It seems as if through a twisted and deranged cognitive process, the Weyane leadership has convinced itself that nothing transpired before, on or after May 6th, 1998. This is not unprecedented. Criminal lawyers have made references to convicted criminals who "become" convinced of their innocence and strive to prove it with utmost vigor and determination. A factor that might have contributed to this insane mental state could be the transformation of the concept "status quo ante" into a mantra and the Weyane's obsessive preoccupation with it. They have been using it without any shame as a diplomatic ploy, battle cry and may be even a toasting motto.

What is ludicrous is their attempt to get the international community to adopt this mantra and stoop down to their level of insane reasoning. What a bold task to undertake. And yet one ought not be surprised given their recent sense of omniscience and omnipotence as demonstrated by their consistent pattern of deceit and contempt towards their own people and the international community. Of course the motive behind this drama is to sidetrack the key players in the peace process from the most salient aspect of the peace plan: delimitation and demarcation of the border according on international colonial treaties. For obvious reasons this particular issue is anathema to the Weyane leadership. They realize it will drag them into the negotiation table and make face questions for which they know they do not have truthful or valid answers.

Hence, their strategy, to use a legal analogy, is simple and I may add understandable given their situation: circumvent a trial because in an impartial court we all know what the verdict is going to be. The actual meaning of the concept-status quo ante- will be revealed. It will mean the illegal occupation of Adi Murug, gradual encroachment towards Badme, the issuance of the illegal map and the unprovoked murder of Eritrean soldiers. The world will finally realize that it is dealing with thugs cloaked in ties and suits. I believe this is the psychological context which should be considered in analyzing the recent rejection of the OAU peace package by the Ethiopian Government It is a plan that the US Government characterized as " fair, balanced and comprehensive". In fact, in August of 1999, President Clinton stated on national television that a fair peace plan had been found and that peace was at hand. Additionally, the plan has been endorsed by the international community including the UN and the EU.

The Eritrean Government realizes that the peace plan calls for more concessions from it. However, determined to move the peace process forward it has publicly expressed its acceptance and consistently called for delimitation and demarcation of the border according to applicable colonial treaties.

If this conflict degenerates into a full scale war, it will be the largest in the world. Along each side of the border, 600,000 troops are facing each other. Already 70,000 troops have died and tens of thousands more will perish if the war resumes. Additionally, 75,000 Eritreans and Ethiopians of Eritrean descent have been illegally expelled from Ethiopia and their properties valued at 800 million US dollars expropriated without any veritable legal course and 1500 innocent Eritrean youths are languishing in prisons under deplorable conditions. Such actions, which are tantamount to ethnic cleansing, have been confirmed and denounced by international organizations such as the UNHCR, AI, ICRC and the OAU. Hundreds of thousands have also been internally displaced.

The international community continues to acquiesce and even worse reinforce Ethiopia's blatant violations of international laws. For example, according to credible sources, Ethiopia is the biggest recipient in Sub-Saharan Africa of European financial Assistance under the Lome Conventions and concessional aid from the World Bank. In 1998, it received close to US $ 400 million in budgetary support from the IMF and the EU alone. It was also the beneficiary of close to US$ 1 billion from multilateral and bilateral donors in its fiscal year 1998. Additionally, from January until September alone, Ethiopia received 520,000 tons of food aid principally from the US, EU and the WFP. It has requested additional food aid as the number of people threatened by famine reaches seven million.

Obviously, if , as the above responses indicate, Ethiopia's adventurous behavior is wittingly or unwittingly reinforced, it will continue to taunt the international community. Consequently, the conflict will inevitably degenerate into another round of military confrontation. Clearly, the international community should realize that appeasement as a response to such acts of defiance will not exact the desired rational behavior from Ethiopia

During the last several decades, the peoples of Africa have experienced numerous massacres as a result of several inter and intra state conflicts either because the international community failed to heed warnings of impending danger or due to myopic geopolitical considerations. Africans are entitled to the same inalienable right to life, peace and prosperity that fellow humans in other continents are. Hence, it behooves the international community in general and the US in particular to protect such a right in Africa with the same passion, determination and political conviction that they display in other regions.

In collaboration with the UN and its European partners, the US acted in Kosovo and East Timor and averted potentially genocidal atrocities. It has also been actively and constructively involved in the peace process concerning this conflict but has been hesitant to be firm with Ethiopia. Its lack of resolve has contributed to the prolongation of the conflict and consequently unnecessary deaths and destruction. Military intervention is obviously not warranted, however, the US must publicly call on Ethiopia to accept and sign the OAU peace plan without delay and discontinue all aid until it does. It should also call on its partners to put pressure on Ethiopia and urge the World Bank and the IMF to halt all economic assistance until it clearly and unequivocally demonstrates a commitment to a legal and peaceful resolution of this conflict.

Tesfay Aradom