BY SOLOMON WASSIHUN
A telltale sign of the TPLF’s imminent defeat is not only emerging on the battlefield, but also in the media and diplomatic circles as well. The terrorist group is now engaged in a desperate call for support and sympathy to get an opportunity for avoiding being decimated by Ethiopian forces, and the liberation of Tigray people from its grip.
T-TPLF leaders, like Getachew Reda, are currently bent on devising new approaches to their propaganda strategies and narratives to maintain the loyalty of existing supporters and to win new ones from both home and abroad. To that end, they are fabricating lies and constructing narratives some of which are quite laughable insulting the intelligence of their audience.
Here is how a listener reacted to the latest press briefing by Getachew Reda: “Getachew’s interview is always funny and his speech is always full of lies. His tone and body language are telling us a lot about TPLF’s hopelessness.”
Since the start of the third round of the war, late august, Reda has been busy with giving press interviews and making messages on social media with unprecedented frequency. The reason was to cover up the fiasco of their military adventurism that caused heavy military and diplomatic setbacks to the terrorist group.
Reda’s endless series of press briefings that are packed with naked lies reminds us of, Comical Ali, [Muhammad Saeed al-Sahhaf], who was the foreign minister of Iraq under the Sadam Hussien regime. Some people are jokingly commenting Reda must have done his internship under Comical Ali.
Back in 2003, during the Iraq war, Ali was in denial that US tanks were in Baghdad, even as television pictures showed them in the city. Now in 2022, Reda telling his loyal supporters that The TPLF was scoring a spectacular defensive victory over the Ethiopian forces, while the truth on the ground is that T-TPLF forces are in tatters and on the run, and town after town is being liberated from the reign of the terrorist group.
Since the start of the war 2 years ago, the Ethiopian national flag is not seen in any territory under the control of T-TPLF. Ironically, it was the TPLF-led regime back in 1996 that introduced the current version of the Ethiopian flag. The flag that T-TPLF fighters hold is the flag of the Tigray regional state. When Getachew Reda gave his press briefing last week, the flag seen standing behind him was that of the regional state’s flag, not the Ethiopian flag.
In his briefing, Reda was pissing in our pocket and telling us it was raining. “Nobody in Tigray has ever made moves seeking secession. No one among Tigray People has ever been mobilized with the agenda of creating havoc in Ethiopia. No political leadership in Tigray has ever intended to march into Addis Ababa and hold power there,” he said.
That is quite comical. If that is the case, what were Reda’s and his comrades’ intentions when they were heading last year deep into the heartlands of the country until Debre Sina? Why did the T-TPLF crown itself with the illegal title, ‘The Government of Tigray’, and its military wing, TDF [Tigray Defense Forces]? Why did it conduct regional elections before the start of the war in total disregard to the constitution? Why did they launch a premeditated unprovoked attack against the ultimate defender of the Ethiopian state and its people, the ENDF [The Ethiopian National Defense Forces]?
Equally comical and laughable is Reda’s desperate deception to mislead the interpretation of the ongoing war in north Ethiopia. In a nutshell, the war is started by the T-TPLF to satisfy its leaders’ insatiable lust for power and wealth, at the expense of the blood and tears of the Ethiopian people and even the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the nation.
While this is the truth, T-TPLF’s leaders like Reda are trying to mislead the international community with a distorted description of the conflict saying the Ethiopian government is waging a war directed against the Tigray people. No one, including the Tigray people, would buy TPLF’s ridiculous explanations of the war. TPLF did this to secure popular support for its terrorist and secessionist objectives.
The Tigray people have practically seen and felt the difference in their life when they are under the protection of Ethiopian forces. They believe that the Ethiopian forces aim to defend the peace and security of all Ethiopians including Tigrayans against terrorists like TPLF and ensure the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Ethiopian state.
During the 7 plus months of the Interm Administration under the Federal government, the Tigray region was well into the process of rehabilitation, and several extensive works were being conducted to return the economic and socio-political situation of the region to normalcy until it was terminated by the insurgency of TPLF rebels on late June 2021.
Like his comrades in the TPLF, Reda portrays his terrorist organization as a representative or equivalent of the Tigray people. In his latest interview, he never mentioned the name of his party, TPLF. Instead, he used the phrase ‘Tigray people’ in places where he should have used his party’s name.
T-TPLF leaders use Tigray people as both political and military shields. They use unarmed and poorly trained civilians on the war front line as a human shield. They use villages and social facilities as a place of hideouts for their weaponry and fighters.
When the Ethiopian forces take measures against T-TPLF forces, the terrorist group leaders make up stories alleging Ethiopian forces made attacks on Tigray civilians. There are reliable reports indicating that TPLF leaders have made several fake civilian mass graves using the bodies of fighters they collected from various battlefields. The fake grave shenanigan intends to fabricate evidence for the imaginary politically motivated ‘Tigray genocide’ campaign of TPLF and its sympathizers.
TPLF leaders shell villages under their control with mortars and other heavy weapons deliberately and then tell the victimized community that the shelling was done by the Ethiopian forces. Thus with such brutal and inhumane way, they try to win the support of the victimized people.
One of the most hilarious things Reda mentioned in his last interview was his narration of the situation in which the Tigray forces retreated from North Wollo, after causing untold miseries to the people of that province. The TPLF forces were forced to leave the area after suffering heavy losses with counter-offensive attacks from the Ethiopian forces. During their control of the area, the TPLF forces committed war crimes, including the summary killing of unarmed civilians, rape of women and children, and torture. They have looted and destroyed public and private properties with a scale and cruelty much worse than they did last year.
The people of north Wollo are still in disbelief of their freedom from the inhumane occupation of the terrorist group. They are happy that the gallant Ethiopian forces have rescued them. The road is open for transport and telephone communications has already been restored and the displaced resident has already begun returning to their villages .They are reminiscing about their horrific experience of living under the TPLF occupation and express determination to see to it that the terrorist will not return.
But Getachew Reda’s funny narration of the retreat of TPLF forces from North Wollo is this; “Our forces departed from north Wollo in a disciplined way saying farewell to the people.”
To sum up, Reda’s interview clearly shows how the TPLF leadership is in a frantic mood to find a way out of the current desperate situation. A drowning man will clutch at a straw, as the saying goes. TPLF leaders have no qualms and no shame about telling any lies, making any narrative, and doing everything, if they deem helpful to secure their survival and get away with their crimes .The question now is should we take Reda’s interviews seriously any longer ?
The Ethiopian Herald October 20/2022
