From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Sun May 02 2010 - 05:04:40 EDT
Ethiopia: At A Decisive Stage Between Its People And The TPLF
PART IX
• Expansionism: One Of The Decisive Factors
For The Downfall Of Ethiopian Regimes
Note: Part I&II were posted on the 11th- Part III&IV on the
15th- Part V- on the 19th- Part VI on the 21st- Part VII on the 25th- and
Part VIII on the 29th of
April, 2010.
Saturday 1st of May, 2010
In the previous section of our presentation we have observed how the ethnic
politics or the hegemony of a minority on the majority during the
Haileselassie and Derg regimes, had played a devastating role in throwing
them into the dustbin of history. And currently the TPLF regime is in a deep
quagmire after pursuing similar political agenda. All these regimes tried to
assure the hegemony of a minority and stomp all others, taking this for
granted in the process. Hence, they tried to smash essential factors that
play a decisive role in the existence of a given people or nation like
equality, justice, the rule of law, human rights and respect and, thus
guarantee their power through the ideology of force. However, since there
can’t be a strategy that can serve in subjugating people by terror and fear
forever, at last the Haileselassie and Derg regimes devoid of their strength
were subjected to a fate they both deserved. And we had reached a stage of
the beginning of the last days of the TPLF.
Besides the ethnic politics, which has become the cause of the downfall of
successive Ethiopian regimes, a greater cause of their peril has been
yawning to own what is not yours or this malicious disease of expansionism,
especially towards the sea up North. Expansionism and exploitation can’t be
achieved through sound political approach. Unless, an outdated power-based
ideology and irresponsible adventurism are employed. That is why we
frequently observe the ideologies of power and arrogance to be the main
tools and beliefs of the rulers of Ethiopia. Power and complacence, however,
don’t have the ability to twist the truth as the history of the world has
witnessed and especially as the half century long history of Ethiopia
reiterates. Where there is justice there is perseverance and great
challenge. The power ideology of the rulers of Ethiopia, which has been
continuously smashing against justice, gained nothing but defeat solely due
to this underlying fact.
Emperor Haileselasie’s dissolution of the UN-backed Federation against the
Eritrean people’s choice had resulted in a prolonged bloody war during which
both Eritrea and Ethiopia suffered grave human and material losses, and in
the end became a factor for the Emperor’s downfall. Similarly the successor
Derg regime, instead of attempting to fi nd a political solution for the
Eritrean question, created excitement among the Ethiopian people through
outdated politics and false bravado and gambled with their lives and
resources in the war in Eritrea. In the end, the Derg regime also met with
the same fate as that of its predecessor without even coming close to
accomplishing its goals. Refl ecting on the experience of both the
afore-mentioned regimes, a renowned Ethiopian writer, Be’alu Girma had put
forth a signifi cant advice in his book “Oromay”. In this book, the
protagonist has a beautiful and fl awless fi ancée, which he names as the
“Rose of the Hinterland “. But this individual’s obsession with another
woman he calls the “Northern Star” leads him to lose both women. The author
ended his book with the message that “those who want everything tend to
eventually lose everything” and emplored Ethiopian leaders to realize that
their expansionist dreams will amount to nothing.
In an unfortunate historical coincidence, however, after the two failed
expansionist attempts to the North, the subsequent TPLF regime came to power
with its own version of an astonishing and impractical political agenda. In
the fi rst part of this article, we had seen that the TPLF had from the
start expansionist intentions as evidenced in the points it outlined in the
infamous “Manifesto 68”. After coming to power on the basis of the oppressed
Tigrayan people’s martyrdom and considering itself fi rmly established in
power, the TPLF regime began to take steps to create its dream Republic. To
this end, the regime drew an illegal map of the fantasy Tigrayan republic by
incorporating parts of Gondar, Wollo and the Afar region. What remained was
the land and sea to be incorporated from Eritrea, for which the TPLF
declared war on Eritrea under the pretext of border dispute.
The war between Eritrea and Ethiopia from 1998 to 2000, which had resulted
in formidable human and
material losses and created turmoil in the region, had been waged for two
reasons. The fi rst reason was the TPLF regime’s desire to defeat the
Eritrean people and gain the sea portal its predecessors had failed to
secure. The regime had hoped to come out triumphant from this war and assume
the image of a champion in the eyes of the Ethiopian people at the expense
of the Eritrean people’s lives, and thereby prolong its stay in power. The
second and basic reason for war had emanated from the regime’s mentality.
The TPLF did not believe in Ethiopian unity from the start and realizing
that it cannot stay in power for long in a united Ethiopia, it had gambled
with the Ethiopian people’s lives and resources and declared war on Eritrea
as a fi nal step towards establishing the dream Tigrayan republic. When on
May 12, 1998, the TPLF accused Eritrea of ‘invading’ the town of Badme, the
regime more than anyone knew that according to Colonial Agreements of
1900,1902 and 1908 Badme is an integral part of sovereign Eritrean
territories. But, thinking that the logic of power can cover up the truth
and
naively believing that ludicrous fantasies can turn into reality, the regime
set out to realize its dreams by making baseless accusations against
Eritrea. However, just as its predecessors, the TPLF had not only failed
miserably in the war with Eritrea, but was exposed before the Ethiopian
people and the world at large for the lying, scheming and illegal faction it
is. As a result of this failure, the TPLF leadership was split in half and
its already weak acceptability among the Ethiopian people plummeted.
Bewildered in the face of these developments, the regime has since then been
running towards its demise at a hastened pace.
Yet, the Ethiopian people have had a valuable lesson to learn from the
experience of the three successive regimes’ (that of Emperor Haileselasie,
the Derg and the TPLF) unrelenting wars for Eritrean land and sea. Because
the Ethiopian people had gained nothing from the wars with Eritrea except
lose the precious lives of their youths.
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