Part Two
The government of Ethiopia has argued that the November 4 attack was calculated to be a sure victory and by destroying the Federal army they would control once more the entire nation by force! This was of course a crazy and irresponsible idea which was thought by megalomaniacs at the helm of the outdated party. Anyone who stands to support this leadership of the party must first understand the background to the conflict and why it all started, the government argues.
They must also put themselves in the shoes of Ethiopia and the federal government! Then and only then could they make any reasonable judgment. If any government that tries to say something on this issue must first of all have a good background of the story before the crisis exploded. Otherwise, the judgment would be biased or unsubstantiated and that would be unjust towards over 110 million people!
The terrorist TPLF leadership cannot represent the people of an entire region and the fairy tale that terrorist TPLF and the Tigray people are one and the same is a song that has been repeatedly played by the demagogues of the party to the public’s naïve consumption! The terrorist TPLF was discovered later on has been administering the party and its immense riches as a family affair without ever allowing the large masses to have say in it. This includes the very fighters who lost their body parts in the battles and the members of families who perished in the fights.
The Ethiopian government has found out that the current terrorist TPLF leadership has always been utterly dictatorial and fascistic never giving any voice to the voiceless. The people of Tigray have not benefited from the thirty year rule of this party while the leaders and their families enjoyed the most lavish life styles that any millionaire may fancy with millions deposited in banks including in foreign financial institutions and property everywhere in the country.
Too many cruelties have been reported against the Ethiopian people at large and too many summary executions and killings including torture. The victims have tried to report these atrocities and human rights organizations did have concert knowledge and proof of such acts but little was done to change things. More conspicuously neither the US nor the West in general ever raised their loud voices against such a system that stayed in power for decades! They never sanctioned it!
Today these gangs of criminals have been put down and are in the run. It is troubling to hear from the West which had slumbered for years in the face of so many human rights violations and now demand that the federal government sit down to negotiate with them! This is where it all hurts, many observers have noted. Can such suggestion be accepted by any government in the world?
The premier recently stated that the duty of the government is to chase all those who planned and executed the massacre of November 4 and so many other leaders who took part or ordered the various other massacres and destructions carried out against the people of the regional state! He noted it is really tragic that the people of Tigray should suffer so much for a bunch of unscrupulous leaders of terrorist TPLF who did little to advance its life except feeding it with lots of emotional propaganda of hatred and megalomania describing the people of Tigray as one and the same with their party!
Now coming back to the issue of ‘negotiations or sanctions’, the US authorities are not naïve to miss what terrorist TPLF hierarchs did to the Ethiopian people and government, and it is really very sad and regrettable that they have reached the conclusion they did on the back drop of what they actually know.
Presumably, the US government has firsthand information on what is going on in Ethiopia and it cannot rely on what social media or certain terrorist TPLF cadres or lobby groups invent and put on air to formulate their policies. They know how much truth there can be in any of the declarations the terrorist leadership makes. They know about how much organization and lobbying they have put to this theatrics and they probably are helped by foreign infiltrators who are working against the unity of Ethiopia.
Many observers argue that it is evident that Ethiopia is being attacked by foreign forces as well given the kind of information this once governing party is giving away. It does not seem to refrain from giving away the state’s secrets and well protected information. It is sad to see that there is so little feeling of nationalism among these leaders of terrorist TPLF except looking after their personal and family safety and security! Almost all of them have taken out of the country their families but have brought to the battlefield the children of the poor and the peasants!
Many observers say that if the US considers Ethiopia as a viable and important ally in the geopolitical sphere of the Horn of Africa, then it really needs to review very carefully what is going on and why what is going on is actually happening right now. If as some people suggest, they do not like the matrimony of Ethiopia with Eritrea, and if it does not like the flourishing of the Ethiopian government’s influence in the sub-region, and if the GERD project is being seen as a part of this policy, in close collaboration with those who opposed it from the very beginning, and if US politicians do not like to see a strong Ethiopian government capable of inspiring the coming together of the Horn states and may be later on expand to the entire continent, and this is viewed as an attempt to reduce the US sphere of influence in favour of an increase to that of countries such as China, Russia or Turkey, then it might be reasonable for its politicians to bother about any long term peace and stability building up in Ethiopia. Hence it might find it uncomfortable that the country be very much in the driver’s seat of a potentially strong political entity.
It should be recalled in any case that the history of Ethiopia shows that it has never given in to outside interference without fighting with its entire means. This time as well it cannot be any different. The question now hanging in the minds of many Ethiopian nationals particularly those who are well aware of what is going on in the world today and in the sub-region in particular is ‘how can this state of affairs be moderated without further degenerating and risking to dismantle ‘the poor country’ that cannot afford to do away with the support and assistance of the western world, even if it may rely on the unwavering support of the East, but at another cost. Ethiopia does not have the reputation of too much zigzagging in world politics because its policies are mainly based on principles besides the long term strategic interests of its peoples.
The relations between Ethiopia and the West are too deep-rooted, complex and historical to be dismantled easily and disappear soon into thin air. The extremist position of either side is very harmful to the Ethiopian people as it serves little to the long term interests of the West.
It is clear that they do not need to lose such a very important and valuable partner in many strategic issues such as the fight against terrorism, the war against drug trafficking, and illegal migration as well as human trafficking with repercussions in the entire sub-region and then the entire continent as a whole. Ethiopia it is known has a huge role in African politics and the AU has its seat in Addis. Many African countries look at it as an inspiration of dignity and pride as well as independence and if they consider that attempts have been made to make it kneel down with various measures imposed against it, they may not like it. Their reaction could be negative towards the West in general as well. Both parties in the end need to look cautiously and closely what they are doing where they are heading.
Ethiopians now seem very worried about the harsh and very unreasonable stance the US has forwarded against it. There are fears that things could degenerate and since Ethiopia is an open book for the US given the centennial and more of deep relationship and partnership, there are few secrets Ethiopia can hide from the US. There have been multiple agreements and pacts on various fronts with Ethiopia and there have even been joint military drills carried out together. That is why it is worrying when we see the current stance of the US government.
The Ethiopian government has reiterated and rightly, one should add that the issue of prosecuting the illegal elements fortressed in Tigray is the exclusive prerogative and duty of the federal government as would any other government in similar circumstances. No country, no government would accept to be instructed to handle such an exquisitely internal affair in the way the US or Europe may conceive. Could there be any government in the world who would take ‘orders’ from an outside force without forfeiting its sovereignty? This is what Prime Minister Abiy recently stated in his parliamentary session.
As much as there is no doubt that Ethiopia needs the support and assistance of such key countries such as the US and Europe, however, it must also be stressed that it cannot be expected to totally renounce to its sovereign rights in order to acquire their approval.
BY FITSUM GETACHEW
The Ethiopian Herald June 12/2021
