Ethiopia: Déjà vu of War
By Kassa Ayalew *
The head of Ethiopian government, Prime Minister Zenawi, told his parliament and foreign journalists that his country is already invaded and under attack by the jihadist leadership. The Prime Minister accused the Jihadist for training, equipping and smuggling the so called “armed opposition elements” to Ethiopia since last summer.
Dec 16, 2006 — The undemocratic Ethiopian parliament declared war against Eritrea under the pretext that Ethiopia must “stop Eritrean aggression and punish the terrorist invaders” not long a ago. As result of that declaration, about 100,000 innocent soldiers were killed in battlefields and ten of thousands of families and individuals faced tragic deportations and dire humanitarian consequences. The same parliament that has not yet learnt from its past blunder echoed again the readiness and preparation to invade the eastern neighbor Somalia in the name of protecting Ethiopians and the rest of the world from terrorists’ threat.
The truth of the matter in waging this war against Somalia is the regime’s desperation to stop the uprising resistance movement within and outside Ethiopia which has been intensifying since the May 2005 election. The elaborate scheme (fighting the terrorists’ threat) by the dictatorial regime that attempts to justify war against Somalia may play out different this time given the fact that the Ethiopian rulers’ trustworthiness credential has been shattered and their decade’s long democratic pretension has hatched for worse.
Invading a neighboring country in the name of terrorism will not be adequate to convince the majority of Ethiopians fight against those who have chosen to remove their autocratic rulers through armed struggle. Instead of attempting or going to war to defeat the uprising movement under the pretext of fighting terrorists, it would have been smarter if the rulers make a “declaration” that addresses the root causes of the conflicts at home.
As the cost of war, the dictatorial regime and the Islamic extremists’ are waging, will not only end up decimating an already fragile economy and burden the people in Ethiopia and Somalia but it will also destabilize the whole region along affecting thousands if not millions of innocent people. No matter the Ethiopian rulers’ imagination to justify this war or the next to come, the majority of Ethiopians and Somalia’s regardless of their faiths are unlikely to subordinate themselves to the dictatorial apparatus or Islamic extremists’ delusion to establish a “Greater Somalia” or quench their obsession to remain in power at any cost.
Given the fact, that Western powers continue to assist dictatorial despots, it will be up to the Diaspora to demand the West instantaneously ceases assisting the growing genocidal gesture that has been orchestrated and promoted by the despised regime in Ethiopia and its lobbyists in Washington. The Diaspora
need to demonstrate that the current expensive and paradoxical endeavor by the UN, USA and EU would not have been essential, if the West had abandoned assisting dictatorial regimes such as Ethiopia’s that are primarily responsible for the rapid expansion of extremism in the region.
The Diaspora must intensify its struggle and stand firm in demanding that Ethiopia’s and Somalia’s policy must be ruled under OAU objectives stated in Article II of the CHARTER to promote the unity and solidarity of the African States; to co-ordinate and intensify their cooperation and efforts to achieve a better life for the peoples of Africa; to defend their sovereignty, their territorial integrity and independence; to eradicate all forms of colonialism from Africa; and to promote international cooperation, having due regard to the Charter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
EACA believes that Ethiopian and Somalis in Diaspora have to work together more than ever to avert the “Déjà vu of War” that will potentially descend the Horn of Africa in to a nightmare and result in disastrous tragedy.
* The author is the chairperson of Ethiopian American Civic Advocacy. he can be reached at [email protected]