When the former Somali regime of Said Baree invaded Ethiopia from two directions mainly from the east and south east in 1977, the Ethiopian government requested the USA for a delivery of 20 million USD worth of armaments that was prepaid. The Carter Administration denied Ethiopia the armaments the country needed at that critical period of time when the sovereignty and territorial integrity was at stake but endorsed the comprehensive support provided to the expansionist regime by NATO.
Ethiopia was forced to look elsewhere for armaments. Through the diplomatic support provided to the government by the late Fidel Castro of Cuba, the late Abdulfetah Ismail of South Yemen and the former Prime Minister of East Germany, the former Soviet Union Government provided Ethiopia the necessary armaments worth about 8 billion birr so that the nation can defend itself.
When Ethiopia was continuously attacked by the terrorist forces of Islamic Courts, several years back, the US and the western media were fast enough to blame Ethiopia for crossing over its borders into Somalia to defend its own territorial integrity and sovereignty. Ethiopia initially fought terrorism in the Horn of Africa single handedly.
After preparing for two solid years the TPLF attacked Ethiopia’s Northern Command but the US and western countries chose to keep silent when a trusted partner country was attacked from within considering that it was an internal affair of Ethiopia. They branded the efforts of the country to ensure the rule of law as a civil war between Ethiopia and the TPLF However, when the Ethiopian government responsibly started to ascertain the rule of law in Tigray, the west wasted no time not only to blame and misinform the world about the reality, they started to issue scores of press statements which were basically used by TPLF to misinform the international community on the true nature of the crisis.
Apart from the double standards pursued by the west, they started to blame Ethiopia for not addressing the relief situation in Tigray and even said the campaign for ensuring the rule of law was meant for ethnic cleansing. The government of Ethiopia immediately formed a committee composed of the Federal Police, the EDF, the national security apparatus and all law enforcement bodies to investigate any level of human rights violation and other forms of crimes committed by anybody including those who participated in the law enforcement process.
Furthermore, although the western powers and their media continued with their lamentations and concerns with no adequate support for the needy and displaced inn Tigray. However, the world is already cognizant of the fact that amidst all this campaign of misinformation and character assassination on the leaders of the country, the government continued to supply 70% of the relief supply while the rest was covered by some international and local NGOs operating in the country.
With total disregard of the resolution that the HPR has passed enlisting TPLF and Shene as terrorist organizations, western powers have put a legitimate government of Ethiopia and these terrorist organizations on the same scale and calling for a dialogue in gross violation of the law of the country.
Apart from transmitting fabricated news from here, the media in the west are already working hand and glove with TPLF in waging a continuous propaganda on Ethiopia with a day dream of trying to give diplomatic support for TPLF in it’s a pie in the sky wish to be reinstated in Tigray.
Although the government of Ethiopia has every right to choose between its friends and adversaries and in spite of the fact that the it has adopted a clear position of the withdrawal of Eretria forces from the border of Ethiopia, In its recent resolution the US Senate called for the withdrawal of these forces threatening to punish Ethiopia with sanctions that would again support TPLF desires and the destabilization campaign being waged on Ethiopia by Egypt and Sudan. In the meantime, the US Senate passed a resolution which exclusively sounded like a statement that undermines Ethiopia’s soveregngity and attempts underway by the government in addressing the relief program in the region.
The United States is gravely concerned by the increasing number of confirmed cases of military forces blocking humanitarian access to parts of the Tigray region. This unacceptable behavior places the 5.2 million people in the region in immediate need of humanitarian assistance at even greater risk. The United States unequivocally calls upon the Governments of Eritrea and Ethiopia to take all necessary steps to ensure that their forces in Tigray cease and desist this reprehensible conduct.
We also again call on all parties to comply with obligations under international humanitarian law, including those relevant to the protection of civilians, and to cease immediately all hostilities and allow relief to reach those suffering and in greatest need of assistance. The Ethiopian government should lead in this regard and immediately facilitate full and unhindered access for humanitarian actors to all parts of the Tigray region.
It is interesting to note that the resolution deliberately omits the massacres committed by TPLF at MaiKadra, Humera and at several locations in the country. The Senate never makes TPLF accountable for the atrocities it committed as it is fed by information released by TPLF lobbyists across the western countries. The Senate resolution sounds as if Ethiopia is one of the states of the US in its
commanding tone on a sovereign African country with a glorious history of several thousands of years. On the other hand, It is alarming to read a recent twitter message by Tibor Nagy who tried to provoke another round of war between the neighboring country Eretria and Ethiopia All Ethiopians should be upset by presence of Eritrean forces in Tigray, since ALL of Ethiopia defeated Isaias in 1998-2000 war. Ethiopia had to quickly mobilize its forces when Isaias invaded; while the Tigray militia stopped the initial attack. Let’s remember history.
The entire current campaign on Ethiopia by the western governments can be viewed from several perspectives. In the first place, the west does not under no conditions wish to see a strong and prosperous Ethiopia in the Horn of Africa. Instead they are clandestinely cooperating with all anti-Ethiopia forces in and out to unseat the current government and replace it with a puppet transition government before the 6th National Election would take place.
That is why they are also voicing a mendacious propaganda attempting to discredit the upcoming election by speculating on which party would win. The western powers seem to consider Ethiopia not as sovereign country but as country that should be subjected to their own commands and political outlooks.
The whole point is that Ethiopia should be recognized that it has all the capacity to be able to ensure peace and security in the country and conduct the upcoming election up to the expectations of the international community and standard legal requirements governing democratic elections.
Therefore, Ethiopians here and in the diaspora are calling upon the western governments to stop meddling into the internal affairs of Ethiopia. Ethiopians and citizens of Ethiopian origin here and all political parties in the country need to stand together to defend their country from external encroachments by all available means.
Ethiopians wherever they are need to be vigilant for safeguarding their unity at this challenging period of time when propaganda war is being waged on the country. This is an accountable country and deserves due respect. At any rate, get your HANDS OFF THE MOTHERLAND!
BY SOLOMON DIBABA
The Ethiopian Herald May 27/2021
