Somalia, not our war!
By Tadesse Tadele
Nov 28, 2006 — Throughout its history, Ethiopia had experienced repetitive external aggression against its sovereignty and territorial integrity. The Mahadists, the British, Italy, Somalia and very recently Eritrea had taken aggressive approaches and had invaded our country. In almost all these cases the Ethiopian people stood shoulder to shoulder and fought back in a spirit of unity with diversity. During such external aggressions, that threatened our sovereignty our people kept their differences aside and fought and scored victories in all the battles. In the above mentioned wars, Ethiopia was never been the aggressor, but the victim; it never invaded those countries but was invaded. Our forefathers won each and every battle for they had the moral, legal and political upper hand.
However the current war declared against Somalia by the PM Melles Zenawi lacks the spirit of Ethiopianness which our forefathers possessed. In this case, Melles invaded Somalia, that is, his soldiers are present in Somalia’s territory and not the other way around. Melles did not present us with any single evidence that shows that the Islamic Court Union (ICU) has crossed into our national border which we share with Somalia. Instead, he is using lame excuses to make the case that ICU is a threat to our national security.
One of the excuses is that the ICU has declared jihad against Ethiopia. Yes ICU did declare jihad but only against the Ethiopian soldiers who are present within Somalia territory. Even if the ICU had declared jihad against Ethiopian army present in Bidao, the PM had no legal or moral ground to send our soldiers to Somalia as long as ICU did not attack us within our own territory. In addition to wanting to directly engage the ICU militarily, the PM admits the presence of Ethiopian troops in Somalia in order to prop up the unpopular transitional government of Somalia. Again, PM Melles has neither the moral nor legal ground to be the caretaker for the fragile transitional government that has failed to stabilize the Somalia. It is true that instability in Somalia does affect Ethiopia, however, the Ethiopia PM is creating a very unstable Somalia by trying to install and safeguard a failed warlord led government that has been rejected by it own parliament. Therefore it was the illegal presence of Ethiopian soldiers on Somali soil that led the Islamists to declare jihad, and as far as the Ethiopian people are concerned the jihad was declared on Melles and his group not our country!!
The PM of Ethiopia also accuses the ICU of having links with terrorist organizations such as Al-Qaeda, therefore, it poses a threat to Ethiopia’s national security and international peace. We can not say for sure whether ICU has such link or not because neither the US nor Melles Zenawi had provided tangible evidence. Moreover we have not seen a single terror act conducted by ICU. Therefore I would say that these accusations could be similar to that of America which accused Saddam for having Weapons of Mass Destruction. As we know today, the truth is there was never been WMD possessed by Saddam. The accusation was based on false evidence to justify Bush’s aggression and invasion of the sovereign Iraq. Even if we assume that the ICU had links to terror groups, Melles has no legal ground to invade our eastern neighbor in defiance of the international communities’ plea to restrain. As terrorism is becoming a global challenge, the war on terrorism should be fought with a wider participation of the international community. The PM should learn from the failure of the Bush administration who declared a unilateral war on Iraq defying the legitimate international body, the UN. President Bush, who disregarded the UN and other nations because of the American hegemonic power, now faces uncertainty and unpredictable crisis. The US who went to Iraq to “finish the job” in less than 6 month is still stuck in Iraq after 3 years, which is longer than the American involvement in the WWII. At this time America is in a position where they can neither pull out nor stay in Iraq. If Melles proceed with his current madness and send our youth to Somalia without the mandate of the Ethiopian people and the international community, the horn of Africa will be embroiled in a crisis much worse than the one we are witnessing in Iraq now.
The third excuse Melles present is the role Eritrea is playing in training and arming the ICU. Mr Afaworki, the President of Eritrea, just like his counterpart in Ethiopia is making a terrible mistake by involving in Somalia’s internal affairs. This actually shows the basic similarity these two leaders have. These are the two leaders who collaborated in dismantling Ethiopia, and later triggering a nonsensical war between the two states that cost the lives of more than 100,000 innocent youth for nothing. Having said that, Melles does not have to invade Somalia just because his rival is involved. As long us Eritrea does not re-invade our sovereign territory along the ICU, Melles has no legitimate reason to declare war on Somalia. For Melles who actually stopped our soldiers from capturing Asmara that could have deposed the current regime in Eritrea, it is a shame to prepare our youth to be re-slaughtered again for the same stupid proxy war with Eritrea on Somali soil.
The unjustified invasion of Somalia that the Melles regime is undertaking is simply Melles’ war, and not Ethiopia’s war. If this war break up as it is declared by Melles, the Ethiopian people do no benefit any thing. It will have a devastating consequence for Ethiopian people in general and for our people who live in the East bordering Somalia in particular, namely Hararghe and Ogaden regions. It is important to remember that these are the regions that had suffered frequent drought especially during this regime and recent flood disaster from which they have still not recuperated yet. It will be a crime against humanity for this regime to make these people suffer from this unjustified, illegal, immoral and pointless war once again.
Therefore, Ethiopians from around the world should voice against Melles’ war-mongering stance and help stop this regime from leading our country to disaster. We should tell the world that this is not our war; neither does it reflect the tradition in which our country has engaged its neighbors in the past. Our Somali neighbors should also call up on the ICU not to cross into our national boundary. The Somali people deserve to be ruled by the group they believe would bring peace and harmony to their country. If they support ICU for such reason, the Ethiopian people would not object. However, the ICU must refrain from crossing our border for any reason whatsoever. The question of Ethiopian Somali’s should be addressed within Ethiopia through peaceful negotiation with groups such us the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF). ICU has no legal ground to speak on behalf of Ethiopian Somalis and nor does Melles has the right to invade Somalia. Our Eritrean brothers should also demand their government not to use Somalia for a proxy war with the Melles’ regime. The war PM Melles is gearing up to start in Somali will be a disaster for the people of Ethiopia, Somalia, Eritrea and the region as a whole. In order to prevent such a disaster befalling the horn of Africa, the war hawks in the region, particularly Melles Zenawi should be stopped sooner than later
After all this is not Ethiopians war! This war is the desire of Melles and his cohorts who are accustomed to thriving by terrorizing our people, this time in order to divert attention from its domestic political tensions. Stop them NOW and safe thousands of lives!
* The writer is an Ethiopian college teacher residing in Dire Dawa and can be reached at [email protected]