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ON
WHOSE SIDE ARE YOU? ETHIOPIA AGAINST THE WORLD
By Tecola W. Hagos
I. Introduction: the Somali crises
No
matter when and where it occurs, war at all times is horrible. It becomes
even worse when impoverished people with serious political and economic
problems, with borrowed weapon fight each other as pawns controlled by
puppet-masters from afar. I am speaking about the escalation of armed
conflict in Somalia where the Ethiopian military forces are also fighting
supporting the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia holed in Baidoa
area. I held my tongue from saying anything about the involvement of
Ethiopia in Somali political life for some time now, hoping the leaders of
governments and opposition political organizations will work out some
solution and understanding without the inflammatory diatribe from
individuals writing from a safe distance urging such leaders toward all
out war. Now, war seems to be on us, the people of that part of Africa
often referred to in a derogatory way as the �Horn of Africa,� what is
our responsibility as Ethiopians in regard to the unfolding major conflict
in that part of the world?
It
is important to have some historical perspective as background material in
order to understand how things evolved in the last twelve years resulting
in a great war between Somalia and Ethiopia and �Eritrea� and
Ethiopia. The same historic enemies of Ethiopia, which are the residue of
the Ottoman Empire, such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iraq, Syria, and a number
of tiny Gulf States no bigger than �oil wells with flags� are all
engaged in financing the current Jihadist Somali insurgence movement the
Eritrean military waiting in the wings, that is aimed at the very heart of
Ethiopia. The Jihadist insurgents, which now control Mogadishu and
vicinity, are following a fundamentalist import of religious fanaticism,
even foreign to Somali social melee, and have duped themselves with a
grandiose name of �Islamic Courts.� In fact, the first act of
political program of such organization is declaring Jihad against
Ethiopia. To fight to remove Ethiopian support of the Transitional Federal
Government of Somalia is one thing, but to jump to a Jihad declaration to
do so, is clear indication of the type of hostility that goes far beyond
the struggle for political power within a localized conflict.
Am
I paranoid seeing monsters in shadows? Not at all. Which one of you would
let your family home burn down to ashes just because the fire was started
by an errant son? No question that Meles Zenawi and his mahel
sefari collaborators had caused tremendous harm to Ethiopia�s
territorial integrity and political and economic life. But that fact does
not relieve us from our responsibilities to fight for our Ethiopia no
matter who led us into war with our old historic enemies. I do not want to
be misunderstood here. I am not a blood-thirsty war monger. I do not want
to see a single Somali or Ethiopian killed just to satisfy the personal
ambitions of dictatorial leaders. As long as I remember I always loved
Somalis, friends I know starting in high school, then college. I never
thought of the people of the �Horn� in general as enemies, I always
believed in a larger all inclusive state that would accommodate the
diverse people of the region including Eritrea as members of a large
family sharing in a common destiny. However, such wishful thinking is not
of much help when one is being attacked by fanatical individuals who
declared their attack on Ethiopia as a Jihad. This attack is imposed on us
by our historic enemies and their chingaf
collaborators. We must support the current Ethiopian Government and
the Ethiopian Forces in this particular conflict in Somalia. I shall visit
this theme in more detail in sections below.
Several
articles in the foreign press have been published some as crude and stupid
as they come. The one article that stands out for its bigotry and
crudeness is an article published on 20 December 2006 by the Washington
Post, �a plantation� newspaper, which is still cashing in on its
ancient laurel earned by exposing the Watergate debacle that drove
President Nixon out of office. The writer is a novice called Stephanie
McCrummen, from Washington Post Foreign Service, a reporter stationed in
Nairobi, who presented in an article titled �Zenawi
uses 'war' as ploy to tighten grip,� a one sided picture of the
conflict blaming Ethiopia with crude remarks about the poverty of Ethiopia
that is not even remotely relevant to the issue at hand. She went to the
extent of making fun of the human condition in Ethiopia, which condition
is no different than most developing nations including Egypt that is
incapable of feeding it own people despite the yearly billions of dollars
worth of economic assistance from the United States Government.
McCrummen
need not have traveled that far to find poor people in Ethiopia, for
Washington DC is Hell on Earth for tens of thousands of homeless people
and the Ghetto residents of South East DC where the yearly homicide
rate is close to two hundred victims not to mention the rapes and
robberies and drug culture that claim tens of thousands of victims�and
all these suffering and serious crimes happening right under her nose
where the headquarters of the Post is situated. The Washington Post for
decades has specialized in bashing Ethiopia with its crude articles and
biased reporting on events in Ethiopia where it has been sending
inexperienced female reporters who seem to think with their torso more
than their brain..
However, an
op-ed by Bashir Goth
of 22 December 2006 straitened the gross error of Stephanie
McCrummen�s assessment of the involvement of Ethiopia by giving us a
true picture of the Islamic Courts and their Jihad and fanaticism.
�Somalia for Somalis! Let them run their country as they please. Easy
words to say but difficult to accept when it means beheading people for
not praying five times a day, chopping hands of those who steal to stay
alive in a country where mere survival is a lifelong ambition. Difficult
to accept when women are shrouding and denied to breathe fresh air or go
about their daily business to feed their children. Difficult to accept
when the country's musical heritage is expunged as Satan's work, the
cinema is banned and that watching of world sports is forbidden, thus
depriving the youth of the only source of cultural interaction they have
with the outside world.� Is
this the type of world the Washington post wants to defend? The
statement by Goth is even more reveling because Goth is a respected
scholar and experienced journalist whose homeland is Somaliland. I must
point out the fact that in contrast to the amateurish McCrummen, Goth is a
professional who knows what he is talking about.
The
Islamic Courts are fundamentalists highly influenced by the Wahabbi
version of Islam whose extremism was clearly manifested in the barbaric
government of Saudi Arabia and the Taliban of Afghanistan. As Goth put it
succinctly the Islamic Courts imposed Sharia law on Somalis they
controlled in Mogadishu and the surrounding area is absolutely hostile to
the very vibrant freedom loving individualistic nature of the Somali
people. It is a common mistake in Western press to misinterpret the
general disapproval of the lawlessness that existed in Somalia in the
areas now brought into order controlled by the Islamic Courts as an
approval of the Islamic Courts themselves. There is a fear and disapproval
of the religion based impositions of all kinds of restrictions on Somalis
controlled by the Islamic Courts. The defeat of these religious zealots
and the establishment of a democratic form of government are both to the
benefit of all Somalis.
II. The Survival of Ethiopia
Unlike
many civilizations that were immersed into internal turmoil after adopting
new religions, Ethiopia remained independent and calm, developing its own
identity over a period of almost two thousand years. Ethiopia never
allowed any religious fanaticism to dominate its political secular
independent structure. Whether it is Catholicism, Protestantism, or any of
the Orthodox Churches none held sway over Ethiopia. It always maintained a
secular national government. By contrast whether it is Somalia, Sudan, The
Arabs of the peninsula, et cetera were all manipulated and often times
controlled by the religious leaders of the Sunni, Ishmaelite, Shi�ia,
and even Sufi variation of Islam. Ethiopia is a model of toleration of
different religions being peacefully practiced side by side even when
there is a state religion. None of the enemies of Ethiopia such as Egypt,
Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Pakistan ever had any toleration of
Christians even though Christianity predated Islam in those states/areas
by several hundred years. In Egypt and Syria one cannot build new
Churches, in Saudi Arabia there is not a single Church nor is an
individual allowed to have a private chapel in ones own home, and the rest
of the region the persecution of Christians is the worst in the world.
It
is to be recalled that after the OAU international conference held in
Addis Ababa in 1963, the newly independent nation of �Somalia�
challenged Ethiopia to hand over all of the Harrar and Bale Provinces as
its Ogaden territory. Of course, Somali�s claim of the Ogaden is no
different than the destructive ethnic based amateurish (so called)
�liberation� movements of several Ethiopia�s many ethnic groups
seeking independence from their mother country. The political evolution of
the region shows that what is now considered to be Somaliland, Puntland,
and Somalia was historically part of Ethiopia taken over by Ottoman Turks
in the 15th Century and after. Conflict with Somalia is not
something new for Ethiopian government leaders; it was routine as can be
easily ascertained by the many conflicts recorded in the Chronicles of
Ethiopia�s great emperors throughout the last millennium. Because we are
overwhelmed with our current disastrous political and economic condition,
we tend to forget how great Ethiopia truly was, and also how ancient, for
we are grand-parents to all tribal or clannish movements that used the
assistance of the historical enemies of Ethiopia in order to secede from
Ethiopia.
The
20th century creation of Somalia did not result in any stable
government, after all the independent Somalia in 1960 was a hastily drawn
state by the United Nations Trust Council. This newly created Somalia
being goaded by Ethiopia�s historic enemies tried to invade Ethiopia in
1964 on the disputed territory of Ogaden and was soundly beaten. The
Soviet Union secured some political footing in Somalia around 1967 and
poured hundreds of millions of dollars worth of upgrade and new training
of the Somali army and provided it with modern military hardware. It was
also the time the short sighted American Government of Jimmy Carter
refused to deliver paid for military hardware to Ethiopia that drove
Ethiopia into the welcoming arms of the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union was
far more sophisticated in its assessment of the politics of the region
than the United States whose foreign policy was guided by one single
factor of free access to the oil fields of Saudi Arabia. The Soviet Union
was willing to abandon Somalia and embrace fully Ethiopia because the
Soviet Union appreciated the significance of Ethiopia in the region.
It
is to be recalled that the 1960s and 1970s were also periods the rabid
Gemal Nasser of Egypt, Assad of Syria, Faisal of Saudi Arabia mounted both
open and clandestine campaign against Ethiopia. Somalia bolstered by its
allies and taking advantage of the monumental political upheaval taking
place in Ethiopia since 1975, invaded Ethiopia in 1977 and marched all
over the Ogaden region in a short lived euphoria, for the Ethiopian army
in 1978 mounted a counter offensive and recaptured all of the Ogaden
region and marched triumphantly into Somalia itself
I
have a uniquely serious reason why I am reiterating past engagements
between Somalia and Ethiopia and the political fallout thereof. And it is
not for a cheap thrill of showing the valor and achievement of the
Ethiopian army, but to remind us that in the past during such similar
trying periods our political organizations erred by not supporting the
Ethiopian government fighting to preserve the territorial integrity of
Ethiopia. I have often heard this clich� of history repeating itself,
which seems to have been tailor-made to depict the political process of
Ethiopia. In 1976-77, during the Somali military build up and final attack
both Meison (initially) and EPRP were to a varying degree against
Ethiopia�s defensive engagement with the Somali military. In the same
way, the current opposition leaders seem to be opposed to the defensive
engagement of the Ethiopian Government and army supporting the Somali
Transitional Federal Government. [Some of the current opposition leaders
happen to be the same former leaders of Meison and EPRP during the 1976-77
period.] I was hoping decades of reflection would have enlightened
opposition leaders to look beyond their own hunger for power in order to
evaluate correctly the danger of opposing the policy of the Ethiopian
government in this particular conflict with Jihadist Somalis. Ethiopia�s
historic enemies will never stop from trying to destroy Ethiopia.
We
must accept the fact that the only legitimate state that organically
evolved as a state in the �Horn� region is Ethiopia, for the rest are
just artificial creations of European colonial powers, never having
evolved on their own beyond the tribal or clan based small settlements
most of the time either part of the Ethiopian Empire or that of the
Ottoman Turks. Thus, based on that important acknowledgement of history,
we must build our foreign relations accordingly. Moreover, the hostility
against Ethiopia is not purely based on religious differences, but has to
do also with the emergence of hegemonic world power structure since the
Europeans successfully dismantled the Ottoman Turkish Empire and dominated
the region after the First World War and later conceding to the United
States emerging power.
This
brings to mind Dr. Ghelawdewos Aaria�s masterfully written and highly
educational series of articles on the Ethiopia � Somalia conflicts. What
I have in mind is a particular passage written by Ghelawdewos that
described elegantly what I have tried in my clumsy way to state above.
Ghelawdewos wrote, �In 1988, however, in an effort to silence internal
opposition and resistance, Said Barre and Mengistu Haile Mariam of
Ethiopia met to make peace and recreate normal relations between Somalia
and Ethiopia . But in just three years after the peace accord was signed
between the two countries, the United Somali Congress (USC) and the
Ethiopian Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) ousted Barre and Haile
Mariam from power respectively. In January 1991 Said Barre fled Mogadishu
and in the same year Mengistu fled Ethiopia to Zimbabwe. The political
scenario that followed Barre and Mengistu in their respective countries,
however were entirely different in terms of preserving the nation and the
continued performance of the central government. Ethiopia, as a nation,
with the exception of the loss of Eritrea, is still in tact; a functioning
central government also continued to prevail in Addis Ababa. By contrast,
Somalia virtually killed itself under clan fratricidal wars�� [Ghelawdewos
Araia, �Understanding the Ethiopian-Somalia Relations &
seeking Permanent Solutions to the Conflict in the Horn of Africa,�
posted in www.tecolahagos.com,
2006] Although Ghelawdewos intended this particular passage to warn
us about the danger of ethnic based politics; nevertheless, the passage is
exceptionally significant because it encapsulate the far advanced nature
of the state of Ethiopia in such brief but beautifully stated paragraph.
There
is much that we take for granted about Ethiopia. We do not seem to
appreciate how mature a civilization, in terms of tolerance of
differences, we have in Ethiopia. Even though we had a sense of our
political independence, but sadly we do not have a good sense of how to
bring about economic independence; thus we suffered greatly not advancing
as much as we should have given the thousands of years of self-generated
independent existence we had maintained to this day. I have maintained
often in my essays and articles the idea that our underdevelopment in the
main is a result of our own self-mutilation due to unusually hierarchical
often masochist destructive family relationships, especially the
stagnation of children�s development at the oral level, ignorance,
degenerative political system, generally ascetic philosophy of life et
cetera. May be such is the symptom of all long living civilizations.
III. What We Must Do
Because
Ethiopia is much more than its constitutive parts, it is also never
equivalent or interchangeable with its political or religious leaders. One
must not confuse Meles Zenawi and his Government with the State of
Ethiopia. Our dislike, in my case utter contempt, for Meles Zenawi and his
sycophantic supporters ought not to blind us from seeing the danger our
country is facing at this point of our history. There is always enough
time to throw out an errant leader and start a new leadership; however,
there is no sufficient time to reconstitute a nation once lost.
I
am not a fool or a political novice to be manipulated by any camouflaged traitor,
who may try to use some crises, manufactured or real, to divert the
attention of the general public from the horrendous oppressive
governmental practice of such a leader and his supporters. To the
contrary, I have a clear understanding of what is most important to our
continued existence as a people, a nation, and a civilization, thus I
insist that we must not listen to the Opposition defenders who want to
undermine the war that is underway in Somalia. Ethiopia has every right to
defend itself from Jihadist attacks no matter who started the conflict. We
must separate the two issues dealing with the leadership of Meles Zenawi
and the defense of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ethiopia,
in order for us to reach a decision that will preserve our national
interest.
Ethiopia
is being choked by its historic enemies on all sides with no outlet to the
outside world except through Kenya. The Port of Djibouti is now in the
hands of Dubai and Qatar, two utterly obnoxious enemies of Ethiopia ever
tightening the noose of destruction around Ethiopia. The Emir of Qatar is
a personal friend to the �Eritrean� Leader, and the rumor is that
Dubai has taken over the development of the Port of Massawa. What we are
witnessing is the aggregation and mobilization of our formidable enemies
lining up to destroy Ethiopia. These enemies are emboldened by the fact
that they have in their pocket Europe and are working on the United
States. The Somali Jihadists are simply the opening salvo aimed at
Ethiopia by these historic enemies of Ethiopia. It is in times like these
that statesmanship and political maturity are most desirable to have in
our leaders. Instead what we
have are junior diplomats assigned to tackle monumental problems. The
Foreign Ministry is one place where such leadership and political savvy is
acutely in short supply. The newly appointed �diplomats�
assigned to tackle these horrendous international crises are new recruits
to the Foreign Service profession, the task is beyond their capacity.
It
is a tragedy in times like the current crises that the Ethiopian Ministry
of Foreign Affairs is a poorly run government agency compared to other
government agencies. One has just to visit their Website to see how
embarrassingly unprofessional the Ministry information system is by
reading their few foreign policy releases, statements full of spelling and
grammatical errors written in eighth grade level English. Most
importantly, they have not commissioned academic works such as books and
journal articles on important issues dealing with Ethiopian history, on
Ethiopian sovereignty, on territorial expanse, regional political
strategy, et cetera that could have put Ethiopia in good light. They have
not sponsored conferences helpful to the cause of Ethiopia. They have not
even used the most formidable prestige of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church to
create relationships with other Christian Churches around Europe and the
United States and Latin American countries in order to win support for
Ethiopian causes and insure the continued existence of Ethiopia. From the
Minister all the way down to his many subordinates and hangers-on are all
amateurs whose idea of diplomacy does not go beyond personal relationships
and the use of polite and deceptive words. There seems to be no long term
strategy or short term tactics discernable from their activities in the
last fifteen years.
Considering
its ineffectiveness, I have sufficient reason to state that the Ethiopian
Ministry of Foreign Affairs is a useless government organ; it will not
raise any eyebrow if it is collapsed to form part of the Office of the
Prime Minister, and thereby stop all pretences. At any rate, it is a fact
now for some time that it is the Prime Minister who is running the show
totally marginalizing the Ministry; the Ministry seems to have been
reduced in its responsibilities to checking credentials of foreign
diplomats and the observation of protocol! There was some recent lay-offs
of a couple of former Ambassadors from minority groups and several
retirement-age personnel leaving intact the troublesome entrenched
Mengistu�s men and women
still in place, individuals who should never have been allowed even to see
the inside of the headquarters of the Ethiopian Foreign Affairs Ministry.
This
is also the time to seek the help of seasoned former officials whose
expertise in Somali affairs is well recognized. For example, Ambassadors
Ayalew Mandefro and Zewde Reta are great source of knowledge on Somali
politics that should be consulted in times like this. And there are
several other elderly Ethiopian former diplomats and officials as well
with great experience in the political and economic past of Somalia whose
assistance should be sought. The sad fact is that the Ethiopian Government
did not even have a task force especially dedicated to tackle the Somali
crises as a counter balance to the governments own departmental
organization in the Foreign Affairs Ministry. It is never late to correct
deficiencies within the government in order to have a more effective
proactive foreign policy in this regard. One important change that should
be made without delay is to change the United Nations Ethiopian Delegation
and replace them with mature diplomats that include prominent
Somali-Ethiopians to play major roles on the diplomatic front. Ethiopian
Moslems who speak Arabic as well as French need be given lead diplomatic
positions to tackle the complex and diverse Somali crises.
Let
us not delude ourselves into thinking that the obvious current support of
Ethiopia by the Government of the United States, in the current Somali
crisis, is the result of the diplomatic effort and skill of the new
Ethiopian diplomats appointed recently to the area. What ever support the
United States Government is providing to the Ethiopian Government in the
present Somali crises is done due to its own self interest pursuant to a
policy initiated by its own experts and military commanders who had a
change of heart only recently. In a rare proactive policy decision almost
six months ago, when the Ethiopian Government decided to hit the nascent
Islamic Courts when it was solidifying its power base around Mogadishu,
the Government of the United States turned down their idea, which led to
the quick infiltration and dismantling of the Secular Somali Federal
Government to its present condition. Such is the ineffectiveness of
Ethiopia�s foreign relations policy and its inapt diplomats.
Eritrea,
along with Ethiopia�s historic Arab enemies, seems to have been fully
engaged in the initial creation and further development of the Islamic
Courts. Eritrea provided the Islamic Courts with Weapon and training and
fighting soldiers from its regular army. Eritrea never relented its war
against Ethiopia even after signing the 2000 Algiers Agreement. In short
of direct armed attack, Eritrea has undermined the interest of Ethiopia in
every way it can, to the extent that et even lobbied and sabotaged the
naming of a small section of the Shaw area of Washington DC as �Little
Ethiopia� in acknowledgment of the significant role of Ethiopian
business men and women who transformed a ghettoized-drug-dealing area into
a respectable, clean, and thriving business neighborhood.
At this moment Eritrea has fully mobilized its military on
Ethiopia�s Northern front just outside of the Buffer zone established
pursuant to an agreement reached through the participation of the United
Nations Peace Keeping Force.
IV. The United State Government
Out
of concern and because of my well founded suspicion that Meles and his
Government do not represent the interest of Ethiopia effectively in the
United States and else where, I tried to find out the types of documentary
supporting evidence and rhetoric that was being presented by the Ethiopian
Government to the Congress of the United States. The little I found in my
inquiry indicates that the Ethiopian Government still relays on
documentation gathered during Haile Selassie�s Government, and very
little current studies by scholars and experts is provided to the policy
makers of the United States. The Congressional research outfit is doing
far better job doing research on Ethiopia than the Ethiopian government.
Of course, such approach and reliance on third parties is highly
inefficient in its scholarship as can be easily ascertained by reading the
official entry on Ethiopia by the Department of State and the Congress.
There
are many reasons that explain the weaknesses of the Ethiopian Government
in foreign relations. The single most important reason was the divided
loyalty of the leaders of the Ethiopian Government as was amply
demonstrated in their handling of the independence bid of an Ethiopian
administrative region of Eritrea and the later boarder dispute between
Eritrea and Ethiopia. Often enough they looked like as if they were agents
of the Eritrean Government rather than leaders of Ethiopia. The United
States Government should have realized the fifth column characteristics of
Meles Zenawi at that initial stage and should have assigned some of its
seasoned diplomats and experts at the highest level rather than relaying
on the services of third rate CIA functionaries and informants.
�The
continued existence of Ethiopia is dependent on properly securing the Afar
coastal territory and the territorial waters on the Red Sea. This point
cannot be emphasized enough. This is a matter of national survival. The
Algiers Agreement of 12 December 2000 and the subsequent decision of the
Border Commission of 13 April 2002 have no legal validity whatsoever. Even
by the standard of the 1994 Ethiopian Constitution Article 86, the current
leaders of Ethiopia have not protected the national interest and
sovereignty of Ethiopia. The Algiers Agreement is invalid because of
collusion and fraud committed by the leaders who signed the Agreement and
because of its preemptive abrogation of the inherent rights of Sovereignty
of the Ethiopian people. The decision of the Border Commission is invalid
due to its lack of capacity to dispose off issues that affect the
protected human rights of millions of Ethiopians; some of the Members of
the Commission have conflict of interest�
It
is often that intellectuals from developing countries think that the
Democratic Party members when in control of the United States Government
are the most receptive and supportive of the interest of developing
countries. The truth of the matter is that it is the Republican Party
controlled Government of the United States that has done much for
developing countries around the world. The case of Ethiopia is no
exception to this general statement. The next United States Presidential
election is only a couple of years hence. Before we know it, the election
will be all over us. As
Ethiopians we should be very weary and ready for hardship if the Democrats
win the election of 2008. Ethiopia will be in dire circumstance if
Democrats win the coming election. Whether it is Clinton, Obama, or
Edwards who succeed President Bush, Ethiopia will suffer with any one of
them in the White House. Fanatical supporters of Eritrea like John
Prendergast would have a voice and influence in a Democratic Party lead
administration, and would have a field day in dismantling Ethiopia.
The
United States Government must realize by now that Eritrea is not its
supportive friend. Eritrea is in the camp of the Arab League and hostile
to the interest of the United States. Some American policy makers have
started realizing their error in landlocking Ethiopia and denying her
historic coastal territories of the Afar. Events since the independence of
Eritrea have shown that Ethiopia is being squeezed from all sides by
vicious historic enemies that want nothing less than the total destruction
of Ethiopia. Although Ethiopians do not realize it well enough to use it
effectively, Ethiopia has great wealth in its fresh water system of rivers
and lakes the envy of its Arab enemies. It is also one of the most
populous nations in Africa. The
issue of the Afar coastal territories of Ethiopia must be revisited and
the corrupt Boarder Commission findings voided and completely expunged
from having any legal effect whatsoever.
The
interest of the United States is best served by investing its military and
other economic assistants in Ethiopia than in Eritrea or Egypt or any
where else in Africa. There is nothing that the United States can get from
�Eritrea� or Egypt that Ethiopia cannot give ten fold. Ethiopia is a
tenacious country. No other country would have survived the assaults of
formidable adversaries over the millennium and survived. It is a nation
with greatly evolved ethical content of a sense of individual
responsibility, social structure based on respect and compassion et
cetera.� For example, there is no tradition of hostage taking, or
condemnation of groups by association, or religious fanaticism. These
facts alone should have moved the United States to greater commitment to
support the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ethiopia rather than
walk down a dubious double-dealing path of betrayal, such as the tragedy
of the whole shameful activity of secession of �Eritrea� and the
land-locking of Ethiopia that was led by the political formulation of very
junior State Department functionaries, who were given a free hand in areas
of responsibilities way above their ability or competency, thereby denying
historical reality and facts, undermining the rule of well-established
peremptory norms of customary international law and practices, and long
standing friendly relationship with Ethiopia.
This
Century is going to be a century of a series of fights between terrorists
and established traditional governments. Because the United States is
conspicuously secular, rich, and powerful which facts make it also a large
target wherein every disgruntled or disfranchised group would take a shot
at it. The Middle East crisis is not going to be solved at all for a long
time. Terrorism or state to state conflicts will increase and not decrease
in the foreseeable future. The world is heading in dangerous direction of
war and conflict and terrorist activities. The United States so far has
invested more than fifty billion dollars in Egypt hoping to appease the
antagonism against the United States and Israel, but has nothing to show
for all its money�for the region is a caldron of hate for the United
States. However, If the United States had invested in Ethiopia a fraction
of the huge amount of money it invested in Egypt, that investment would
have secured for the United State a far more stable and highly efficient
nation of Ethiopia as good and
solid friend to protect its interest in the area. It is high time for the
United States to start thinking primarily strategies for security reasons
for the Middle East and the �Horn� countries before adopting
strategies for business reasons.
Conclusion: Recommendations
Taking
into account both historical and current hostilities aimed at Ethiopia by
Arab nations around the region, and the unreasonable and psychopathic
hostility of the Arab
supported Eritrea toward Ethiopia, and the Arab Jihadist Somali ambition
of Greater Somalia, and also taking into account the long standing
simmering animosity of Sudan towards Ethiopia, all of us must support the
Ethiopian army and leadership where we find it even if it means supporting
Meles Zenawi who brought us to this disastrous situation with his immature
short sighted leadership.
If
it were possible to get rid of Meles Zenawi quickly and replace him with a
patriotic leader, that would have been the best possible life saving
mechanism for Ethiopia. However, We do not have that luxury as things are
unfolding rapidly plunging Ethiopia ever deeper into a conflict that could
easily overwhelm and set us back for decades.
Supporting the Ethiopian military does not mean that we have to
love Meles Zenawi as our leader. If there is any opening, as events
develop, to remove Meles from power, we ought to do that by all means and
yet maintain our support of the Ethiopian Army. Meles Zenawi is a problem,
a mejeger. We all know that, we
also know the easiest way we can effectively defend Ethiopia starts with
his removal, but before we can do that our home is being put on fire;
therefore, it is a matter of priority that we all have to mobilize
ourselves wherever we may be behind the Ethiopian Government, its leaders,
and above all our Ethiopian Army.
It
might be necessary to declare a state of emergency and start mobilizing
the Ethiopian population for war. Of course, I realize that such measures
have adverse effects on the meager economy of Ethiopia. However, we do not
seem to have much choice in the matter. There will be very many profiteer
merchants and others who would seek to take advantage of the situation and
engage in hiking prices and creating shortages et cetera.
Under such similar national crises and circumstances, even the most
democratic and advanced governments in the world, such as the United
States, have issued laws and administrative orders strictly regulating
price, supply, and sale of goods and services. Here is why the full
cooperation of every Ethiopian is a must. However, under the present
polarized political situation, with tremendous hate and opposition against
the current leaders of the Ethiopian Government, it seems a hopeless
situation to defend Ethiopia effectively. Here is why great sacrifices
from all are expected.
The
following are the first important steps that ought to be taken by the
Ethiopian Government:
- Declare state of
emergency.
- Release all political
prisoners especially the Opposition leaders, with a condition that
they are not to engage in any subversive political activity that will
undermine the defense of Ethiopia during the period of emergency.
- Release Seye Abrha and
reinstate him to command the Northern Ethiopian Army facing off the
Eritrean treat. Reinforcement of the Northern front extremely
important, with additional recruitment of militia army.
- Replace the current Chief
of Staff of the Ethiopian military forces immediately.
- Appoint new Foreign
Affairs Minister and his Deputy and other seasoned diplomats to the
United Nations, United States, Germany, France, and United Kingdom.
- Appoint a coordinator for
Ethiopians in the Diaspora.
- Mount massive public
relations offensive in defense of Ethiopia through civilian business
men and women, religious leaders, civic leaders et cetera around the
world concentrating more in Europe and the United States.
I
need not remind my fellow Ethiopians,
that the current crises in and war with the Jihadist Islamic Courts
is the beginning of a well organized attack by Ethiopia�s historic
enemies and newly minted ones to destroy Ethiopia completely. I demand
that individuals such as Negede Gobeze and Mengistu�s thugs stop their
current subversive activities (all over Europe) undermining the military
operation of the Ethiopian Government in Somalia. I also urge all
legitimate �opposition� groups everywhere that are against Meles
Zenawi and his Government to halt their opposition activities temporarily
for the sake of the survival of Ethiopia. In fact, I appeal to all
Ethiopians to have a clear understanding that fighting for our Ethiopia
does not mean supporting Meles Zenawi in any personal manner. We fight to
preserve our Ethiopia, our mother country, the cradle of all mankind!
Ω
Tecola
W. Hagos
Washington
DC
December
25, 2006
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