is for key players in the society to face up to the problems and to recognise what the search for solutions involves and will involve. And by its nature, the landmark forum under way here could set the pace for the way ahead in a critical aspect of modern society. By tomorrow when the seminar ends, participants should be able to help point the way towards an eventual sustainable national security strategy. We understand that such a forum has long been in the making but it was worth the wait to have representatives from almost all sectors of society meet to try to fashion a strategy of such importance. Gathered at the sessions are top officers from the army, police and other sections of the Disciplined Services and with them are leading Cabinet members and representatives from opposition political parties, the university, church, private sector and other interest groups, media and other organisations. The three-day seminar has been organised by the Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies in Washington, the United States Embassy here and the Guyana Government. President Bharrat Jagdeo stressed at the opening yesterday that this was not a new shift in his government's policy and Guyana was not giving up its sovereignty to the U.S. by involving Americans in the charting of the course forward. He did not have a problem with using expertise from any part of the world, he declared, noting that the important thing was that the initial discussion involves "all of us" and would lead to a "homespun" strategy. The seminar took shape after several ideas were thrown up from a think tank of the Defence Secretariat and there must be consensus to move ahead so that there will be no change in policies reached if there is a change in government, President Jagdeo said. He was frank with the stark realities Guyana faces in trying to forge a national security strategy that meets its needs and welcomed the participation particularly of the main opposition People's National Congress (PNC) at the forum. This broad involvement of so many sections of society in an aspect of national business that has before now been shrouded in secrecy, involving only the `experts' on the military and law enforcement agencies, is what makes this seminar unique. Among those making inputs are young professionals, civil servants and others who have little or no knowledge of matters previously left up to `national security' experts. And this is the way it should be because national security today is so much more than matters left only to a chosen few. The seminar is a commendable move forward and it is our hope that with the benefit of the experiences shared from other countries, it succeeds in its laudable aims. 
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