This page has already chronicled how, in the past 21 months, the Ethiopian government has lied (and was caught lying) on the issue of maps (colonial and home-made), cross border air raids, (timing, sequence, damage) imaginary military victories (Zalambesa, Geza Gerelasie, Asab bombing), accusations of Eritrean instigation of war (Adigrat) and downplaying its acts of aggression [(against Eritrea, in July 97 as evidenced in the Isaias-Meles-Isaias letters); against Sudan (in 95 when it confiscated farmers properties that it is returning now); against Kenya (94-99 in its unauthorized cross-border "hot pursuit" of insurgents and sending of assassination squads); against Somalia (since 92 in an attempt to create 3 Somalias out of one)], deportations, (denying that the deported Eritreans were Ethiopian citizens; false claims that Eritrea is engaged in deportations) and many, many more. All of these have been documented by worthy and credible third parties like Amnesty International and news agencies such as The Guardian, Reuters, AFP and the Times of London.

You'd think that at some point--particularly after the Tsorna Debacle where its bankrupt military strategy was on display for the world to see--the Ethiopian Government would know that the jig was up and try a new approach. Something novel, like, uh, telling the truth. If not telling the truth, at least to lie less blatantly. But no such luck when you are dealing with a severe case of arrested development.

Take the recent example put out by the FDRE's official spokesperson via its official website on February 12, 2000. Please. Citing an Eritrean radio interview given by Yemane Gebrab (Head of PFDJ's Political Affairs Dept and Special Counsel to the President), the article "Eritrea: Consistently Inconsistent" is an attempt to showcase that Eritrea is an unreliable peace partner. Among many other incoherent ramblings the Ethiopian Government uses to make its claim stick is the following:

the advisorclaimed that Eritrean forces have not occupied any Ethiopian land. In fact, Gebreab went one step further and ridiculously suggested that Ethiopia has occupied Eritrean territory. Given that the OAU plan calls for Issaias' army to withdraw from all the Ethiopian territories it has invaded and occupied, how can the Eritrean government seriously claim that it accepts the agreement when it has not only consistently refused to abide by the plan and withdraw from the land, but now even denies that it has invaded and occupied Ethiopian territory?

Note how the above passage makes it look like that: (1) at one time (period unspecified) Eritrea had agreed that it had invaded and was occupying Ethiopian territory; (2) that the OAU Agreement calls on Eritrea to withdraw from Ethiopian territories and (3) that the claim that Ethiopia is holding Eritrean territory is ridiculous.

The problem (for Ethiopia) is that all its positions are easy to discredit:

1. Eritrea has never, ever, agreed that it is occupying Ethiopian territory. Not now, not in February 1999, not in June 1998. No matter how many champagne bottles it opens and how often Ethiopia christens the disputed lands as "Ethiopian", they are not and they won't be until and unless the demarcation process is completed. Even if Ethiopia conducts another human wave assault and captures the territories as it habitually threatens), the territories will, in the eyes of the world, still be "disputed." Until final demarcation, no matter who is occupying them, the territories are disputed. So when Yemane Gebreab states that Eritrea is not occupying Ethiopian land, he is being consistent with what the GoE has been saying for the last 21 months.

2. Neither the US-Rwanda proposal nor the OAU Framework Agreement nor its Modalities for implementation nor the Technical Arrangements call on Eritrea to withdraw from "Ethiopian territories." The agreements call on Eritrea--and Eritrea agreed in February 1999, nearly a year ago--to withdraw from territories it did not administer prior to May 6, 1998. BUT, contrary to claims of the Ethiopian Government, the Eritrean withdrawal is NOT a stand-alone issue. In the eyes of the mediators and the world, the withdrawal is a part of a process that begins with cease-fire and ends with permanent demarcation of the common border. This is stated, in black and white, in plain English, in all the OAU Agreements. The reason is simple: just as the Ethiopian Government wants assurances that Eritrea will withdraw from every territory it did not administer prior to May 6, 1998, the Eritrean Government wants assurances that once it withdraws from the territories, the Ethiopian Government will carry out in good faith and in the presence of third parties the issue of ownership once and for all. This is not an issue of semantics; it goes to the heart of why thousands of lives were lost so far. Again, there is no inconsistency here; what Yemane Gebrab is stating is the position advocated by the Eritrean Government on May 14, 1998 via its Council of Ministers (who are more representative of Eritreans wishes than the Ethiopian Government's Council of Ministers is of Ethiopians wishes.)

3. Unless Ethiopia is now claiming that the OAU modalities and the Tech Arrangements are ridiculous, there is nothing ridiculous to the claim that Ethiopia is occupying Eritrean territory. In fact, point two of the OAU Modalities (which, we are often reminded, has been agreed to by Ethiopia) is that Ethiopia should withdraw from territories it occupied during the February 1999 battles (areas it it did not use to administer prior to May 1998.) In fact, one of my worthy Ethiopian debators has bragged (on record, at Walta) that the Eritrean-territories Ethiopia is now occupying are larger than the disputed territories Eritrea is occupying. Is Ethiopia now voiding point two of the OAU Modalities Agreement that it supposedly agrees with? Or is this a new claim by Ethiopia that the territories it captured in February are all Ethiopian?

The truth of the matter is this: even if Eritrea were, effective tomorrow morning, to unilaterally withdraw from every single square inch of the disputed territories, there would be absolutely no change in the Ethiopian Government's attitude. There would be days of silence, followed by a meeting of the Ethiopian Cabinet, followed by a declaration that Ethiopia is not fooled by Eritrea's insincerity and that if Eritrea is truly committed to peace, it should 123456 followed by a new list of preconditions.) This is not a wild speculation; after all, this is precisely what Ethiopia did in March 1999 when it felt it had the upper hand and then tried to enforce its wish list by attacking the Tsorona front.

It is true that the Eritrean Government--and many of us--had, for months, naively stated that the dispute is a simple border dispute. But when your opponent makes it a habit of deporting innocent people; when your opponent renegs on terms of an agreement that you negotiated in good faith; when your opponent makes it known that he would like nothing better than your destruction and is busy making doomsday preparations, it is easy to reach the same conclusion Yemane Gebreab did: the Ethiopian Government is not interested in peace and justice; it is interested in regional domination and revenge.

Even as it continues to respond to humanitarian appeals, the world is finally wising up to the Ethiopian plan. Congressman Benjamin Gilman has accurately diagnosed the TPLF malady; in a meeting with Eritreans, Susan Rice has stated that the US has warned Ethiopia that the US will come down "like a ton of bricks" if Ethiopia follows up on its threat. The OAU is still (surprisingly) standing firm by its interpretation of its own agreement. Kenya and Sudan are understanding what Egypt has known for years: Ethiopia's insatiable regional ambitions.

But more importantly, the Eritrean Defense Forces have been preparing for the eventual Ethiopian attack and Eritrean citizens have been providing the moral and material assistance for their survival. This is what Yemane Gebrab stated and this Eritrean refusal to assist in its own demise (as countless other organizations like the OLF, TLF, EPRP, Somalia have done)is, more than anything, what makes the Ethiopian Government mad as hell.