Meles farted in the middle of the United Nations Security Council -- he flat out told the council that Ethiopia rejects the Boundary Commission's decision and declared it "null and void". He was insulting the court, but instead of finding him in contempt....

Secretary General Annan pretended that was only a burp and said God Bless you -- he simply complied with Meles's request for a new mechanism... and a dialogue. Moreover, Annan declared that Meles's problems are "all internal" and that Meles needs to see a gastro-intestinal specialist....

On dialogue: these countries have had many forms of dialogue, including bilateral dialogue prior to the 1998 war, threatening dialog via their media and internet, violent dialogue from 1998-2000 that consumed from 70,000 to 120,000 people, court dialogue in front of the EEBC.... That's where the UNSC, USA, EU, AU, Algiers came in: to witness the agreement and become enforcers of the decision of the EEBC and the eventual implementation of their legally-binding agreement, after their violent dialogue....

It is truly pathetic to see that under Mr. Annan's watch, what was believed to be a slum-dunk peace keeping operation, one of a kind, has been an expensive disaster for the United Nations and is about to blow up to war in front of their faces.

Fast-forward, back to the future....

The war between Ethiopia and Eritrea has been about anything but the border. As stated in numerous postings, it has only been about Ethiopia trying to subjugate Eritrea and, either directly or via its own puppets, to control the entire country and its fate. Eritrea demanded to be treated fairly and respectfully, be it by Ethiopia or the UNSC -- thus earning Mr. Annan's declaration about Eritrea being hard to deal with -- the most undiplomatic statement by the world's diplomat. For anybody who has been following the events, it is abundantly clear that Ma.Le.Li.T. has never accepted any of the deals it promised to accept, any of the memoranda it agreed to, any of the promises it made -- be they to the American president Clinton or to the Security Council -- all these, thanks to powerful support, although thinly veiled, from members of the European Union and the United States. Even on the day the EEBC's verdict was announced, when the Ethiopians were jubilant, some of us were of the opinion that TPLF will eventually reject it -- because Eritrea won big by getting its borders legally delimited and the TPLF simply does not appear to be at peace with that.

So, what's next?

First of, I hope and pray that there will not be any shot fired and that both sides will calm down and end this disaster legally and peacefully. And, quickly. I also hope that the UNSC comes up with a resolution that has real teeth -- a fixed timetable of how the border will be demarcated, tell Eritrea to immediately let the UN surveillance copters and UNMEE personnel to resume operation, and tell Ethiopia to immediately / unconditionally accept the legally-binding EEBC decision and to not be a stumbling block in the EEBC's work. That's what my heart wishes, because I do not want to see even a single Eritrean life to be lost on this. Unfortunately, my mind disagrees....

The UNSC will not do the above, it will not come up with a resolution that will be binding on both parties that will remain consistent with the court's decision. Thus, it seems that an all out war is about to start. If all goes well for Ethiopia, a disasterous consequence for Eritrea, such a war could cost Eritrea its very independence. As a result, Eritrea will become a thorn for Ethiopia, plunging the whole neighborhood of the Horn of Africa into one big mess, again. This will surely make the suffering and death of Ethiopians and Eritreans a daily occurence inside Eritrea. May be out of the headlines, but Eritrea will once again be a graveyard for countless, nameless, faceless Ethiopian youth.

The other consequence of an all out war, the flip side of the above, if you will, is that Ethiopia as we all know it may cease to exist. Thanks to the TPLF, ethnic federalism has already done a devilishly superb job at making the numerous Ethiopian ethnic groups to be highly suspicious of one another. And, thanks to the TPLF, they are especially suspicious of the one in their northern most -- the people of Tigray. Remember ethnic cleansing?

Whichever outcome Meles wants to see, Tigray and Tigreans will be the first losers. But, I wonder if he cares about them more than he cares about his power.

Whichever outcome the USA (or the EU, for that matter) wants to see, (in an attempt to "punish" Eritrea????) both are lose-lose scenarios for its own interests. Both of the above will create a very fertile ground for terrorists in the Horn of Africa and both countries already have their home-grown terrorists. Oh, they will also have to feed the millions of refugees both cases will create, for their own conscience.

My negative sentiments about the UNSC are simply based on the fact that the USA is busy blaming the dead in Ethiopia mowed down by Meles ("they deliberately provoked violence"), Mr. Blair doesn't want to embarass his new friend in Addis (with friends like Meles, who needs enemies -- British press will definitely remind him of this), the Russians are busy selling arms to both sides, and our African brother has been sleeping at the switch for a couple of years now -- probably consumed by allegations that he may have nodded and shared some of the dough with his son / friends dealings in Saddam's oil-for-food program....

I do not believe for a minute that anyone of the above cares about any of the Ethiopian blood that is spilling in the streets of Addis now or that that is about to flow at the border areas. If they claim otherwise, they have to prove it to all of us. After all, these two countries are the world's poorest and can essentially be TOLD to completely, immediately, unconditionally implement a decision rendered by the EEBC court several years ago. However, as we all know, UNSC resolutions are to be respected if and when they are aligned with the interests of the big powers. Otherwise, the UNSC just remains seized... and snoozing... and spitting out more resolutions.

Finally, all Eritreans should remember all of this come election time and those in swing states especially should remember to vote in blocks to tip the balance of power.... A topic for some other time.