There is the news that a bill called HR6600 is being deliberated up on in the US House of Representatives. This is a bill if approved by the majority of the US representatives will authorize the US government to take a series of actions against Ethiopia and Ethiopian interests.
The reason why the US administration is trying to intervene in Ethiopian affairs can only be described as a manifestation of its imperialist ambitions in the Horn of Africa.
We all know to what extent the US administration has been supporting the terrorist TPLF during the past three decades, and most significantly in the aggression that TPLF carried out recently against the federal government.
Many observers of Horn affairs have been heard stating that there has been substantial assistance and support to the TPLF by encouraging them to move ahead and overthrow the legitimately elected Ethiopian government of Dr Abiy Ahmed. During the recent conflict that has lasted for more than a year, there are plausible indications that TPLF was advised, supported and encouraged both directly and indirectly by the US administration and other forces clearly linked to the US administration including the so called mainstream media outlets financed or supported by US elements.
We remember the consistent propaganda machine of TPLF being supported by these media outlets trying to sway the balance of power to the invading forces.
Some hidden plots were conceived and in fact a video clip has been discovered when some former and current high ranking officials and diplomats of the western world along with some Ethiopian TPLF sympathizers were discussing post conflict scenario assuming that the Abiy government would have fallen and a new government would take over! This was taken as a living testimonial that the western conspiracy against the Ethiopian government was not only imagined or presumed but rather provable! For unfortunately for those who had buried the Abiy government in anticipation, matters did not go their way and TPLF was driven back to its base in Tigray even though we still see it has continued with attacks on its neigbouring regional states. Many people were not surprised to see TPLF supported by the US because the US administration had close and continuous ties with the former leaders of Ethiopia and there are still so many personalities in many international agencies which were recruited by TPLF and TPLF-related bodies.
For instance, it is known that the Director General of the World Health Organisation, WHO, Dr Tedros Adhanom is a TPLF high level official (he was Minister of Health and then Minister of Foreign Affairs in the TPLF dominated cabinet!) and no wonder he has tried to influence debates and deliberations and other initiatives taken by UN related or affiliated bodies.
We remember that the UN has invoked various regulations to try to intervene in Ethiopian internal affairs in an almost unprecedented sequence of moves.
We have also observed that a few western countries had tried repeatedly to make Ethiopia a ‘UN agenda’ in an attempt to discredit the Ethiopian federal government in support of the rebel TPLF forces.
They tried to pass condemnation against the Ethiopian government alleging that it has committed violations of human rights and even war crimes while completely closing their eyes on all the attacks and violence perpetrated by the armed forces of TPLF against civilians including children! The US along with other western nations tried to conduct a ‘hybrid war’ (as many say they use it often and at times they have succeeded in deposing even elected governments!) against Ethiopia inviting all foreign personnel living in the country to abandon it with intense propaganda disseminated against it.
There were consistent reports of the TPLF forces capturing the capital and then overthrowing the Abiy Ahmed government. But it was all invented and at best highly exaggerated.
When finally the Ethiopian forces counterattacked and reversed the advances of the TPLF forces, they realized that the military option has failed. Hence, they are now trying to use another method of weakening and subjecting Ethiopia to the wishes of these western countries.
For many observers of the situation in Ethiopia the HR 6600 is an extension of the attempt to directly or indirectly intervene in the internal affairs of Ethiopia, thus influencing the course of events.
Knowing that the economy of Ethiopia is heavily dependent on foreign relations and capital that comes from abroad, this bill is intended to weaken the economy of the country and hence may lead to destabilizing the nation. They know that the country needs desperately a lot of support in its bid to come out of the post conflict situation.
Ethiopia needs massive capital to reconstruct all damaged and destroyed infrastructure such as hospitals, health centers and educational establishments by the deliberate destructive actions of the terrorist TPLF invaders. Besides, the millions of displaced Amhara and Afar residents need assistance to be rehabilitated and get back to their original residence, Ethiopia needs a lot of assistance and support in all these endeavours and yet there are consistent attempts to revive the conflict especially on the part of TPLF forces along the Afar regional border areas.
There has not been any negative remark on the part of the western forces on these fresh and protracted attacks against Ethiopia while the Ethiopian federal forces have stopped any counter attacks against TPLF forces.
In the meantime, the Ethiopian government has taken some conciliatory gestures such as freeing some key political leaders including those who belong to the TPLF hierarchy while attempting to sit round a table and carry out a national all inclusive dialogue so that peace will be given another opportunity to reign in the country.
But the initiative such as the HR 6600 does not seem to appreciate all these gestures of good will, sacrifices being paid by Ethiopians in search of a viable solution to many longstanding problems of the country.
This bill can only be an obstacle to this new venture of the Ethiopian government. That is why the Ethiopian diaspora in the US has begun a fresh campaign against the endorsement of this bill in the US House of Representatives.
The Ethio-American community knows well about the dangers this bill could cause or pose to Ethiopian future interests.
The bill is expected to authorize various forms of intervention in the internal affairs of Ethiopia. For instance it prohibits certain Ethiopian citizens from obtaining visas to travel to certain destinations.
It also threatens economic sanctions against Ethiopia while it needs loans and grants to come out of the current economic crisis that the conflict has caused.
The bill could ‘instruct’ international financial bodies not to avail credits to Ethiopia and that would be a major setback to the country’s future development trajectory and all the programs it may have planned to execute in the coming years.
All this activity can be taken as an attempt on the sovereign rights of the country and it could threaten the country to be pushed into further disruptions and instability given the current security issues prevailing in certain parts of the country.
Just as the #NoMore movement was carried out to voice the protest of Ethiopians against all forms of intervention in the internal affairs of the country, the Ethiopian diaspora in the US have launched a new campaign to stop the endorsement of this notorious HR6600 which is viewed as a major threat to the country’s sovereignty.
The civic organisation of Ethiopian Americans has begun contacting and lobbying individual congressmen and congresswomen to inform them well on the implications of such a bill and how dangerous consequences could ensue.
The argument that Ethiopia is sustaining is that the premises on which this bill is being founded are not true and fair to Ethiopia.
It is intended to present a narrative that fits the TPLF forces which have been soundly defeated in their bid to advance to Ethiopia’s capital and overthrow the federal government, something that they were probably advised and encouraged by certain western interest groups.
Ethiopia is not a country that is ready to bow to any form of pressure when it comes to its sovereign rights, and actions such as this bill trying to impose on Ethiopians cannot be accepted.
We should all use every possible means to abort this unfair legislation against a sovereign state which is trying to defend itself from invasions and attacks by terrorists and their affiliates.
The interests of more than 115 million people cannot be disregarded or dismissed so easily. This bill could be seen as a reward to the leaders of the TPLF forces who still continue to launch attacks against Ethiopians. How can HR6600 dismiss such reality?
BY FITSUM GETACHEW
The Ethiopian Herald 23 February 2022
