Woyane Inc. and PsyOp
By: Huriy Ghirmai
December 11, 2004

PSYCHOLOGICAL OPERATIONS: [PsyOp] Planned operations to convey selected information and indicators to foreign audiences to influence their emotions, motives, objective reasoning, and ultimately the behaviour of foreign government, organisations, groups, and individuals. The purpose of psychological operations is to induce or reinforce foreign attitudes and behaviour favourable to the originator's objectives.

· The Offensive against Eritrea

When the Woyane invaded sovereign Eritrean territories in 1997, they had much more in mind than Badme. Badme, of course, was a pretext. Their move at the time was just the beginning of a project that had been fermenting long before.

Ethiopia’s war aim was essentially an expansionist one. The Woyane plan was craftily formulated and intended to have long-term currency. While the ultimate aim of the Woyane project was the defeat of Eritrea and the subsequent subjugation of her people, the strategy involved cunningly ordered set of action plans backed up by a further set of contingent plans.

An organisation of sorts, namely Woyane Inc., was formed to sustain and advance the project against Eritrea in order to fulfil the Woyane dream. In the early stage, Woyane Inc. was primarily made up of the Woyane government in Ethiopia – an ethno-national minority regime dictating affairs in Ethiopia – and its backers – powerful foreign governments that supplied it with material, technical and financial help.

At this later stage, a subsidiary component has been incorporated to the organisation main. The subsidiary consists of front groups and collaborators which receive orders from the movers and shakers of Woyane Inc. The subsidiary, provided that it remains controllable, is supported and financed by the parent company – Woyane Inc.

Woyane Inc. operates much like a business corporation and serves only the interest of the two main stakeholders – the Wayane and their backers – while the subsidiary is a mere tool and remains dispensable. Meanwhile, Ethiopia and her people gain nothing as their country is driven deeper into an abyss of poverty reduced to a mere satellite nation with the elites sharing the spoils with their powerful backers.

Set firmly within this context, the aggression against Eritrea was and is still being conducted at various levels.

· Military Offensive

When the Woyane decided to declare war against Eritrea and its people they were convinced they would win in a short period of time. Their failure to realise their ‘dream’ was largely linked to their cavalier approach to military engagement that saw the needless death of many young Ethiopian soldiers forced to form one human wave attack after another against well-organised Eritrean lines if defence. Blinded by their pursuit of a crazy objective, the Woyane remained and still remain oblivious to the possible destruction they would bring not only to the people of Eritrea but also their own people.

Their military objective of course was the invasion of Eritrea and the violation of her sovereignty. Although they denied that they had any ambition to occupy sovereign Eritrean territories, their action indicated otherwise. It was clear that Badme was just a red herring – their real ambition was much grander than that.

Primarily, for the Woyane , Eritrea had to be smashed in every respect. During the conflict and afterwards, the Woyane went not only for military but also civilian targets. The intention of course was to wipe out all the progress and development that had been gained by Eritrea up until then as well as break the Eritrean spirit. To that end, they did everything they could – including looting and raping women with savage determination.

Back in the heart of Ethiopia and mainly Addis Ababa, they rounded up innocent Eritreans and Ethiopians of Eritrean origin and deported them under the most brutal of conditions. What’s more, they expropriated all their wealth and sent them packing empty handed.

The atrocities the Woyane committed during the course of the conflict firmly indicated a very frightening mindset on their part. Their state organised ethnic cleansing campaign, (over 75,000 Ethiopians of Eritrean descent were expelled from Ethiopia and some put in prison) fronted and its aim chillingly articulated by Prime Minster Melles Zenawi (In July 1998, Meles Zenawi snarled “As long as any foreign national, whether Eritrean or Japanese etc . . . lives in Ethiopia [it is] because of the goodwill of the Ethiopian government. If we say 'Go, because we do not like the colour of your eyes,' they have to leave.”) further attested to their flouting of international laws and conventions with impunity.

The minority government they led was just an out of control bulldozer wreaking havoc on the people of both Eritrea and Ethiopia. All in all, the Woyane regime was like a monster that understood only one thing: expansionism at the expense of everything - human and material.

In 2000, the Ethiopian military project came to an abrupt halt once the Woyane realised that its successive military adventures would always meet stiff resistance. On its part, the Eritrean army had excelled in every battlefield engagement by coming on top. It was obvious that Eritrea’s military prowess would neutralise all that Ethiopia could throw at it. In the end, Woyane Inc. had no other choice but to accept the peace treaty.

The Woyane Inc. military project may have proven to be a complete fiasco; it may not have scored any significant victories in the battlefield against the Eritrean Defence Forces. On the contrary in fact, it failed to achieve its overall goal, namely the defeat and subjugation of Eritreans; suffice to say that Ethiopia’s war of agression caused so much human suffering on both sides and set both countries back in terms of much needed development. Woyane Inc.’s military failure however is not to say that the project has been abandoned altogether.

As things stand now, the Tigrean ethno-national regime in Ethiopia has rejected the EEBC verdict delivered following the signing of the Algiers Peace Agreement. By doing so it has essentially rejected peace between Eritrea and Ethiopia. In light of Ethiopia’s breach of international law, it seems that the Woyane are not finished yet. The minority government in Ethiopia still stands as hostile as ever and ready to plunge both countries into yet another war.

· Psychological Operations

Concurrent with the military offensive launched against Eritrea was the psychological offensive. At the start of the conflict in 1998, the Ethiopian government was quick to let loose a series of lies and fabrications about the causes and complexities of the conflict. At the early stage, the audience of the relentless Ethiopian disinformation campaign was mainly the international community and its own people.

Meanwhile, as it had been in the past during the liberation struggle, Eritrea’s strongest point was still the unity of its people. Here was a country and a people; for over forty years, the people of Eritrea had suffered, struggled and triumphed together. Following independence, they faced off all kinds of challenges united as one.

Post-independence Eritrea was marked by a disciplined drive towards development. The sacrifice of its people was carried through into a new dimension at a much higher level. The goal was and has always been the true emancipation of its people.

Carrying such rich heritage, every Eritrean recognises and appreciates what it means to be an Eritrean. In the light of this fundamental truth, the major obstacle Woyane Inc. faces in its project to defeat Eritrea is the Eritrean consciousness. If Woyane Inc. is to defeat Eritrea then it has to weaken and finally break the conscious Eritrean.

The Eritrean therefore is the prime target in these psychological operations against Eritrea. Since the strength of each Eritrean lies in his/her mind where the Eritrean consciousness is firmly rooted, the aim of the enemy is to reach it, mess with it and eventually, defeat the Eritrean person – game, set and match.

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· Team Disinformation Campaign: the scheme and players
Disinformation, taking away what you and replacing it with counterfeit information, and psychological warfare are now fundamental aspects of Woyane Inc. in the war against the Eritrean; to that effect, it has invested heavily in order to extend its influence in Eritrea.

This fierce campaign is therefore aimed at undermining everything Eritrean; all that the Eritrean person holds dear and sacred – from his identity to his culture – is consistently belittled. Our music even, rich and expressive of what we are as it is, is reduced to being described as barren and one-dimensional. The aim of course is to instil self-doubt and eventually self-loathing in the mind of the Eritrean. Following that, Eritrea, and by extension the Eritrean person is portrayed as a failure. In the final stage, Woyane Inc. hopes to advance the idea that the Eritrean vision – that of a self-determining nation rightfully called Eritrea – is in fact not viable.

For comprehensive success, the Woyane Inc. venture depends on an effective recruitment drive of local collaborators and front groups necessary to subvert the PFDJ and GoE, and install a puppet government and even wage proxy wars including terrorist activities.

The key element of the Psychological Operations, namely psychological war, is directed at every Eritrean. The enemy hopes to demoralise and weaken the Eritrean by bombarding him and her with relentless negative news about Eritrea directly as well as indirectly. The aim of the offensive is to create disillusionment and subsequently a rift not only between the government of Eritrea and the people but to also sow discord amongst the people. Ultimately, the fall of Eritrea and her people would be realised.

The constant barrage of negative news against Eritrea must therefore be seen within this context.

· The Masters: they pull the strings

As far as Woyane Inc. is concerned, a strong, prospering and self-determining nation called Eritrea cannot be allowed to exist. The idea alone is an unviable proposition and has to be undermined.

As things stand now, the Woyane Inc. operations are a fight for the media through which disinformation campaign can be disseminated in order to subvert the Eritrean vision. Journalists of all calibres have been directly or indirectly recruited to further the Woyane Inc. cause. This, perhaps, is an issue that requires further exposure at a later time.

The real masters, those who sit at the desk where all the right buttons are found, remain faceless. Behind the scene however, they bankroll the project; they are the real financiers who contribute money and expert advice to prop up the little people-tools who do the dirty work. They are the main Woyane Inc. investors who are rewarded much in return. These are actors who have great influence in the media and other relevant institutions such as NGOs where they can conveniently dump lies and fabrications; the group includes diplomats and government officials of influential nations who are solely driven by self-interest.

· Agents and Collaborators: they obey

If a foreign power such as Woyane Inc. has an established network of ‘friends’– read lackeys – in Eritrea to convey its ideas to Eritreans at home and in the Diaspora, it will be well placed to intervene in other ways should the need arise. Indeed, basic propaganda campaign can be a way to build a recruitment system to sign up collaborators and front groups necessary to subvert the Eritrean political process and install a puppet government. Such infiltration is paramount if Woyane Inc. is to extend influence over Eritrea and its people.

Woyane Inc.’s players of a lesser kind include paid and friendly – read paid again – agents who collaborate with their Woyane Inc. masters. Where the agents are concerned, a unique threat comes from those who happen to be Eritrean. These people knowingly serve the agenda of no one but Woyane Inc. despite their protestations otherwise. Their reward comes in an office here, a website there and a bit of cash everywhere.

Nowadays, we can see the front groups and collaborators very active to please the parent company. They sit around tables with the sponsors sitting at the head dishing out instructions. What's more, paid agents, including media personnel representing reputable international media agencies, scribble away lie after lie disclaiming ‘according-to-a-source-who-wished-to-remain-anonymous’.

In turn, a bunch of collaborators, Eritrean by blood, supplement the lies, enriching them with further fabrications. Often the two groups, under instruction and tutelage of Woyane Inc.’s mobile agents, compare notes and exchange ideas in their struggle to defeat the Eritrean person.

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The psychological Operations are an aggression against the Eritrean person. This war is intended to humiliate, defeat and ultimately, enslave the Eritrean. The most effective and only weapon to fight it with is the time-tested Eritrean unity – the oneness of all Eritreans in the love for and defence of their country.