Weyane’s Cyber Warriors: Bombastic Words and Meaningless
Utterances
By: Asmerom Kidane
November 3, 2003
1. Introduction
This article is light and is meant to entertain readers; at the same time the
piece will try to show how bankrupt Weyane cyber warriors have become. The information
is extracted from Weyane websites such as Aiga, Deki Alula, Solidarity and others.
These websites are owned and operated by Weyanes who hail from Tigray.
Before the April 2002 EEBC ruling and especially during the war with Eritrea
(1998-2000) Weyane cadres along with many Amhara chauvinists were all over the
cyber and air waves attacking Eritreans and their leaders. Both the Weyanes
and their partners of conveniences-the Amhara chauvinists- were not interested
in the welfare of Ethiopia and its people. The Weyanes were/are so unpopular
in Ethiopia; in order to appease their critics they had to open a war with Eritrea.
They also wanted to further their Greater Tigray project by expanding the surface
area of their province at the expense of the adjacent Ethiopian provinces and
at the expense of a sovereign country. The Amhara chauvinists wanted to see
a conflict between the two Tigrinya speaking people hoping that they will eventually
be decimated; their final wish being a return to their old glories. During the
1998-2000 border conflict both the Weyanes and Amhara chauvinists claimed that
the Ethiopian broad masses had risen for the occasion and that tens of thousands
are ready to defend “Ethiopian sovereignty”. The truth is that Ethiopia
has more than 20 million unemployed or underemployed youth. The Weyane government
offered them a salary of 420 Birr per month if they are enlisted in the army.
This amount is more than that paid for newly graduated teachers, nurses and
other mid level professionals. It is this ‘incentive’ that lured
young Ethiopians to join the invading army; unfortunately most ended up being
mowed down, in thousands, at the hand of the Eritrean defence forces.
After the failure of Weyane aggression, after the Algiers peace agreement and
subsequent EEBC ruling, the Amhara chauvinists seem to have abandoned their
Weyane counterparts. Many Ethiopian websites have been closed for lack of interest
and earlier cyber warriors became moot. The only remaining sites are the ones
run by hard core Tigrinya speaking Weyanes. As will be highlighted in the subsequent
paragraphs of this piece, whatever they post nowadays is devoid of substance
–full of ‘Zerraf’ type words and meaningless phrases. In contrast
it is heartening to note that Websites run by Eritreans – Dehai, Biddho
Alenalki etc.- seem to post articles that are logical, well researched, modest
but relevant, and up to date. Many of the contributors such as ……
the Asghedes…….. the Ghideons…… the Sophias……and
the Tekies……write factually based and well articulated pieces some
of which could even be considered for publication in peer reviewed journals.
Our writers are not only careful and serious but most important truth is on
their side.
Many useless articles have been posted on various Weyane websites and one cannot
waste his time reading all. Most of the Weyane articles that are being reviewed
have appeared after April 2002 EEBC border ruling. These selected pieces deal
mostly with Weyane cadres’ reaction to the border ruling. Again the aim
here is to show how the Weyanes and their sympasizers ended up becoming bankrupt.
You are therefore invited to relax a bit and enjoy their utterances! Kindly
note that the underlined phrases constitute the writer’s reactions.
2. Weyane Cyber Warriors, the US, UN and EEBC
Some of the Weyane cadres who claim to be scholars appear to be out of reality and literally out of their minds. Professor Tecola Hagos and a certain Atnaf Seghed are cases in point. In his article on August 17, 2003 and with regard the EEBC border ruling and the pending bill in US Congress, Professor Tecola had this to say;
……If the United States government continues to act in such irresponsible
and juvenile manner, I suggest Ethiopians should seek other friends in Africa,
Asia, and Europe and completely stop all relationship both with the United States
and the United Nations…………..It is in fact ironic that
such a young nation as the United States, with less than two hundred fifty years
history, is trying to judge and dismember Ethiopia, a nation over twenty times
older than it………If Meles Zenawi has a single drop of loyalty
to Ethiopia, he should do the following:
1. Immediately stop all contact with UNMEE.
2. Notify the United Nations that Ethiopia has withdrawn from all border negotiation.
3. Declare all agreements in connection with the Conflict with the “Eritrean”
Government, including the Algiers Agreement null and void on the ground of coercion
by the United States and England, and corruption of the Commissioners, clear
conflict of interest violations.
4. Open secret negotiation with other Veto Power Governments for full cooperation.
5. Declare National Emergency. Inform the People of Ethiopia that the United
States has sided with Eritrea. And prepare people for long sustained struggle
for Ethiopia’s Sovereignty and Territorial integrity.
6. Call AU conference on the impending crises of Ethiopia’s Sovereignty.
Strengthen relations with all Sub-Saharan African Countries.
7. Open Recruitment of Military personnel.
8. Notify the United States Government to Recall its Diplomatic Mission to Ethiopia.
And recall the Ethiopian Ambassador to the United States with his mission.
9. Freeze all international debt payments.
10. Resign and allow a New Military command structure to be established to lead
Ethiopia in its confrontation with its enemies.
One can only say that Professor Tecola is in an ego trip.
As a continuation of this ego trip Ms Fana Yibrah in her article of September
30, 2003 and titled ‘Ethiopia Tabesih Idewiha Habe Le Egzeabher’
made the following statement……
……….You will, of course recall, when, time and again, countless
staunchly devout patriotic Ethiopians definitively, eloquently explained how
the complacent Giant named Ethiopia would take its time to rise up, and once
it did, there would be no turning around, no looking back, until she had shown
the world the meaning of true justice and fairness………Ethiopia
has to watch for herself – no more self-pity! She now has what it takes
– UNITY-UNITY-UNITY-UNITY-UNITY-UNITY………This is going
to be a formidable battle and there is a long way ahead until the finish line.
Ms. Fana deserves the highest cyber warrior medal
In his diatribe of August 27, 2003 the second cyber warrior, Atnaf Seghed comes
with a ‘noble idea’ to counter the proposed US/UN sanctions on Ethiopia
…….if it is for fear that the US government will deny Ethiopia economic
aid, Ethiopians in Diaspora, more than two million of them can contribute more
than US$1000.00 each payable in one year at $85.00 monthly amounting to US$2000000000.00
that is two billion US dollars in one year and that can continue if you do what
is best for Ethiopia. Ethiopians back home can contribute much, much more than
this……...
This is simply wishful thinking. Ethiopians in the Diaspora cannot even rise
one half of a dollar per person to feed their fellow famine victims.
Tigrai English (a must read!)
Cyber warrior Atnaf Seghed is quite a character. In his attempt to intimidate
the BBC and Egypt, he literally translates Tigrinya into English, word for word.
On April 21, 2003 he wrote the following;
………BBC, please, please stop colluding. We are watching you
BBC. We have enough enemies. We are taking this boarder problem extremely serious.
We are taking note of friends and foes. Ethiopia has eternal archenemies, of
which Egypt is one. They have to be told openly. Eritrea is fighting proxy war
for Egypt against us. The Egyptians must heed danger because we have the Nile,
their lifeline. We can handle them with it if they keep on tampering with our
national interest and security. Besides, they live in glass houses…….
3. Weyane Cyber warriors On Mr. Annan and Sir Elihu (EEBC President)
Weyane’s attack on the above dignitaries is no less extreme. In his article
of October 15 2003, cyber warrior Ghirma Yohannes had this to say
……Given the present reality Sir Elihu and Secretary General Annan
, have not been honest and openly to the Ethiopian people with regards to what
they mean by international law…….Thanks to those like Sir Elihu
and Mr. Annan who are over whelmed by their own diplomatic self righteousness
and understanding between right and wrong, have been able to transform the UN
tasks and peace efforts to irrelevance. ……
The attack on Mr. Annan continues unabated; Atnafseghed adds the following
……... Doesn’t Mr. Kofi Annan know that Ghana is independent because of Ethiopia?……How can Mr. Annan bless a biased and impartial dangerous ruling? Such dangerous rulings will reverberate all over Africa. Perhaps this is an intrigue coined by enemy elements with hidden agenda for Africa……We know and remember that Mr.Annan was siding openly with the Eritreans when they blatantly aggressed Ethiopia and we don’t expect him to do anything right this time either…….
4. Weyane Encyclical (?)
Some of religious leaders from Tigrai seem to join the Weyane band
wagon. Instead of concentrating on their pastoral and ministerial duties and
instead being conciliatory as prescribed by the Almighty, they are attacking
the EEBC border ruling, thus abdicating their spiritual responsibilities. In
his August 21 2003 letter to Mr. Kofi Annan (with a copy to many international
organizations) The Bishop of Adigrat Abba Tesfa selassie Medhin made the following
contradictory ‘appeal’;
May the grace and peace of Our Lord Jesus Christ be with you………the
(EEBC decision) represents a totally arbitrary and undemocratic proposal by
the Border Commission……….,.
The above ‘holy testimonial’ seems to be mild compared to the one
by the ‘VERY’ Reverend Abba Tesfamariam Baraki . In his article
titled…..The EEBC crime of justice….the Abba has this to say;
………On October 3, 2003, the members of the United Nations have,
once again, in the words of St. Augustine of Hippo, trampled justice" and
behaved in the name of their kingdoms as "gangs of criminals on a large
scale". They have carelessly and mercilessly exposed a tiny ethnic minority
living between the countries of Eritrea and Ethiopia to the danger of disintegration
and possible ethnic cleansing. Sooner or later this action may impact adversely
all Ethiopian people………… the writer of this statement
would like to appeal to the Ethiopian Government and all Ethiopians not to bend
to unjust demands and pressures from the United Nations, the European Union,
the African Union, and the United States Congress and from the rest of the international
community. ……
The use of crude language and the blatant attack on the UN and EEBC by Tigrean
religious leaders is very unfortunate.
5. Weyane cyber warriors attack on Eritrean writers.
Naturally one should not expect Weyane cyber warriors to be less lenient to
Eritrean writers. Their barrage of insults has no bounds. Here are some;
A newly inducted cyber warrior in the name of Sophia G. Selassie (NOT TO BE
CONFUSED WITH OUR OWN SOPHIA TESFAMARIAM!!!!) attacks Eritrean writers by stating
that …… the so called Eritrean intellectuals, who do not understand
the consequences of their “badmouthing”, particularly when it comes
against Ethiopia…….It is very disquieting to observe the short sightedness,
narrow mindedness, and undisciplined behaviors of their intellectuals……..
After her rude and crude diatribe Sophia had the audacity to make the following
statement…….Because of our culture of civility and modesty, we Ethiopians
have become victims of an uncultured, valueless neighbor………
Fortunately Sophia rightly admits that Ethiopians are indeed European type colonizers;
this is what she had to say….
……..If (The Eritreans) they do not accept defeat, recognize Ethiopia
as their powerful colonial power, and accept the fact that Ethiopians are their
colonial masters, there will never be peace with Eritreans. That is the historical
fact………
Sophia identifies herself as an MD (a Doctor). Someone should advise her that she needs to see another Doctor before it is too late!!!!.
6. Weyane Cyber Warriors Versus Their Leaders….A dessert
The worst foul language of the cyber warriors are directed at their
leaders.
In an editorial titled ‘Meles Must Resign’ the following statements
were made;
.......We can not and must not allow cannibalism to devour us all. …….We
must bring those who put our country in the trajectory of the current quagmire
to justice. The criminals are obvious as are those who must bring them to the
court of law. The criminals are Meles and his "Palace Group" and those
who must apprehend them, the Ethiopian Defense Forces (EDF). In this light,
we ask the EDF to open up their eyes and heed the people's call. They must arrest
Meles and company and place them at the mercy of our courts………!
The ‘hottest part of the hell’ seems to be reserved for Seyoum Mesfin-their
foreign minister. The language the cyber warriors used was so unusual that I
even hesitated to reproduce it. In any case, this is how they described their
foreign minister (Ethiopian Commentator May 21, 2001)
………..There can be no question that next to Sadam Hussein’s
Foreign Minister, Tarik Aziz of Iraq, Meles Zenawi’s Foreign Minister,
Seyoum Mesfin is the most unfortunate, disgraceful and a grotesque criminal
alive today. Phenotypically, he is handsome, well dressed and with an aura of
regal anchored on a semblance of solidity. But unmask the façade, or
better said, simply watch him disembowel himself, and one is left with a man
totally empty, a shell, phony, born liar, and an opportunist extraordinaire
rigged to the core with credentials of filth and evil! Such that he is and he
has been for the past twenty-nine years, we have come to learn thanks to the
split in the TPLF leadership, which in effect resolved the filthy rotten from
the naïvely pure. The split having lifted the curtain, with the façade
gone forever, we have come to learn that indeed looks can be deceiving! …..Wow!
7. Dear Readers;
It is hoped that the above highlights have not only been entertaining; but most
important a clear manifestation of the bankruptcy of Weyane policy and their
propaganda machine. Weyane cyber warriors have miserably failed to articulate
and transmit their ‘points’. This is because truth is not on their
side. Their policies are based on cumulated lies and deceptions. In the end
truth prevailed; these cyber warriors have no hard facts to foreword; that is
why they have resorted to personal attacks and eventually ended up being paranoid.
We should pity them.