American military strategists and analysts have written tomes about the limitations of military solutions.  Is the United States, they would ask, capable of fighting wars in two fronts without overstretching its resources? What are the advantages and disadvantages of containment? D�tente? Alliances with dictators? Strategic partnerships?  What is a �vital national interest?�   A massive superpower with vast resources had to ask all these questions because (1) it is a democracy and (2) it actually cares about the lives of its citizens.

There are no such constraints in PFDJ�s Eritrea.  Eritrea is a small nation with (1) a third of the population facing starvation, (2) with the other two-third living off the remittances of the Diaspora and (3) the whole population still reeling from the after-shocks of a two year war.  But thanks to the magic of dictatorship and disregard for Eritrean life, Eritrea can be in a state of Cold War with two neighbors (Yemen and Ethiopia) and a proxy war with one neighbor (Sudan), simultaneously.   The PFDJ�s war-mongering nature is so established that no one (friend or foe of the government) would be surprised if they were to learn tomorrow that it is fighting Djibouti.  In fact, no one would be surprised if it picked a fight with Nigeria, shortly after its president concluded a two-day visit to Eritrea.

In the wisdom of the PFDJ, the role of the Eritrean mother is to produce war materials (children) and the role of the government is to start wars for their children.  This is seen as a wonderful division of labor (�from each according to his means�..�) which has the added benefit of guaranteeing full-employment for all involved: the warsay and warsay�s warsay go to their �wefri� and the PFDJ officials protect Eritrea�s sovereignty by defending it against enemies it makes.  

Acclimating Us To Endless War

�I come from a sub-region of Africa, the Horn, where conflicts and wars have been a way of life for many decades,� explained Eritrea�s Ambassador to the UN, Mr. Ahmed Baduri, addressing the august body.  He did not volunteer his government�s destructive role in the sub-region for the most recent decade.

This was followed by another familiar scene: foreign ministers yelling at each other on TV, Eritrea begging the Arab League to mediate and the OAU lecturing all to show �maximum restraint.�  Soon we will have peace brokers shuttling diplomacy in a sub-region that speaks only the language of war.  What drives people like Sheikh Hamad AlThani to play peacemaker with leaders who do not know or appreciate peace? We appreciate his gesture, but such issues are deep rooted in the psyche of the leaders and a promise of finacial aid to the countries is not going to do the trick unless the wealth of Qatar is all transferred to the region.  Even with that, we have our doubts with the gun totting leaders of the region, particularly our own.

Yemen complaining about Eritrean provocations? It is based on �false claims� read a �clarification� by Eritrea�s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The �clarification� is a painful reminder that Eritrea went to war with Yemen over disputed territories that, by and large, were ruled in favor of Yemen.   Moreover, the current �crisis� has little to do with fishing disputes; as we said in the previous Pencil, it is the government of Eritrea�s feeble attempts of �me-tooism�: picking fights with �terrorist Arabs� to embellish its credentials in the war against terror.   A fatal drawback to dictatorship is that you are completely surrounded by people who are afraid to tell you that the governments you are trying to impress view you the same way they view other �charismatic� dictators: erratic, unreliable and, thus, not a partner.

Sudan accusing Eritrea of participating along with Sudan�s armed opposition?  �Outright lies,� harangued Ali Said Abdella, the Minister of Foreign Affairs.  To validate its claim, the Eritrean government used a report filed on October 9 by Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, six days after the war, that there is no Eritrean presence in Hamashkoreib, Sudan.  Only us NDA here.   The truth is Eritrea is not just in Eastern Sudan, it is in Southern Sudan.   The Foreign Minister's denial reads remarkably like Ethiopia�s presence in Somalia: always denied by officialdom, but always confirmed by the people who live it.   There are hundreds of Warsays, now in Sudan, who can tell you tales of their role in the Sudanese Civil War. 

Referee, Eritrea Wants Out

As a matter of principle, we believe the people of South Sudan deserve to exercise their right of self-determination.  In fact, we wish they would be given that right NOW and not six years from now.   The whole world should stand behind them in their quest for self-determination.

But Eritrea just cannot afford to have their army in its territories. We have always said that the Sudanese opposition army must leave the Eritrean territories. The PFDJ is training them, providing them with camps, and attack springboard against the Sudan.  The Sudanese opposition are not playing chess and singing lullabies in Eritrea; they are training and attacking the Sudan from our side of the border and retreating to Eritrea after they do what they are trained to do.    If they spend too much time lounging at Eritrea�s cafes, they are nudged to go and fight by our war-crazed government. 

The Sudan is a big country and though we don�t condone it, they should establish a base in the Sudan (the largest country in Africa, we are told) liberate a territory and wage their guerrilla warfare from inside Sudan. Did Eritreans establish their base in the Sahel and Barka or did we base it in Kassala and Port Sudan? If that is not practical, they can go to one of Sudan�s more than half-a-dozen other neighbors. Why should Eritrea be burdened in this conflict that involves international and regional powers?

Issues of national unity mean next to nothing to the PFDJ when compared to its power ambitions but we would like to ask thoughtful Eritreans to reflect on the following.    Sudan�s government seeks allies in Arab countries and Sudan�s rebels seek allies in Western countries�particularly church activists like Reverend Jerry Falwall and American evangelists.    Uganda�s Lord�s Resistance Army, a group that used to be supported by the Sudanese government, is now allied with the SPLA.   In short, Sudan�s civil war is now polarized into a �Arab-Muslim-North� versus �Christian/Animist-African-South.�   What are the long-term prospects for Eritrea, long after the civil war is resolved, to be now seen as a neighbor, which has taken a front-and-center role in support of one party?

The PFDJ�s interest in the SPLA has as much to do with justice and good neighborliness as its role in the Great Lakes in support of Laurent Kabila: nothing.  In that civil war, Eritrea sent General Wechu as a �consultant�, provided artilleries, trained pilots, entertained Kabila and, in the end, Eritrea got nothing except more occupants in �MeQaber HarbeNatat� with the death of our precious airforce pilots.  Likewise, PFDJ�s positioning with Southern Sudan has nothing to do with its benevolence and �fraternal� relationship with the Sudan: it wants to be the beneficiary of the oil riches once Southern Sudan becomes a free and sovereign nation.  In the process, if Eritrea�s youth are sacrificed, it is just another chapter in the �Wefri Warsay Yeka�alo.�

Referee, Eritrea wants out of this game.

Be A Leader Or A Victim

During the war with Ethiopia, there were hardly any Eritrean dissenting voices against the war although, now we learn, many had �quietly� opposed it.  This was largely because the PFDJ had successfully intimidated Eritreans into believing that criticism of its policies was endorsement of �Woyane� and unpatriotic.  When intimidations didn�t work, it resorted to impose the sense of guilt so that people would be ashamed for criticizing it. It exploited Eritreans� patriotism by announcing: �Those who criticize us while we fight the Weyane to protect the sovereignty of our country are certainly tools of the enemy.� Since there is no shortage of enemies�the government  employs Eni-mini-maini-mo to pick them�silence ruled.

Now we are being told that if anyone criticizes the Eritrean opposition groups, the criticizers must be acting for the benefit of the PFDJ.   We are supposed to say, �We don�t understand what they are doing.  In fact, we don�t agree with it.  But, they are leaders and therefore, wiser than us, so we will just wait until they explain it to us.� 

Our criticism stands.  Did we miss the announcement by the Alliance that they would hold their conference in Addis Ababa? Was there a press release from the current Chairman?  The Alliance has two supportive websites (Meskerem.net and nharnet.com) and another independent and excellent medium that has relentlessly championed their cause (Messelna.com), and another fantastic medium that has given them a forum (Asmarino.com) and this website that has given them a platform to be reaquainted with a new generation of Eritreans. Ye, Eritreans have to hear about developments that may affect their country through Walta.   Is it too petty to ask, �why?�  Must all sorts of conspiracies be woven because we are asking, "why is the opposition refusing to communicate with Eritrean websites and addicted to secrecy, 70's style?"

The opposition can either play the role of the victim or the role of the leader.  If they choose the role of the victim, then we will oblige by saying, �poor folks; they have been wronged, pity them� and leave them alone.   If they are struggling to lead us, then they should embrace all the qualities of leadership including the occasional criticism and questioning by the media.  Yes, we understand the monster and the authoritarian regime in Eritrea is a bad omen to begin with; but those who would take over will have the spotlight directed on them relentlessly because it doesn�t make sense to win a struggle against a dictatorship and sacrifice democracy.

As a people, we are learning democratic discourse and we all say that we are developing the culture of tolerance and strengthening transparency and accountability. We have to show that we believe what we preach. The Eritrean people want to be talked to--and not ordered, shepherded like cattle, or taken for granted.

At any rate, the developments we have been hearing about are encouraging and in keeping with our frequent calls on at least four counts (see our interviews with Mr. Seyoum O/Michael, Ahmed Nasser, Herui T. Bairou, Abdella Idris and Dr. Habte):  (1) there is a movement afoot to streamline the operation of the alliance by establishing a permanent Secretariat; (2) the issue of �military pluralism� is being seriously studied and there are proposals to unify the armies; (3) there is talk of merging organizations with like programs and (4) revising the charter and submitting it for public review and input.  The Alliance is also seriously considering the request for membership from three organizations, which can only enrich the Alliance and make it reflective of Eritrea�s diversity.

We wish the Alliance good luck in its conference.   While we wait for the next official �MegleSi� through Walta, if we happen to learn of what is going on, we will share it with our readers.  Once the �megleSi� is announced, if we read something we don�t like, we will criticize it.  That is what an independent news and opinion media outlet should do and we hope the opposition learns to accept cricitism as part of the job.

Another Seminar; Another Empty Promise

On Friday and Saturday of last week, President Isaias Afwerki held an �extensive seminar� in Asmara�s Expo, which was followed up by interviews with the state television and radio which, we are told, was carried live.  Like all dictators, the president�s preferred mode of communication for domestic consumption is one that showcases him as the authority figure: seminars with the masses, one-on-one interviews with adoring or intimidated journalists, as the commanding officer being saluted by the armed forces, as the adored leader mixing it up in a controlled dance, as the Chairman of the party opening a session, etc.  

Meetings that tend to show him as a partner among equals�meeting of the old Central Committee and National Assembly�or one where the audience is less than adoring (the meeting with the students in South Africa) are never aired; they are sucked up into a black hole or edited beyond recognition.

No doubt, the latest seminar is going to be packaged and sold for twenty dollars at your �community center� fairly soon.   In the meantime, here is a preview of the usual outrages and empty promises he made:

(1)     Regarding the economy, he said that he doesn�t need any lessons from anyone.  He understands the basic principles of economics and his government will turn things around soon.  Some of the �turn around� maneuevers include privatizing (read: giving it to �09�) the milk production company;

(2)     Regarding security, he is not too worried about the alliance between Sudan, Yemen and Ethiopia because he has the Bush Administration firmly on his side.   His government has denied that the Eritrean army is in the Sudanese civil war and he didn�t explain why there are wounded Eritrean soldiers at Glass Military Hospital;

(3)     Corruption and desertion are new to Eritrea and are probably the result of the culture the deported Eritreans brought from Ethiopia, he said.  This will require re-orientation, said the president, always keen to "orient" people the correct way; 

(4)     Bereaved parents who lost their children in the Eritrea-Ethiopia war will �soon� be notified of the death of their children within the next two weeks and the government will make arrangements for sustainable assistance.  (This is the same promise that families of Eritrea�s martyrs and disabled were told ten years ago.) We will see whether the "two weeks" is as meaningless as the deadline for the election and the party congress.  For the record, it has been more than twenty eight months since the war ended;

(5)     All members of the armed forces will be given remedial, vocational and academic training at Eritrea�s colleges and University.  He didn�t disclose that Asmara University is already impacted and cannot even accommodate all qualified graduates from high schools.   What will happen after they graduate?  All Asmara University graduates from the previous three years have been ordered to report to the Ministry of Defense for assignment in the �Warsay Yeka�alo Project.�      Some members of the armed forces �will be given scholarships to travel abroad� which, as everybody knows, can be a one way ticket because Eritrea can always import professors and professionals from India;

Once again, another inspiring speech by the President reassuring the citizens not to worry about the economy because he is in control; not to worry about hostilities with Sudan, Yemen and Ethiopia because Bush is in control; to put the blame and be suspicious of another group of Eritreans (those deported from Ethiopia).   If you have lost your child and your sole breadwinner, be forever hopeful, all evidence to the contrary, because what is the difference between two weeks, two months, or two years? And, you can always look forward to the college years�But, hurry up and graduate, because we have just the war for you: fighting in three different fronts.

Carry A Lemon

� Fifty lemons are a heavy load for one person and a joy to fifty people,� goes another Eritrean saying.  This has to do with that Visa/Mastercard logo you see on the top right hand corner of the homepage�See it?  It is just below the Awate-on-horseback logo. 

Yes, fundraising.  Those who are experts at this tell us we have to constantly remind you of this because people procrastinate.  We understand.  We are grateful to those who have contributed.  We can�t bear the fifty-lemon load.  Can you carry one lemon, just one?  We know it is an acquired taste, but it is a joyous one.   Maybe you want the exhilarating sense of participating in a noble struggle: doing your share to bring relief to the long-suffering people of Eritrea.  Maybe you want to support a rare Eritrean event: fearless freedom of expression.  Maybe you want to make sure that the voiceless have a voice.  Whatever motivates you, help Awate.com remain a beacon of freedom and intelligent debate.  Like a freedom-loving person on a horseback embarking on a long but sure journey� We can't promise you free colleges and command of the economy and government contracts... but we promise to remain a free and boisterous voice.    What is that worth to you?