1- Hibret Berhe:  

Kab guyey mewAal ksad mHaz. To the point without beating around the bush. How true. Superb articulation. The lady articulated like no other reformist before. With all due respect, her colleagues, 15 of them all her seniors, had to write tens of pages just to say what they didn�t say after all. She said it all in less than a page.  The type of system that has imposed itself on us doesn�t understand benevolence. It has a political language of its own; Ambassador Hibret spoke the PFDJ language with eloquence. It is significant.

This is a woman who went through the cold and hot with her colleagues and qualified to be an important player. She is a woman; she spoke for women. She is a mother; she spoke for mothers. She is an Eritrean; she spoke for Eritreans. We hope that all the mothers who are forced to disown their children, husbands and brother should be assertive; the Hibret type of assertiveness.

It is known that women are the pacifiers in humanity. Eritrean mothers should not watch silently when their dignity is trashed in the name of war. They should cry loudly and not agonize in solitude when they lose their children for unexplainable wars that the leaders admit are senseless. When there is equality to die, equality to be assertive for one�s right follows. Hebret spoke for the mothers. Forget affirmative action, as some Diehard Isaiasistas try to paint the appointment of Hebret to the Ambassadorial position. In fact by saying that, they are showing their ignorance about the role of Eritrean women in the struggle. They are also displaying their ugly male chauvinism by degrading women; to them, women can only attain high positions through affirmative action. Isn�t this a disgrace to our Heroines? Worse, those who air such degrading remarks are certainly the ones who do not carry anything between their legs.

Asked to comment about Ambassador Hebret�s scathing critique of his boss, an Isaias apologist was quoted by the barely-awake BBC correspondent, Alex Last, as saying: �in war it is the strongest that can take the strain. She has not got the stamina�. Look at that!  In case they have lost their calendar, along with their senses, it is now July 2001.  The war was over in May of last year, one year and two months ago. While they are running here and there and making remarks to normalize relations with their adversary, the Weyane, they make comments that will make you think the war is still raging on. Cheap talk and cheaper propaganda. We have said it time and again; these people are psychologically at war all the time. As far as we know, Ambassador Hebret resigned just last week after the end of the war that they mismanaged. Yet, they accuse her of not having stamina! You have to be submissive and subservient all your life to spare yourself from the defamations of the unjust system.

We pray that they get the morale courage to address the points that Ambassador Hebret raised in her statement and give way for the people to take their destiny in their own hands: give power to the people.  All power to whoever says that, including Ambassador Hebret.

2- Dr. Ahmed Hassen Dihle: The Incompetent

The ambitious man was purposely neglected because as the PFDJ says, time and situation were more important than to put a spotlight on Dr. Dihle. But now the man spoke and when he spoke, true to the PFDJ culture, he made a Wedini remark.  [Definition: A wedini remark is a vulgar, �macho� statement made by PFDJ officials so they can reinforce their view that the Front represents all segments of Eritrean society, including the skunis and wedinis: the iwalini class.]  Al-Sharq Alawsat, an Arabic newspaper carried his remarks in the usual �an Eritrean Authority said�� quoting Dihle. This means he happens to speak on behalf of Eritreans through the authority that he acquired illegally because the whole PFDJ system is an illegal setup. But was his remark the straw that broke the resilient camel�s back? Not even the hump.

Well, here�s the remark: 

Recently, Dr. Dehli met the people who defeated him in court. He was transiting through the Yemeni Airport where he claims the Yemeni security mistreated him. He was coming back from Abu Dhabi after boycotting a conference organized by the Zaid center that was to discuss one thing according to the organizers and another thing according to Dehli.  Assuming that there was a correspondence before Dehli arrived in Abu Dhabi, any person who has been to a conference will attest that one cannot be surprised by the topic of the conference because he would know beforehand what the topic was. Never mind.

As Dr. Dehli was being interviewed by a reporter in Yemen, he used the Wedini expression, which is characteristic of the PFDJ wedini culture. He was trying to affirm Eritrea�s right, as a sovereign nation, to enter into military or non-military pact with any party. So far, standard political boilerplate.  But to emphasize that such decisions are sovereign rights of Eritrea alone, he said: �alli mush Ajbu yesherb mn moyet albaHar. Translation: �If anyone doesn't like that, they can drink from the Sea water�.   Eritrean diplomacy on display.  Many of the PFDJ disciples will cry, �Haqu! TSibuQ geberom!  Right On! But how are we Eritreans expected to have friends with such foul language and infantile attitude? If the PFDJ ever losses an inch of Eritrean soil to Ethiopia in the border demarcation arbitration, we know the culprits are our incompetent statesmen and diplomats.  There is precedence for this:

Remember the Hanish Island that we lost to Yemen? Of course you do. You just have been conditioned not to call it a �loss� but a �draw.�  

Yes, we lost the Hanish islands and the PFDJ is expecting us to consider that as a victory in the annals of our history and move on simply because they abided by the decision of the International Court. They want credit for abiding by an International court ruling that they can�t reverse anyway. No problem that they lost the case and were the cause for Eritrea�s loss of the Islands for ever �including the pious blood that was spilled in the Islands. Yet, they want to consider that a victory! They were the cause for Eritrea�s loss of the Island, again forever. What happened in the Hanish case?

Dr. Dehli, the head of the Eritrean Center for Strategic Studies was in charge of collecting and researching documents to support Eritrea�s case. He opened offices in Cairo and another in London for the purpose and task of collecting documents. The relatively huge bundles of documents that Dr. Dehli collected in his international offices as well as in his Asmara office, gave him false confidence (byproduct of wedini culture)  that he considered the case against Yemen won before the court deliberations even started. Dr. Dihle and the whole PFDJ system started belittling the Yemenis. Dr. Dihle was so confident of himself, he began to overestimate his modest knowledge of documentation and his research experience. All the team needed was an experienced chief. And there was the minister, Saleh Mekki.

Saleh Mekki who is currently the minister of health was the Minister of Marine resources during the Hanish confrontation between Eritrea and Yemen. He was the chief of the Eritrean team that faced the Yemenis. With Mekki and Dihle on the team, anyone should have known that we were losing the Islands. And we did.

Dihle�s appointment was as a result of his PhD and his knowledge of Arabic while Mekki�s qualifications were because he was the Minister in charge of the Eritrean Fish population and of course, Hanish has a lot of fish around it.

The appointment to the team of the Eritrean delegation was all political and not based on experience and knowledge of International Law, negotiating skills or Research credentials. That is why you have the chief of the team, whose experience, besides being a loyal Isaiasist, is in Anesthesia. An Anesthesiologist and a Doctor in philosophy, Mekki and Dihle, leading a modest team of lawyers represented Eritrea in the International tribunal. They faced the Yemenis who had an army of lawyers and specialists ranging from someone who did document research all his life to experts in all sorts of related law. The Yemenis won. The Eritreans lost. The PFDJ considered the loss a victory because it was abiding by the ruling! That established PFDJ�s genius and wizardry in presenting losses as victory.

Now we are facing Ethiopia on the task of demarcation. The same old ECSS is collecting documents and Dr. Dihle heads the center. So far, we have heard of PFDJ�s victory after causing the loss of a third of Eritrean territory by ill managing and ill equipping the Eritrean Army. A third of our population is still trying to settle down after being displaced for three years and exposed to humiliation and handouts. A third of our land is infested with mines that are claiming lives by the day. Our dignity was violated in a third of our country. Thousands of our fine men and women gave their lives in what the leadership is repeatedly characterizing as a senseless war. This would have been worse if not for the resilient Eritrean Army that fought gallantly. The Army fought gallantly when its hands were tied from behind thanks to the incompetent political leaders.  Yet, the PFDJ leadership is considering the miracles of the ERITREAN ARMY as its own. Never mind. Still, we have a border to demarcate.

The politically appointed team that will (and is) handling the border case with Ethiopia is heading towards the same fate as the Hanish team. We are just worried that they will lose chunks and probably ports of Eritrea and as usual, will present to us the losses as victory. We are raising the red flag for all Eritreans who might have missed or underestimated this risk. We are warning you all. 

Now here, people will say, �what do you expect them to do?  Eritrea�s resources are limited.�  Eritrea�s resources are limited but they are choked even more when the PFDJ continues to marginalize and exclude competent Eritreans and equates loyalty to the party and loyalty to the country. The Woyanes recruited convicted mass murderers to advance their interest but we are too busy excluding decent people whose crimes were to disagree with the PFDJ vision of ruining the country.  

3- General Sebhat Ephrem: The Order Taker

An army man who is said to be an avid reader of philosophy and military science, Sibhat is a military machine no doubt. However, at this juncture, no one knows where Sibhat is standing. The Army, as Sibhat well knows is the guarantor of law and order. It is the guarantor of security and safety of the people and the country�s territories. When the people, their safety and their sovereignty are in danger, the Army sets the squares straight.

In the Nuremberg trials, most of Hitler�s army tried to defend themselves by saying that they were just executing orders from their commanders. They didn�t get away with that. The line between obeying orders and human responsibility was clearly demarcated after Nuremberg. Today, Slobodan Milosovich faces the same reality. One can no more squander the lives of people and walk away Scott free.

Idi Amin of Uganda, Pinocheot of Chile, Gemal Abdelnasser of Egypt or Sewar Al Dhahab of Sudan? Which one is it? All Military commanders who followed different paths. Then there is the Military establishment of Turkey who would not tolerate a slight deviation from the constitution. The Eritrean Army has a different evolution than the rest. It was formed as an Army of volunteers dedicated for the protection of Eritreans and their territories. Now that Eritrea is a sovereign state and its people are supposed to be free citizens, the army should be on their side to ensure that they enjoy their rights. It is the people�s army and would not be used against the people. We hope that Greneral Sibhat, representing the army, if he has to take a side, it would be on the side of justice and the well being of Eritrea. 

4- The New US Ambassador To Eritrea: The Holder of the Purse Strings

Eritrea suffered in the so-called cold war that was an inferno for us Eritreans. We paid the price of America�s strategic interest in the Red Sea. American Jet Fighters bombarded our villages; our people were killed by M-14 totting Ethiopian soldiers who proudly displayed US Army stamped in all their gear. And their Mac trucks and Jeeps testify to that. Interestingly, the Eritrean people never developed an enmity to the USA unlike other countries. During the seventies and eighties, the USA played partisan politics and widened the gap between Eritrean factions. Finally in the eighties, the Carter Center and the State department neglected Eritrean nationalist forces and threw all their eggs on the basket of one faction of the Eritrean revolution. The cost of that bad decision is the result we are suffering from now.

In the nineties, we were made to play the American game with Sudan. Understanding well that the Ambassador will have to execute his government�s plans, we hope that the incoming ambassador will not push the strategy of using Eritrea beyond its capacity. This nation of ours has bled enough and we demand of the Ambassador to support Eritreans in their wish to throw away the gun and catch the train of development that has left us long distance behind long time ago. We do not want to be burned by the Israeli/ Arab conflict. We do not want to be burned by the Sudanese fire. We are tired. This nation is exhausted.

5- Isaias Afwerki: The Irrational

One attitude that was enhanced during the last ten years is chauvinism and arrogance. We were sure that what some people called charisma is no more than a blackmailing veil. What some people call �brutal honesty� is a vulgar language that can only be found ingrained in his background. What they call eloquence is an insensitive vagabond language. What they call courage is veiled in a bullish personality. All of that is the composition and ingredients of Il Presidente.

It is difficult to explain how Isaias controls his lieutenants. In fact, it would sound far-fetched and rumormongering. It is unbelievable and in normal situation, and with normal people, it is unimaginable. His actions are so outrageous that many would have difficulty swallowing stories of things that he does. Even with a grain of salt, and with spices from all corners of the world, it is difficult to comprehend or believe. Yet, as bitter as it sounds, it is true. His actions are becoming outrageous by any odd standard.

Some people think that he says things to shock people, thus the �brutally honest� characterization. Yes, everything he says describes what he is doing. And when he lies, he is actually describing what he is not doing. As difficult as it is, you just have to know when he is lying when he is bragging.

An Eritrean in Italy asked him, when will you make peace with the �Reformers�?  He says, �I am not ready to fight with them like children.�  A week later, a Middle Eastern reporter asked him, when will you make peace with the �Reformers�?  He says, �I am not ready to wrestle with them!  I can�t do that.�

Why all this obsession over wrestling, fighting, one might ask one�s self? Is that his idea of solving problems?

Yes, it is!!!

Go ahead, dismiss it as rumor.  But, in your heart, you know it is true; if not, you soon will.

The man who can�t subdue his subliminal thinking to stay in the back of his mind and talks about fighting and wrestling, is actually overdoing fistfights and wrestling. A president who wrestles and fistfights!!!   This is not surprising:  If you talk like skunis, why shouldn�t you act like skunis?

Remember Sherifo?  Remember Naizghi Kflu?  

Naizghi is a close friend of Sheriffo and one of Isaias� security officers. When Naizghi was the security chief, he was notorious for picking fights in bars and gatherings. He was beating people up left right and center. When he became an embarrassment to the system, Isaias sent him to Russia as an Ambassador. Last year, his services were needed and he was recalled from Russia back to Asmara and joined the security apparatus. He was expected to side with Isaias to purge his friends who included Sheriffo. He had a change of heart and it was difficult for him to move against his ex-comrades. A few weeks ago, he tried to talk to Isaias on behalf of Sheriffo.

A conversation that started with ideas of �Make peace!�  ended up becoming a �Shut up!!!!�  The president got mad and beat Naizghi Kflu like there was no tomorrow.  The whole Eritrean Martial Arts was displayed: Testa!  Cassoti, Bugna and the rest! Poor Naizghi is diabetic. He has to go to the Hospital with a bloody nose. The poor man had health complications; he was flown to Russia for medications. That is how one watches the spending of Eritrean Financial contributions at work�efficiently!

Remember Ali Said?  He is your latest Foreign Minister.  Isaias� best friend.  They have a disagreement.  Isaias slaps him in the face; a few times.  Ali Said has bumps in his face like a potato. Do you want more embarrassments as the man loses his senses? It will be too much in one go. But that is how Isaias motivates his helpers�. And it has been working for him so far. But the country is being pushed closer to the abyss with each passing day.

What do we wish for Eritrea? We wish Eritrea to enjoy the company of its ex-presidents and officials. We are afraid of a bad precedent being established in Eritrea. We look around us and we don�t see any ex-president living in his country. They are all out of their country or six feet under the ground prematurely. They have been all toppled violently. And if this culture is established, it remains for a long time. It is scary. 

For the sake of establishing a peaceful transition of power, we hope Il Presidente will step-down and live peacefully in his country. He holds the key to a peaceful future.