The pomposity of Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi is beyond belief. In his May 31 '00 briefing to the diplomatic community in Addis Ababa, he makes all sorts of bombastic assertions as if he had achieved a commanding victory over Eritrea. Clearly, his attitude betrays US appeasement, which makes the present Eritrea-Ethiopia war far from over. Just as it did with Hitler, appeasement of Meles is presently generating unparalleled bloodshed. Accordingly, the appeasing party is invited to a show of carnage as Eritrean troops slaughter their Ethiopian counterpart.
Take for instance Meles' declaration during his briefing, "So far as we are concerned, as of today, the war is over." The Prime Minister's closure of the war curtain could work if only Eritrea had thrown in the towel. But as Reuters June 1 '00 news wire reported, "Ethiopia accused Eritrea of attacking its positions on the eastern front of their disputed frontier on Thursday, a day after Addis Ababa said the two-year old border war was over." The obvious question: if the war were over, why are Eritreans and Ethiopians still engaged in raged fighting ? Each day of continued war renders Ethiopia's so called victory a blur that has, if at all, yet to materialize. Nevertheless, the US support the Prime Minister enjoys and the Russian mercenaries under his payroll allow him to act like and utter words of a superpower.
The Ethiopian Prime Minister continues, " As and when the military operations being quite successful, a number of our friends might have felt that the temptation to go beyond the clearly stated objectives would be too high. One cannot deny that the temptations were there. But we believe principles are principles." When a man who deported the elderly and the sick from Ethiopia invokes principles, that is the time to vomit. On January 29, '99 Amnesty International reported that 52,000 Eritreans have been deported from Ethiopia under horrific conditions since the beginning of this conflict in May '98. The report states:
Women, some of them pregnant, children, the elderly -- even hospital patients--are now being arrested and detained in the middle of the night. ..People of ages, from babies to pensioners, are imprisoned in harsh conditions for several days before being forced to board buses under armed guard with only one piece of luggage each--if that--and being dumped at the border. They arrive hungry and exhausted, and often ill, after the three-day journey.
The "temptation" alluded by Meles is Ethiopian occupation of all of Eritrea, including the much sought Eritrean Port of Assab. The Prime Minister fully realizes that in war there is only one principle that matters: destroy thy enemy if you can. So far, Meles has proved to be incapable of destroying the Eritrean army and, consequently, deliver to his constituency its most intensely desired prize: the capture the Eritrean Port of Assab. To his disappointment, Eritrea's army is still intact, government still standing, and economy still pushing forward. The Eritrean army has pushed the invading Ethiopian soldiers from much of western Eritrea, the Eritrean government is still insisting that there will be no cease-fire under the terms requested by Ethiopia, and as reported by VOA's Nick Simeone on June 2 '00, the IMF projects that Eritrea's economy is expected to grow 3-4 % this year despite the war.
Meles' bravado is not limited to his premature declaration that the war is over or his ludicrous invocation of principles. He also expresses his intent to continue to occupy undisputed Eritrean land due to security concerns, "Shilala and the high ground between Zalambessa and Senafe do not fall into Eritrean hands before we have a final peace agreement." This begs a simple question: why is Ethiopia, the so-called decisive victor of the war, insisting on security guarantees against Eritrean attacks? Shouldn't the Ethiopian Prime Minister be imposing his terms on Eritrea instead of being afraid of Eritrea? Unfortunately, he can get away with making bombastic statements because of the US support he enjoys and the Russian mercenaries under his payroll.
The US is already feeding Ethiopia's army by using as an excuse the highly exaggerated figure of 8 million famine victims. In his May 28 '00 Boston Sunday Globe article titled 'Feeding the War Machine in Ethiopia', Sam Barnes writes:
..a USAID official explained the unquestioning support for Ethiopia this way: "These (Ethiopians) are the good guys".. Zenawi was being courted by the United States and the broader international community. They were afraid of losing him. So they remained silent and compliant. Regardless of human rights violations, a war against Eritrea, in the view of the United States, could be tolerated.
Furthermore, on May 29 '00 The Washington Post's article on the war quotes a diplomat, "We need these guys (Ethiopians) because we don't want American troops in Sierra Leone." The idea is to get Ethiopia to participate in the African Crisis Response Initiative, a US program in reaction to the 1994 Rwanda genocide, at the expense of a tamed Eritrea.
As for the Russian mercenaries, below are few names from the senior personnel of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation that actively participate in the war against Eritrea:
Additional names from the long list of Russian senior specialists working in the Air Force (mainly pilots), anti-aircraft missile systems, heavy artillery and multiple rocket launchers as well as radar specialists, logistics, military operations advisers include:
With US support and utilizing Russian mercenaries, Ethiopia has succeeded in making a mockery out of the OAU Peace process. Before its May 12 '00 invasion of Eritrea, Ethiopia rejected all UN resolutions on the conflict, accepted only its own interpretation of the OAU peace texts, and refused to sign any peace documents. After the invasion, Ethiopia has caused the displacement of over 500,000 Eritrean civilians, bombed Asmara's airport on May 29 '00 as well as an internationally financed power plant near the port of Massawa the day before, and occupied undisputed Eritrean territory. Contrast this with Eritrea's acceptance of the OAU Peace plan in its entirety and full, US verified, Eritrean withdrawal from all disputed territories according to the plan.
Clearly and for the world to see, the US, the Russian mercenaries, and Ethiopia are attempting to destroy Eritrea. With the international community's tacit approval, appeased Ethiopia will not stop at the Eritrean Port of Assab; it will proceed to the Eritrean capital of Asmara. As noted by New America Foundation's Robert Kaplan in his May 23 '00 piece in The New York Times titled 'Fate and War In Eritrea', " ..the Tigreans, once ensconced in the Ethiopian capital, have adopted the imperialist legacy of their former enemies (Stalinist Ethiopian dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam)."
This effort of appeasing Ethiopia will be costly in terms of human lives. In self-defense Eritrea will put up a most damaging fight by relying on its experience from its 30-year war of independence against Ethiopia. As a result, tens of thousands of Ethiopian peasants will continue to die as Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi sends them as part of incessant human waves that will face heavily entrenched Eritrean artillery. On June 4 '00 Eritrea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicated that over 3,700 Ethiopian troops have been decimated in a one-day battle on the Assab front. On June 5 '00 AFP reported that approximately 2,500 Ethiopian soldiers died in Dedda, near Barentu. Hence, to the appeasers of Ethiopia, the ensuing massacre is on you!