By Bereket Kidane
Reading SEMG’s leaked reports to Reuters, I couldn’t help but think of the “menagerie” episode of Star Trek: Reality Distortion Field. Reality Distortion Field refers to someone’s ability to convince himself and others to believe almost anything with a mix of bravado, hyperbole, marketing and persistence.
It is clear that Matthew Bryden, SEMG’s lead investigator, has a Reality Distortion Field. Reality must be malleable to him. He will bend and twist any fact to fit the purpose at hand. He will even imagine an alternative reality as he appears to have done so. At various points, Mr. Bryden comes across as anti-reality when he tries to convince himself and UNSC members that Eritrea is involved in all sorts of heinous and criminal enterprises stretching from the Indian Ocean to the Sinai Desert.
By his own admission, he has no evidence to prove any of his allegations. If he took his case to any Court of Law, it would be thrown out on the spot for lack of evidence! Only in a Kangaroo Court like the UNSC is he able to bring a case without any evidence whatsoever. It is obvious that Mr. Bryden intended his reporting to be unfair and injurious. One hopes that the UNSC members who live outside of Mr. Bryden’s distortion field will recognize his unfair reporting for what it is and do the right thing by immediately lifting the unfair and unjust sanctions on Eritrea.