For many Eritreans who have no familiarity with the saying and writing of Paul Henze, what he has said about Eritrea and the Eritrean Leadership in his Addis Ababa partisan sermon certainly comes as shocking. On the other hand, for those of us who have watched him beginning some 20 years ago when he was serving as the Horn of Africa expert under Zbigniew Brzezinski at the National Security council of the Carter administration, his sermon at the Addis Ababa Hilton is pretty much an old wine not even in a new but old bottle.

Folks, this is the type of person who always parrot at every opportunity the old tired shibboleth of 3000 years history of Ethiopia and its Ankober elite genealogy and yet, when it comes to Eritrea and Eritreans, oh! he has used every invective that ever exists in the English dictionary. Even the use of salacious phrases are not out of his ethical boundaries. It is to be remembered that in the late 80s, he and his Ethiopian friends such as Hannah Yulma (a founder of the CIA funded Ethiopian Peoples Democratic Alliance - EPDA) are on record going to the end of the earth, to the extent of painting the EPLF as "Kink Marxists." [John Sorenson, Page 101] Also too, on his three consecutive articles in Encounter, a well known CIA subsidised British monthly, and another one in the Wilson quarterly, all of them 1986 issues, Mr. Henze poured all kinds of half truth and innuendoes about Eritrea and the EPLF and worst of all making no distinction with the Dergue. Thus, in light of that tradition, Mr. Henze recent venom is not new. The question is who is Paul Henze and what is his background?

Folks we are fortunate that John Sorenson, in his marvelous book, Imagining Ethiopia: Struggles for History and Identity, have allocated a whole chapter (see 126 to 145) exposing the gibberish and partisan nature of Mr. Henze. I hope Mr. Serenson doesn't mind if I present one page that tells the background of Mr. Henze. Those of you who have the contact with Mr. Sorenson, I beseech you to get permission from him and post the whole chapter that deals with this evil person. The following is Mr. Henze's background which I would like to share hopefully those who do not know him will have a fair idea about his motive and the structure of his political DNA.

According to Mr. Sorenson, "Paul Henze is a prolific contributor (I should say for the wrong and uninformed reason) to the production of the discourse concerning the Horn of Africa. Although Mr. Henze identifies himself as independent scholar, those who knew him intimately like Herman and Chomsky (1988:145) identify him as 'a long time CIA officer and propaganda specialist,' stating that his CIA career began under a cover of Foreign Affairs Advisor in the Defense Department in the 1950, followed by six years as a policy advisor to the CIA controlled Radio Free Europe in Munich. In 1969, he became CIA station chief in Ethiopia, then assumed a similar post in Turkey in 1974 before becoming a National Security Council representative in the White House in 1977. Afterwards, Henze was a Wilson Fellow at the Smithsonian Institution and then became a consultant for the Rand Corporation, a US military allied think tank. Herman and O'Sullivan (1989:86-87) charge that Mr. Henze's move to the Rand Corporation provides a veneer of scholarly objectivity to what are in fact CIA propaganda and misinformation operation (Sorenson : Page 127)"

"In his writing on the Horn of Africa, Mr. Henze makes no reference to any CIA background, stating only that he has 'traveled, lived, and worked in Ethiopia over the past two decades.' This experience allowed Mr. Henze (that's what he thinks) to become a prolific commentator on the region and thus be acclaimed as an expert. For example, at a Michigan State University conference on the Horn, Mr. Henze was welcomed as 'former government official who has built an impressive new career as a scholar.' Yet Mr. Henze's work has been sharply criticized in many ways and at different times. Discussing his book on the purported Bulgarian plot to kill Pope John Paul II, Herman and Chomsky (1988:147) finds 'complete absence of credible evidence, a reliance on ideological premises, and internal inconsistencies.' Similar assessments have been made of Henze's work on Africa. Aseffa (1989-90 : 53) remarks that although Henze 'provokes serious issues,' his writing is 'elitist, paternalistic, complacent, and based on biased premises.' (Sorenson : Page 127)"

"Essentially, Mr. Henze's writing on the Horn of Africa exemplifies the manner in which regional hegemonic discourses are incorporated into global strategies. Antiquity, essence, and identity are dominant themes in his writing, as Henze reiterates legends propagated by Ethiopian elites to legitimize their rule over the empire and integrates them into a Cold War framework. This ideological complex traces the descent of rulers of the modern state to Solomon and Sheba; a related element in Ethiopian hegemonic mythology is the claim of direct links between ancient Axum and the contemporary state. Henze endorses such claims by pointing out that 'like China, Egypt, and Iran, Ethiopia is one of the oldest countries in the world and its beginning are still shrouded in mystery.' Similarly in a Rand Corporation report, Henze terms Ethiopia 'one of the oldest states in the world,' implying correspondence with Axum. In short, emphasis on Ethiopia antiquity is a consistent rhetorical technique in Henze's work. Incorporating mythology used by the Amhara ( and now the Woyanie) elites has always been and still is Henze's way of ingratiating himself with the powers that be of the American political landscape particularly the 'Eastern Establishment.' (Sorenson : page 127 - 128)"

Mr. Henze, deep down, knows that his Woyanie friends are using a draconian rule over every Ethiopian no less than the Dergue to justify their contemporary ideological struggles. To Mr. Henze, however, what is important is that the Woyanie profess and adhere to the free market mentality of the West and as a bonus directly linked to Western consumption, the requirement is for the Woyanie to say few purported hosannas to the memory of Solomon and Sheba from time to time that helps to mislead Western supporters of Greater Ethiopia who have uneasiness about the radical tenets of greater Tigray. So long the Woyanie are in touch with this line of ideology, Mr. Henze doesn't give a hoot with what ever the extension cords of Ankober do with the citizens of every kilil. In his unprincipled mentality, Woyanie's declaration of unjust war over a neighborly country to satisfy their revanchist desire is pretty much acceptable and he said it in unmistakable terms in his Hilton Sermon of hate against Eritrea. No Folks! Mr. Henze is not concerned about the 55,000 Eritreans and Ethiopians of Eritrean origin who were robed by the Woyanie gangista their lifetime saving account, their business, and their property in broad day light as Western diplomats were watching. Nor Mr. Henze cares about the thousands of innocent Eritreans who are rotting at Meles ZenawiMs Gulag, Blatien, continually watched 24 hours by the barrel of the gun of the evil Woyanie.

What Mr. Henze hate with the utmost passion is to hear the fact that "contemporary Ethiopia is not one of the world's oldest states. Emperors Yohannes and Menelik expanded their territory through arrangement with European colonial powers in the nineteenth century, and contemporary borders were only attained by annexation of Eritrea in 1962 and other Oromo lands in the late 19th century. The 'mystery' shrouding the origins of the contemporary state is introduced by Henze himself, in order to authenticate claims for the antiquity of the Ethiopian empire and thereby legitimize U.S. support. (Sorenson : page 128)"

Furthermore, it is an open fact that the sole source of war and devastation on the Horn of African has always been the very structure of the Ethiopian state. As Alex De Waal memorably put it "the Ethiopian state has never been built on the principle of wealthy creation. Instead it has always sustained itself through wealth extraction by forcibly controlling land, labor, and assets of rural people, particularly in the south and north, and by extracting commodities at rates well below what would be established in a free and fair market. Historically, the state was compelled to expand geographically incorporating and subjugating new peripheries in order to generate new flows of wealth to the center. After territorial expansion became impossible, the state instead created artificial frontiers of neftegna settlement program and turned to intensified exploitation on all areas incorporated (De Wall : 36)" This was true in Menelik times as it was also true in Hail Sellassie, Mengustu and in Mr. Henze's exploitative expansionist Woyanie. In the Time of Haile Sellassie, the flow of wealth from the south to the center was found not to be enough. As a result, to augment the cash shortage from the south, Haile Sellassie and his Ankober elite and I must say in the best tradition of Menelik and the Italians, ended up renting the entire highland of Hamassien to the Americans. The Americans with the help of Ethiopian soldiers confiscated every farming area without worrying to pay a cent of compensation to the owners of the farms. By the time the Americans finished building the communication station (Kagnew), the whole area surrounding Asmara was full of Radio transmitters and Radar antennas. In fact Kagnew was the American military's topnotch listening post where they watch Soviet military movement in Africa, the middle East, and all South East Asia which in turn made Asmara and its environs as the primer target of the Warsow Pact Forces. But this risk to the citizens of Eritrea never bothered the Ankober elite since in the Ankober scheme of things, the 100 million American dollar yearly rent that flowed to the coffers of the Ethiopian state was far more important than the safety of the citizens of Eritrea. And Why not! Haile Sellassie is on record saying that Ethiopia's interest over Eritrea was and is centered on the land not on the people. For Mr. Henze all this wealth flowing to the center is pretty much acceptable. To him, what is important for any government that exists in Ethiopia is to adhere to the interest of the US. He opposed the Dergue not because of their human right abuse but because they were friends of the Soviet Union. His support to the Woyanie is now unconditional because of US self interest even though he knows full-well that the Woyanie are human right abusers with all their evil practice of taking wealth of Eritreans and the Oromos and channeling it to their beloved Tigray. (For better treatment on this issue see De Wall, "Evil days: Thirty Years of War and Famine.")

A lot can be said about Mr. Henze background but as I said earlier, Mr. Sorenson has done a good job exposing Henze's Cold War mentality exceedingly well in more than 18 pages and I urge readers to consult his book. Mr. Sorenson has a vital information to share not only on Henze but on the whole idea of "Greater Ethiopia" and thus those who thirst for truth about the Horn of Africa need to go through his book.

The most fascinating aspect of Mr. Henze is, before the Woyanie came to power, he use to hate them with an equal passion and commitment. Now that the Woyanie are baptized by Henze's holy CIA water not to mention Henze zeal in giving a tour to Meles Zenawi around Washington in the early 90s, introducing him to some Congressional members, and making available a copy of the Bill of Rights and the Constitution of the United States. All these are reasons enough for Mr. Henze to be staunch supporter of the Woyanie even though the Woyanie are nowhere near in practicing what it says in the Bill of Right about freedom and human value. For now even Mr. Henze's former Amhara elite friends don't count. His Woyanie friend comes first and he is determined to continue supporting them to the hilt regardless of the human right abuse the Woyanie perpetrated over thousands of innocent Eritreans, an abuse that is fully documented by most International Organizations including Amnesty International.

The sad fact is such blind support of the likes of Mr. Henze instigated on the mentality of the Woyanie gangista to perpetrate unjust border war and so far more than 40,000 Ethiopians are dead and wounded. The question is, I just wonder whether Mr. Henze spent thinking even for one minute about what novelist Norman Mailer called "The Naked And The Dead" in all the fronts particularly in Badme and Tserona who were used as Woyanie cannon fodders. I wonder too whether Mr. Henze has any intention to visit and to talk to the Ethiopian mothers who will never see their beloved sons and husbands and whether he has any desire to include them in his forthcoming book about Ethiopia the pain and suffering of these mothers. All these questions are relevant issues. After all, he and his Woyanie elks started this unjust war on the mistaken and sordid belief that Eritrea is a pushover with little or no resource on its belly other than unneeded and worthless "Salt." Yes Mr Henze and his Woyanie friends has a lot to answer for the carnage and mayhem they perpetrated on the thousands upon thousands of underage innocents who will never see and enjoy the sun rise again.

Finally what I would like to say is this. Everything Mr. Henze parroted in his Hilton sermon pretty much mimics the Woyanie line verbatim and such gibberish hullabaloos are already answered in may essay about "Hitler and his Woyanie Imitators." So I see no need to answer him line by line.

My only hope is for the Mr. Henze to see the road of truth the fact that Eritrea is not some type of banana republic and it is here to stay free and forever. Reminding you for the last time Mr. Henze, allow me to say few words in the capitalist parlance and that is: Like the good folks of Florida, the people of Eritrea own the land, they own the tree, and they also own the company. It is also not negotiable. Remember, Eritreans fought a thirty years war so that they will be free not only from your Amhara friends but also from the punishing eyes of the CIA too. And Yes! Whether Isayas is a dictator or not concerns only Eritreans. Mr. Henze would do well to remember this axiomatic boundary line.

In sum, in all this hard to swallow times, my most unequivocal sadness is the fact that the Woyanie are leaving a lot of dirt of hatred between innocent peoples: Eritreans as well as Ethiopians. Eritreans use to be by nature a very forgiving people. Now I am not sure whether this will happen again. What I am beginning to see in every Eritrean man and woman mantra is what one finds in Shakespeare play, Henry IV, where Sir John Falstaff hurls the following stanza to Prince Hal:

"O, thou hast damnable iteration, and art indeed able to corrupt a saint: thou hast done much harm upon me, Hal, God forgive thee for it: before I knew thee, Hal, I knew nothing, now I am, if a man should speak truly, little better than one of the wicked. (See for example Harold Bloom, "Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human," page 283)

Indeed!!!! May God forgive the Woyanie and their friends like Mr. Henze for they know not what they are doing.

Peace and harmony to all..