Isaias Afewerki’s Synthetic Argument is Palpable Nonsense
By: Mulugeta Aserate Kassa
6th January 2005
The story was told during the Second World War of a Catholic priest entering one of London’s black-cabs, only to be met by an enraged cabbie. Worried by the taxi-driver’s demeanour, the priest asked if everything was all right with him. The driver said, “I have just finished listening to the BBC. It said that RAF (Britain’s Royal Air Force) planes were bombing Berlin. But a few minutes earlier, I had tuned to Deutche Velle and I remember hearing that the Luftwaffe (German Air Force) was currently bombing the English industrial cities of Coventry and Birmingham. The whole thing is so bewildering that I do not know who to believe these days?” The calm and composed priest leaned forward and replied, “My son, the choice is simple. In times of trouble, your choice has to be between believing the angel or the devil.” Today, Horn of Africa watchers find themselves in the same old predicament faced by that London cabbie over half a century ago. Who is the bearer of good tidings offering hope and peace, and who is sabre-rattling and ready to sacrifice his suffering people so that he would be able to prolong his dictatorial rule? The answer, of course, lies on who one will allow to have a sway in one’s power of reasoning. And then, and only then, is one able to tell the angel from the devil.
On the 3rd January 2005 Isaias said that Ethiopia was preparing for war. When that was refuted by UNMEE, he hurriedly organised an interview with his mouth piece radio station to lecture the world, amongst other things, that Ethiopia’s 5PPP is “a dead political gimmick and a public relations exercise.” Ridiculous, is it not, to even imagine that the international community is so cerebrally challenged as to “welcome” Ethiopia’s gimmick and fall prey to our public relations exercise? When the chips are down, and on the eve of their predicted exit from power, dictators are renowned for having the capacity to build castles-in-mid-air in order to continue with their hallucinations. We, Ethiopians, first observed it in Mengistu Hailemariam before he became the first Head of State to have hijacked a plane to exile. We also saw it in Isaias Afewerki. Remember what he used to say after he occupied sovereign Ethiopian territory? He told the London Times in June 1998, “It is very easy for us to destabilise the heart of Ethiopia from here” only, of course, to see the destabilization of his own country two years later.
Between the lines, Isaias has made his desire to go to war over the decision of The Commission known by stating that “the legitimacy of the Temporary Zone has elapsed.” He goes on to crow, “We indeed know what we should do when.” He then tries to display his special skill: driving a wedge between Ethiopia’s various nationalities. True, much to the chagrin of Amharas, EPDRF may have called us “ Chauvinists”, that is nothing compared to what Isaias Afewerki called us, never mind to what he did to us after he seized power. Amharas, or any of Ethiopia’s nationality for that matter, need no words of comfort, never mind lecture, from a man bent on the destruction of our nation.
Seldom has the international community witnessed a nation turning down a unique offer to deal with all aspect of a conflict. We did not go to war with Eritrea because of only Bademe; the whole world knows that Isaias rolled his tanks into Ethiopia because Ethiopia refused to accept the Nakfa as strong enough a convertible currency to buy Ethiopian exportable goods. Bademe was the camouflage, and not the real cause. That is what makes Ethiopia’s 5PPP all the more indispensable as it is designed to tackle our conflict with Eritrea root and branch once and for all.
As the preamble to Ethiopia’s 5PPP has made it absolutely clear, while offering dialogue with Eritrea as the one and only way to conflict resolution, Ethiopia has made it crystal clear her intention maintaining an effective deterrent force able and ready to make Isaias Afewerki meet his Waterloo.. That is why – for whatever its worth – I decided to go against the grain of Diaspora/ semi-Homeland public opinion and support the 5PPP. Ethiopia’s desire to talk it out with Eritrea is not a pacifist affectation; it is our country’s badge of competence. When push comes to shove, then, Ethiopians, need no reminding from anyone of the need to close ranks and shatter Shabea’s plan of divide and invade. As an Ethiopian, resident in the United Kingdom, therefore, I know what I will be doing. Like thousands of my compatriots did out of their volition in 1998-2000, I shall be standing shoulder to shoulder with the government and people of Ethiopia as our nation, no doubt, prepares for an impending War of Necessity. This, and not rhetoric, must be the essence of true patriotism.
May God Continue to Bless Ethiopia!
[Opinions in this article are solely that of the writer.]