Selam Dehaiers:

This is a copy of a letter I e-mailed to Rep. Jackson. For those of you who want to write her, her e-mail can be retrieved by going to www.congress.org.

Dear Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX-18th):

It is with utter disbelief and astonishment that I finished reading the words you spoke concerning the Eritrean-Ethiopian border conflict. I could not fathom why a person of your status and caliber would succumb to that unproductive and unfruitful propaganda that is been disseminated by the enemies of peace. I thought impartiality and the notion of "innocent till proven guilty" is one of the most fundamental values that we cherish and live by as Americans. Your speech in the House floor regarding the conflict was completely devoid of any sense of fairness. The irony was that you were actually calling for a stop to that senseless war that have so far consumed the precious lives of innocent Ethiopians and Eritreans and their meager resources. Unfortunately, your biased and undiplomatic stand was no more different from those in Ethiopia who are still beating the drums of war. Mrs. Congresswoman, as your fellow-citizen and Texan, I expect you, at least, to know what youUre talking about when you stand in that honorable institutions, we proudly call Congress. Eritrea did not become an Ethiopian province when it was federated with Ethiopia in 1952. Eritrea became an Ethiopian province when Ethiopia unilaterally abrogated the so-called federation in 1962; thus leading to the devastating war that lasted for 30 years.

If you know anything about the history and etiology of war, the most futile attempt, is perhaps to pinpoint one single incident as a cause of war. YouUre absolutely right that the introduction of NACFA (Eritrean currency) did play a role in intensifying the already simmering conflict between the two governments, but to solely place the blame on it, is utterly unsubstantiated, unfair and counter-productive. The current Tigrayan dominated Ethiopian regime is known for its territorial aggrandizement. Eritrea is not the only victim of TigraiUs territorial expansionism. If you take a look at the present map of Tigrai, it is completely different from what it used to be 10 years ago. Tigrai has unilaterally annexed parts of other Ethiopian provinces such as Wallo, Oromia and Gonder. A number of independent scholars have written about this, and had you taken a minute to consult these sources, the point would have been glaringly visible to you. Besides, it is incumbent upon you to stay away from the petty politics of finger-pointing if youUve the slightest desire of bringing a lasting solution to the conflict that is doing tremendous harm not only to the involved parties but to the already sad image of the continent. According to former Secretary of State, Warren Christopher, both Eritrea and Ethiopia were regarded as the beacon of hope for the entire continent of Africa, and the continuation of this war is depriving us of that hope.

The border conflict did not start on May 6, as you seem to think. Local Eritrean administrations were repeatedly dismantled by the Ethiopian army, but in the name of peace, the Eritrean government chose restraint (a mistake I think the Eritreans will come to regret when all this is over). It was the President of Eritrea, who first wrote to the PM of Ethiopia to which the PM responded that he would look into and take necessary steps about the territorial violations that Ethiopian authorities were committing. These letters are now public records and any one can have access to them. The Eritreans, later came with the idea that a joint committee be created that will study the situation and peacefully resolve the conflict. It was amid this activities that a group of Eritrean border patrols in the Badme area were attacked and killed by the Ethiopian army. EritreaUs advance into Badme was only in response to this event. Eritrea had restrained for far too long but the death of the border patrol officers was obviously something they could not tolerate. To confine this conflict to what it was, a border conflict, the Eritreans speedily drafted a peace plan that would solve the conflict while the Ethiopians passed a resolution that served as a pretext of declaring war. This peace plan is not much different from the one that came as the result of OAU initiative and US. The only difference being that the OAU initiative demands a unilateral withdrawal of Eritrean forces. This was unacceptable to the Eritreans at the time who advocated that both sides have to withdraw their forces and the disputed areas to be administered by neutral forces till the ill-defined border is demarcated according to international norms. In terms of fairness, the Eritreans were right, but in terms of political expediency and real politics, they were wrong. By accepting the peace plan then instead of now, perhaps, thousands of people would have been spared. It is unfortunate that we live in a world that does not care much about doing the right thing. One thing is true about the Eritreans, they tried hard (relatively) to give peace a chance. Ethiopia, on the other hand, escalated the border conflict into a full-blown war. It started military offensives on all three fronts: Zelambessa, badme, and Burie in the Assab front. It was also the Ethiopians who started the air bombardments. Asmara was air bombed two hours before Mekele was attacked by the Eritrean air force. If you believe Eritrea started the air-war, then, in the words of Jerry Seinfeld, Eritrea must have "violated the immutable laws of physics". This is not rocket science, it is simple arithmetic. Asmara was hit at about 12:00 p.m. and Mekele was hit at about 2:00 p.m. I let you do the Math. It was also Ethiopia that violated the air moratorium that was brokered by President Clinton as was verified by independent sources. It is also Ethiopia that has refused to sign the OAU/US peace plan, and it is also Ethiopia that has expelled 65000 of its citizens who happen to be of Eritrean origin.

It is in light of this, I failed to understand, WHY the representative of District 18 is siding with a government that is engaged in ethnic cleansing, war mongering while five million of its citizens are starving to death from lack of food. IUm not asking you to be on the side of Eritrea, but as your fellow citizen and Texan, I expect you to do your job right. You should not be the jury and the judge at the same time. It is apparent to me that your knowledge of Eritrea and Ethiopia is one-sided and biased. The approach youUre taking will only encourage the irresponsible regime in Ethiopia that is trying to perpetuate its rule at the expense of the Ethiopian and Eritrean people. Your speech was sad news to those of us who are eagerly waiting for Ethiopia to come to its senses and sign the OAU/US plan. At the moment, the OAU/US peace plan is the only hope for the people of Eritrea and Ethiopia and your efforts should be geared towards that. Eritrea should actually be praised for the concessions it has made for the sake of peace, but that might be asking too much from you. Mrs. Congresswoman, have you ever wondered why the small Eritrea is fighting its giant neighbor on the south if it did not believe it has a legitimate claim to the disputed territories? There is no single Eritrean who is not directly affected by this war. Each and every Eritrean has a member of his family stationed at the war front due the firm belief that the territorial integrity of the new nation is at stake. It is this belief that has united all Eritreans and people of Eritrean origin in the US to stand behind the government of Eritrea. It is these people that youUre calling aggressors.

Although, I was saddened by your views, I still appreciate the interest youUve taken on the conflict and I like to wish you success. Thank you. Let me know if the Eritrean-American community in Texas could be of any assistance on the endeavor youUre taking. IUm mostly aware of District 18 due the tremendous respect IUve for the late Barbara Jordan, a woman of courage, fairness and integrity and I hope you live up to that legacy.

Yours Sincerely; Semere Tesfamicael Habtemariam