It is a well known fact that the political culture of Ethiopian leaders doesn't allow for anything like hawks and doves to coexistQat least in the western sense of the word. At any given time, it is natural that individuals within any political leadership take a stand that is considered soft or unyielding with respect to the prevalent views of the day. In the history of Ethiopia though, it is hard to find a period whereby dissenting views were tolerated to survive for a significant period of time, in that the doves are allowed to stay in power or be part of the decision making bodies or groups.

"SHEMEWNA SHEMEMEW " is an Amharic saying which means roughly: have him/her promoted to be purged. The mildest treatment that the dissenters or Tdoves' expect to get was to be appointed to remote areas or foreign countries where it is almost impossible to have contact with like-minded colleagues. During the HaileSelassie era, many ambassadors and provincial governors were said to belong to these category; in other words, those that were systematically purged from the center of power but were spared from jail or assassination.

The history of the political leaders of Ethiopia is rife with intrigues, mischief, assassinations and poisoning of foes and dissenters alike; more often than not, the dissenters are relatively enlightened or outright revolutionaries that try to do away with the system. Case in point is the Eritrean question. During the Dergue era, members of the political elite like Colonel Atnafu Abate, Gen.. Tefrei Banti were not only purged but had to face the firing squad or the assassin's handshake only for showing willingness or tendencies of peace- making or dialogue with the Eritrean revolution. So even if there were doves --or appear to be so --historically they were destined to the Ethiopian inferno.

So what is new with the present Ethiopian regime? Assume you stand at the podium of DR. Negasso Gidada ,The President of the Federal Republic of Ethiopia; then see to your right and left, to the front and back, sideways in all directions; guess what? You will find yourself encircled with a ring of MALELIT- gangs, those Tborn- to be -bandits' sitting at the helm of power in Ethiopia. Now, assume you replace the dummy Gidada and try to find, with the help of the illustrious Dr. Anthony Lake, a dove out of the ring formed by Ghebru Asrat, Abay Tsehai, Mesfin Seyoum, Meles Zenawi, ((Gen.))Tzadkan, et al. Such an exercise is not only futile, but outright preposterous. It is only for the sake of argument that we are using the terms Thawks' and Tdoves'. A misnomer as it is, the MALELIT gangs are the present day African Nazis whose iron fist and hatred to Eritrea knows no mercy, let alone give room to other views that lead to a peaceful solution of the Tborder' conflict.

So when Mr. Lake was alluding on the debate between the doves and hawks who could these possibly be? Or is there any other meaning given to these terms, which we are not familiar with? We all know that the Malelit gangs like their predecessors have mastered the art of deception. Even if they manage to change their beaks they will always chirp like hawks, to say the least. But the reality is that they are neither hawks nor doves, but desert snakes biting any living creature that stands on their way .

The only likely explanation is that Mr.. Anthony Lake, an official of high political profile who has shuttled between Asmara and Finfine (A.A) more than five times should be looking through a different eye. As a former National security advisor and a former director of the CIA, reading into the subtleties of the Tsmart' Woyanes cannot be considered such a difficult task at all. The doves and the hawks he is looking for must be from a different species that have nothing to do with the Woyane realm.

Once again let's put ourselves into the shoe of Mr.. Lake. Indeed, we can see a flock of hawks covering the skies that link Washington with the Tdark' continent, and poor little doves securely caged and eagerly waiting for freedom and action. The key, sent by the master keeper, is nowhere to be found. A blonde hawk has enticed all the rest to ignore the plea of Mr. Lake for the right key believed to have been dispatched by the President. The question that follows this sequence of events is who controls THE BLONDE HAWK.

When Mr.. Lake along fellow American and OAU experts was hammering out the Technical Arrangements for Peace, somebody from the National Security Bureau was phoning several African leaders not to accept the deal. Indeed a strange phenomenon; for one President there is only one Anthony Lake. So who is this other Anthony going the other way? Or let us know if the United States elects another President that is meant for the Tdark' continent. So who is controlling who? Who has set the guidelines for such contradictory actions? Is there any coherent policy guideline? Where does the State Department stand on this issue?

To give Mr.. Lake the benefit of the doubt, at the early stages of the conflict, being unfamiliar with the politics of the horn, he could only rely on the so called experts; experts who are known to have a vested interest in the Horn-- individually or as a group. By now, he is expected to be familiar with the personalities and the integrity of the protagonists to the dispute. For one reason or the other, he has been leaning heavily on the Eritrean side. Now, that he got all the concessions reasonably possible from GoE , what hinders him to apply the same, if not stronger pressure on the Ethiopian side? Or was his mandate limited to pressure only Eritrea? Time will tell.

So we ask: Mr.. LAKE WHERE ARE THE DOVES?

From what we have seen so far, the true negotiation as to the 'dove' and 'hawk' parlance could have been within the various segments of the US Administration and between other extraneous bodies, which have great influence and input into the state machinery. For the failure of their blitzkrieg on Eritrea, with the length of time, the tactful handling of the Eritrean leadership and the impregnable unity of our people, many elements who have been hiding under a diplomatic camouflage, trying to undermine our sovereignty, have been exposed; and many more will follow. People endowed with double and triple representations like the former US ambassador to Ethiopia, David Shin, has been the godfathers of the Woyanes. So, who on earth, except such personalities can possibly present all sorts of obstacles to the efforts of Mr.. Lake to find a dove within or without the US Administration that have no vested interests in the Horn, and bring about a fair and lasting peace? Of course, as we know it, the official US policy is for a renewed relationship between states based on PARTNERSHIP.

After the United States bombed the Sudanese pharmaceutical factory in the suburbs of Khartoum for alleged manufacturing of chemical weapons, it was found out that there had been a wrong information. What was accomplished by such acts? but the most damaging aspect of the mission is who produced the reports that led, for that matter, mislead the United States into taking such measures? In the amorphous US foreign policy making process the "Shins" and "Hentzes" have managed to open a franchise of their own by selling or exaggerating about terrorism and what not to the American body politic. They have so far succeeded in shielding the Woyanes from a serious scrutiny by the US government and other international bodies. Who shields a terrorist other than another terrorist!!

When a beggar disputes over the amount of the alimony of the donor or for that matter over the interest the donor wants to show to his industrious acquaintances, there is something fishy that defies common sense. Ethiopia and mostly the Woyanes owe the United States a lot, let alone to reprimand and procrastinate on a peace deal that was brokered by the same United States. As a matter of contrast in Canada, one of the major US allies, nobody ever recalls when any official let himself/herself loose, with the degree of the Woyane invective, because of an allegedly unfair treatment. It is quite logical then to ask if the United States owes the MALELIT-- Marxist Leninist League of Tigray--gangs any favor that carries such a weight to render ineffective-- with disrespect-- a peace deal brokered by the US itself. Only an emboldened SKUNIS (street boy) can do it.

There is more to be seen lest we speculate in the dark; but it is more than the prodigal son syndrome. Nevertheless , there are many venues open to disentangle the bloody conflicts in the Horn from the stealth and sabotage of these shadowy elements. Let's double our efforts to expose those regressive elements and understand the challenge our government faces not by the Woyanes, but by the real perpetrators of conflicts, the godfathers of the Woyanes and their lackeys. **

Mr... Lake, let The Deity give your honor, the way to find the key, and to Ms. Albright a long political tenure and longevity to see the other side of Justice that complements the one that her honor had been dreaming since childhood. INSHALAH.

ONE H'MANITY AND ONLY ONE JUSTICE!

P.S. My humble reminder to all ITF's is that they point out professionally to concerned state officials or to friends of Eritrea in the Diaspora about the saboteurs of the peace process and the development of our region in general.