Editorial: 

�Kinijit� and the Somali Crises
By Tecola W. Hagos

�I speak to you today as the crusader invader forces of Ethiopia violate the soil of the beloved Muslim Somalia, I call upon the Muslim nation in Somalia to remain in the new battlefield that is one of the crusader battlefields that are being launched by America and its allies and the United Nations against Islam and Muslims� Launch ambushes, land mines, raids and suicidal combats until you consume them as the lions and eat their prey.� Egyptian-born Ayman al-Zawahri, Al-Qaida�s No. 2.

We have hyperlink herein the recent Press Release of �Kinijit,� posted by a group that has claimed to be the official Website of the organization. It is to the benefit of all Ethiopians to consider different views on the current Somali crises. It will be presumptuous of any one to claim one single point of view would suffice to have a good understanding of the problem. Ethiopia�s internal problems are multi-layered, magnified by an unpopular leadership and considered by some to be treasonous and anti-Ethiopia. In this regard we must also mention the fact that some of the activities of some form of a leadership of Kinijit, those claiming to be carrying the banner of the opposition after the imprisonment of the official leaders of CUD by the Meles Government, is no less treasonous too, for they have sought assistance and also participated in at least one international conference sponsored by the Eritrean Government, a sworn enemy of Ethiopia. 

We find Kinijit�s current position as expressed in their January 2, 2007 Press Release untenable, and impossible to carry out for it is full of contradictory positions and serious miss statement of facts. It is also against the interest of Ethiopia of preserving its Sovereignty and territorial integrity. For example, the following statement in the Press Release of Kinijit defies reason and known facts: �We hasten to note that the repression the regime is conducting inside Ethiopia is far more worrisome to the stability of the country than the threat posed by benign outside forces.� It is ridiculous to think that one can be able to solve the internal problems of Ethiopia when the very state of Ethiopia is crumbling besieged by foreign aggression. Further more to refer to the historic enemies of Ethiopia as �benign outside forces� is silly if it were not offered as a serious position of a political organization that claims to be the defender of the interest of Ethiopia. 

The true essence of the Press Release is its hunger and blind greed for power. Here we have a situation that is a threat to the very survival of the state of Ethiopia, and this opposition group is lamenting its loss of the election of 2005. It is unbelievable to see such blind hunger for power by individuals who had such terrible sense of timing and no political savvy. No matter how the election of 2005 was lost, the continuation of a struggle based on such loss in disregard of the current Somali crises is in itself poor political judgment not to mention its damage to the security of the Ethiopian State. The danger of the Islamic Courts must be appraised as a danger to Ethiopia not to Meles Zenawi and his government. 

This brings me to the curious question, at what stage would the Somali crises or any other external threat to Ethiopia�s national security becomes a danger that Kinijit would support the Current Ethiopian Government�s effort to defend the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ethiopia? What if Sudan or Eritrea attacks Ethiopia? Would you be saying that Meles has cheated us the 2005 election, therefore we are not going to defend Ethiopia? Some individuals have set up some form of a committee made up of Ethiopians and Somalis, as a counterpoint to Meles�s foreign policy or a sort of a private foreign relation effort. I have no problem with friendships with anybody let alone with our ancient brothers and sisters. However, to think of such social arrangements to determine or influence the politics of the region is childish. It will have minimal impact on the politics of the region. 

May I remind everyone that no political ambition equates with the survival question of Ethiopia. Let us take a closer look at Kinijit and the opposition group in the Diaspora. What we find is a motley group of incoherent, discordant, and hate filled communities. Kinijit itself is an organization that is unable to have a coherent leadership. The people who were in the forefront a while back were accused of all kinds of impropriety, and there are now new leaders claiming to have replaced them. In the Internet, I see another group with the same �Seal� claiming representation. It seems to me that �Kinijit,� as its first item on its political agenda, ought to structure itself properly before issuing sanctimonious and ridicules Press Releases. 

At any rate, fighting for human rights, political and democratic rights, for civility, and decency is not incompatible with fighting to preserve the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ethiopia. In my recent article, �On Whose Side Are You?..." I have tried to show the distinction between our immediate national interest as opposed to the interests political personalities in leadership position who are abusive and work against our national interest. This is not the first time that we have witnessed Ethiopian leaders abusing and violating the human and political rights of Ethiopians. Even within the opposition we see trends of abusive strands that given time would have evolved as a full-fledged political oppression. Nevertheless, considering the current political crises facing Ethiopia, such local political discontent and skirmish can wait. 

There are many examples from our past history where patriotic Ethiopians who were persecuted by a particular leader would nevertheless sacrifice themselves when the threat was against the independence of Ethiopia. One great example was the great Baltcha aba Nefso, the hero of Adwa (March 1, 1896) as commander of the artillery vanguard of Ethiopia's army.�Prior to the time of the Italian aggression in 1935, he was demoted from his illustrious governorship of Sidamo and exiled by�Emperor Haile Selassie, as punishment for some political opposition activities. Nevertheless, undeterred by the mistreatment he received, he enlisted in his advanced old age (eighties) coming out from his exile (qum eserat) in order�to fight the Italians. He was killed trying to�liberate Addis Ababa form Italian occupation in 1936. 

Would you do any less when Ethiopia is in grave danger than an eighty five year old man? The question must be answered by each one of us not by a committee. The question involves ethical imperatives, issues of duty, concerns of unconditional love, and questions of pride. I am absolutely opposed to Meles Zenawi and his Government. I believe he has done us much harm. Nothing he has done is satisfactory to me. He is a complete failure in my eyes. However, my personal dissatisfaction with Meles and his Government should not blind me from seeing when there is danger to Ethiopia as a whole. Let us not be consumed so much for power that we become the cause of the destruction of Ethiopia because we failed to recognize the political abyss that threatens to rend Ethiopia. 

I leave you now to bonder the reported statement of Al-Qaida�s Deputy Commander, the Egyptian-born Ayman al-Zawahri, who implores Muslims worldwide to support Somalia�s Islamic Courts terrorists with manpower and money. �I speak to you today as the crusader invader forces of Ethiopia violate the soil of the beloved Muslim Somalia, I call upon the Muslim nation in Somalia to remain in the new battlefield that is one of the crusader battlefields that are being launched by America and its allies and the United Nations against Islam and Muslims� Launch ambushes, land mines, raids and suicidal combats until you consume them as the lions and eat their prey.� This statement by the Egyptian-born Ayman al-Zawahri, Al-Qaida�s No. 2 has been all over the Internet since yesterday. Ω

Tecola W. Hagos, January 5, 2007