Terrorist TPLF’s desperate cry for (re)Vitalization

BY DEJEN RAS

The Circle of Life, as a philosophical concept. It means that “we start at the end and end at the beginning.” In the 1994 Disney classic movie The Lion King, there is an episode in which the father, Lion, explains to his son that he should understand the balance of life and respect all creatures, from the small crawling ants to the leaping antelope. But then the younger lion asked to get more understanding, “dad, are we not eating antelopes? The father responds, “Yes, When we die, our bodies become the grass, and the antelope eat the grass. And so, we are all connected in the great Circle of Life.” From what we see on the ground, the terrorist TPLF seem to reach their circle of life, and they are crying for (re)vitalization.

What does it mean?

This piece explains the concept briefly using the recent rebel leader’s plea to the Heritage Foundation think tank as a reference point.

The dictionary meaning of the word revitalization is “the act or process of giving new life or fresh vitality or energy to someone or something.” It means that the group is trying to gain its lost “quality” and “strength”. For example, terrorist TPLF was vital for the historical enemies of Ethiopia. This was best demonstrated when it worked with the West to overthrow the Soviet-aligned communist military government; it also served them fight whatever their cause is—just or unjust.

They were the darlings of the West and hence, had been highly vital in the HOA.

But they lost their test for their masters during the latter part of their rule in Ethiopia.

The consequence was that they lost central power in the country. They lost “quality” and “strength”. To get that status back, they attacked the northern command, which was 80% of the country’s army and had been equipped with most of the hardware of the army. That was entirely a doomed attempt. The group’s craving for coming back to 4-kilo waging a second round of war had been repulsed as well. Since then, the westerners and others have looked for other options for regime change, and the terrorist complained about it via different means (Social media, media, and letters). Their vitality was somehow reduced in the eyes of their masters. The third round of war started by these rebels was partly to gain that momentum again.

Begging the Heritage Foundation think tank

This cry of (re)vitalization was highly demonstrated in the recent secretly or purposely recorded and released audio in which one of the generals of the terrorist TPLF, Tsadkan Gebretensae, was speaking to the Heritage Foundation. According to an activist called Seyoum Teshome, this think tank is the one that shaped the mission of the terrorist TPLF in Ethiopia in the early years of 1984 (1977 E.C.). He justified this by showing a 1984 Washington post article which states: “The Reagan administration in its second term should use “paramilitary assets” to weaken the governments of Vietnam, Cambodia, Libya and other unfriendly nations around the world, the Heritage Foundation said in a report presented to the White House last week.”

One finds Ethiopia among the unfriendly country listed in the piece. That was exactly what happened in all those countries, proxy wars. TPLF became one of the paramilitary assets. President Jimmy Carter once said the following: “During these months, in 1989 and 1990, I also became acquainted with Meles Zenawi, the leader of Tigrayan revolutionaries. He would meet me at airports in Paris, Atlanta, and London when I came into the region, spread his war maps on the floor, and described his progress against Mengistu’s forces.”

One should observe the circle of life metaphor. From the recent development on the ground, it seems the TPLF’s journey is ending. The thugs want to start again as they began with the Heritage Foundation.

Tsadikan tries to update the situation on the ground and the way forward to the think tank.

 The way the general tries to persuade his audience is eye-opening. It gives a window of opportunity to look into the rebel group’s mindset, approach, strategy, methodology, philosophy, belief, and attitude. Let us do this by shedding light on a few points

1. Isaias Afwerki is dominating Ethiopia and the geopolitical situation in the region.

He claimed a higher number of military squads from Eritrea that are closing into Tigray supported by Ethiopian forces. This has to be verified yet. The terrorists are very good at narrating their versions to persuade others. Further, the terrorist’s general emphasized that “it is not conflict; it is a huge war.” He argued that if Isaias wins, the strategic consequence will be far-reaching: he will dominate Ethiopia; his next step would be Sudan; he will try to implement his style of leadership in the region; he is a friend of Russia; there will not be peace in the region and so on. He provided alternative facts and analysis to justify his claims. He tried to persuade the listeners in the language they could code the message very well. It seems terrorist TPLF is begging for another chance. It means they want a new circle of life.

This piece stresses the “re” or the “once

 again” aspect. They cry to be vital again for the Westerners and other Ethiopia. More precisely, like they overthrow the Derg government, they want to overthrow the Isaias regime. At that time, the pretext of the regime change was a fight between capitalism and communism; they pledged to ‘eradicate’ communism in the HoA and build a democratic system. It is ironic; when, in fact, they were only ‘paramilitary assets for the Westerners’ and other opponents of the nation of Ethiopia; they portrayed themselves as democrats. That is why the Democratic party in America has fallen deeply into their view. Evidence was all over that terrorist TPLF was a die-hard communist inspired by the Albanian version. Their governing manifesto was called “revolutionary democracy.”

However, at this time, the general tries to shape the pretext to overthrow the Eritrea regime by using the present context of a power struggle between the Russians and the West, as evidenced by the proxy war in Ukraine. Later in his speech, he even listed several powerful nations interested in the region. Then the general connected this regional problem to that bigger context; he deliberately underlined Eritrea’s siding with Russia at this particular time in history. The TPLF, a criminal enterprise, is desperately trying to take advantage of the Ukrainian crisis, and they cry to be (re)vitalized and be used as an asset again.

2. We are the best ‘banda’ for the ‘bada.’

In the talk, the general insists that “if Tigrean resistance (he avoids using the term TPLF) wins, there will be a chance to restructure the whole politics of the region.” this, in turn, would have “far-reaching implications in shaping the geopolitical situation in this part of the world.”

He further mentioned the significance of the western part of the Red Sea in the region. And if, hypothetically, they [terrorist TPLF] lose the war, then there will not be peace in the region since the man in the northern part will control the army. He argued Eritrea could not dominate Ethiopia. Another important point. Remember, this was the root cause of the Ethio-Eritrea war that broke out in 1998; who could dominate the region?

If one looks deep into the intents of the terrorist TPLF, one learns about their business model. What is it? It is the to-be banda (ባንዳ” Banda– in Amharic is the equivalent of traitor). You sell out your country to help foreigners or outsiders

( ባዳ” is Amharic equivalent of outsider ) so that you get power and money. That is it!

The general said they are the world’s best strategic partners in this geopolitical situation. In other words, he was saying they are the ‘best banda’ in the region, so please reconsider us or revitalize us.

They say that one of the founders of the TPLF leaders said once that “if you understand it well, to be banda is a business model.” No one understands this better than the late prime minister Meles Zenawi.

He used to be an excellent reader, and he studied the plans and intentions of his masters carefully (IMF, World bank, the Heritage Foundation think tank, UN, EU, US, and so on). He was good at it until he failed his master’s in connection to the global warming agenda in 2009. The demise of TPLF began when he died. Since then, no one has been like him in this business model. Talking to the Heritage Foundation think tank, this terrorist’s general is attempting to fit in the shoes of his masters to revitalize the TPLF’s status.

One should underline very well that the people of Tigray are one of the founders of the history of Ethiopia; just look at the Axumite kingdom. Given the appropriate chance, one can find them as one of the proud Ethiopians on the planet. In the view of this writer, he always looks at the terrorist TPLF and the people of Tigray separately. People and a political party are not one and the same. The cadres of the terrorist TPLF are the gangs who controlled these hard-working and wonderful people for about 50 years with iron fist. That was the fountain of the terrorist’s “success” in dominating the region for three decades, but it was for the demise of the people of Tigray. Over the last two and three years, we saw that the terrorist has used the people as its hostage.

3. Using the language and framework of the masters

You cannot be a strategic partner to the West if you only say, yea, we are partners. You have to be relevant to them. You need to convince them that you are the right strategic partner to protect their interest in the region. For that, one has to have a framework of reference, a medium of communication, and the governing principles for guiding the partnership. There is no one like TPLF thugs that understands this game. They are good disciples of the late PM. They have convinced the world that they are real partners. That is why the EU and the US have fallen to them. That is what this general was doing in his speech.

First, he insists on a cessation of hostility for the peace process has to resume. “There is carnage, and it has to stop,” he said. He then goes through different aspects crucial for the peace: unfiltered access to aid, service to resume, constitutional boundaries in place; foreign forces to go out; a credible peace process architecture, a safeguard for the process, and so on. He said they are committed to the robust peace process if these are in place.

We cannot go deep into these aspects due to space. But knowing the TPLF all the past four decades, we can see nervousness, urgency, and cry for help. All those gold-coated words with standards and principles are fancy words. When it comes to TPLF, the peace process is a time-buying scheme. No more, no less. It seems they are truly losing it on the ground this time. Especially if the people of Tigray are freed from their hands. If cities are restored without them, that grants the end of TPLF. This scares the the terrorist group more than anything. Imagine who can be a human raw material to be sent to war in en masse just for carnage. They have convinced and controlled the people using many schemes for over four decades.

However, we cannot ignore how the criminal faction is good at selling their ideas; portraying themselves as agents of peace; and pretending reasonable, principled, and fair groups of people on the planet. They know the game well. They understood the language of their masters very well. If you only have the data (fact or truth) and do not have a framework to communicate to the rest of the world, then nobody understands you. For example, the general said, “there is a rumor or propaganda that the Tigrayans like to fight, but if we are forced to subjugation and control, then we will fight.” Is it not reasonable? Yes, it is. Darwin’s theory of survival of the fittest principle comes here. Their audience understands this very well. However, the fact of the matter is that the terrorist TPLF is the one that wanted to subjugate and control others, as they did it firmly for 27 years in the whole of Ethiopia and more than four decades in Tigray. They like subjugating others.

The terrorist’s circle of life is full.

T-TPL’s appeal fervently, with a sense of urgency, to their godfather, represented by the Heritage Foundation. That means they are crying loud for a new beginning. This means a lot of things: time to prepare again, resources, aid, weapon, logistics, and other military assistance like in the past. However, their godfather has many options. The choice right at this time could be others. They felt it somehow. That is why they complained about the international community many times. They felt it had ignored them. We will see how TPLF could survive the war that they themselves triggered many times. Like the father Lion said to the younger one, TPLF managed to throw Derg with the help of others, and now others are returning to it to make it history on the planet. Making the circle of life complete for them.

As they say, what you sow, you reap or what goes around comes around. It feels exactly like that. What TPLF did in the past has come back to it in its fullest. Anyways, like the Amharic saying, ድሮ ነበር እንጂ መጥኖ መደቆስ አሁን ምን ያረጋል ወጭት ጥዶ ማልቀስ- means it might be late for them. This is the situation that the terrorist TPLF is found in today. It is an unprecedented thing though.

 Editor’s Note: The views entertained in this article do not necessarily reflect the stance of The Ethiopian Herald

The Ethiopian Herald October 11/2022

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