Greetings! Victory is ours, for our cause is just.

Indulge me, brothers and sisters, for if you are  feeling as I do, you would have no time for any  analysis from any source other than that from  Asmara.

I want to declare my solidarity with you and here  is my message.

There is no problem with individuals,or, society  having dreams, big dreams. Dream big, aim high,  that is the secret of success, I am told. But there  must be a point where you have to be realistic, the  ability to distinguish between what is achievable  and not. Take the case of Eritrea and Greater Tigrai.

Eritrea achieved its independence against all odds.  Infact all "seers" prophesed Eritrean independence  as a pipe dream; it would be a mircle if it materialized,  they said. Well the mircle did happen.

What was it that drove Eritreans to overcome such odds?  What possessed them to have a single minded, iron will to  achieve their dream, the dream of a liberated Eritrea?

The answers may vary in number, but the core reason is  Eritreans' desire for freedom, to enjoy their Allah/God given  right to liberty and the persuit of happiness, a desire  universal to all human beings. This universal need is  equated with life itself. Life without freedom is not worth  living. The demand for freedom is ever present, and so is   the iron will to have ,to keep and to safeguard it.

Juxtaposition Eritrean desire for freedom with that of  a Greater Tigrai dream. Greater Tigrai is an imperial dream.  It is not about fundamental freedom. It is about subjugating,  taxing, exploiting and achieving "Greatness" for the people of  Tigrai on the backs of other people. This is not a universal  human need. It is not even an all Tigrai people's desire, for  all can not benefit from an imperial ambition. Only a handful.  The people of Tigrai enjoy the greatest freedom in the present  day Ethiopia, already. They have more opportunities than any  other nationalities in Ethiopia. It is only a handful, the gang  of MLLT, that will benefit from the imperial dream of Tigrai.  This gang has poisned the people of Tigrai with a historical  elixir of greatness that has brought them in conflict with their  neighboring peoples.

The MLLT gang will not stop from attempting to achieve their  dream, for they have dreamt it for a long time in the field. They  are possessed by it. This devil that possesses the gang is  driving the present conflict between Eritrea and Ethiopia. There  is only one thing that stands between them and their cherished  dream. Eritrea. Eritrea has continued to turn their dream into a  nightmare. The Eritreans fundamental need for freedom is  anathema to Greater Tigrai. One can not exist with the other.

Greater Tigrai can not exist with a free Eritrea. For Greater Tigrai  to exist the people of Eritrea will have to give up their freedom. They  would have to forget a hundred years of resistance, and the sacrifices  paid during the thirty year armed struggle. In plain words, Eritreans  will have to kneel down and accept to be subjects of Tigrai.

I have yet to meet an Eritrean willing to give up his hard won liberty.  Eritreans will never kneel down to Greater Tigrai. Eritrea will  overcome, for its cause is just and its desire universal.

Awet nHafash
Tesfai Bahta
Oakland, Ca.