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Awate Four Winds: May 2008 (War & Peace Edition)
Hell Hath No Fury Like A Dictator Scorned: May 24th was Eritrea's Independence Day. On their independence days, most nations pay homage to those who made their independence a reality and re-dedicate themselves to fulfilling past pledges and promises. Not so with Isaias Afwerki: this year, 2/3 of his address was a rant against the United States. In case you want to give him credit for standing up to Bush, and his "warmongering", "hegemonic" policies, you need to remember that Isaias's anger with America has nothing to do with its pre-emptive doctrine. It has everything to do with the fact that he, Isaias, did not profit from this doctrine--despite his repeated appeals and offers to set up Eritrea as a franchise. Here's the offer in black-and-white as reported by the Japanese paper, Yomiuri on July 5, 2002. Excerpt: "Eritrea could also serve a launching point for a future attack on Iraq, Asmerom said. His argument is that the United States would not have to conduct sorties from Saudi Arabia, a country whose population overwhelmingly opposes the presence of U.S. forces in its country. "You could do it easily from Eritrea and only have to ask for fly-over rights from the Saudis," he stated.
You Can't Give What You Don't Have: Politicians from neighboring Ethiopia and Sudan who have made Eritrea their base learn eventually that Isaias cannot grant them what he has not granted his own people: political space, autonomy. Now it is the Somalis turn to learn the same lesson: the Alliance for the re-liberation of Somalia appears headed for a split: a Djibouti/Yemen based opposition headed by the moderate duo Sheik Sharif and Sheik Hassan, and an Asmara-based opposition headed by the hardliner Sheik Hassen Aweys. Source -
David vs David (with 2 Goliaths watching): Eritrea vs Djibouti: The distance between the rival armies is shorter than the barrel of a gun. Hundreds of opposing troops are lined up on the border, staring each other down, from just inches away.... There is no buffer zone between the soldiers, as there usually is along a contested frontier. Instead, the heavily armed fighters, who are becoming increasingly tense and irritable, are squeezed together on a sweltering hilltop, watching each others’ every move. New York Times --
President Gone WILD, Continued: The president-for-life’s Independence Day Address is now available on YouTube in three parts. (President For Life Isaias Afwerki has been shortened to “PFLIA”, courtesy of Asmarino’s Equilibrium.) Every year, the Independence Day address is the same play: with Isaias in the heroic role, and a rotating cast of bad guys who have been (or have to be) vanquished. Our 2008 bad guy is the US Administration, which takes up all of part 1 and part 2 of the video. Part 3 is where things get interesting: tired of blaming the US administration, here PFLIA blames unnamed administrators within his regime for screwing up the bumper harvest of 2007 and for misreading the esoteric weather forecast language of KLIMA. Heads will roll.
War Games: A Triangle. Somalia's social breakdown has hit the young the hardest. They have rarely known peace, stability or even a semblance of order. In one desolate neighborhood, shabbily dressed children played away a recent afternoon. As usual, it was a war game. They carried guns carved from wood and tossed plastic bags filled with ash to mimic the smoke of exploding grenades.
There are three sides in their game: transitional government soldiers, Ethiopian troops and insurgents. Insurgents usually trounce the soldiers, who then run to Ethiopians for help. Ethiopians chase away the insurgents as they sweep through neighborhoods, terrorizing civilians.
None of the boys seek the role of government soldier. "No one wants to play the ones who are defeated," said Ahmed Ali, 13, who played the role of insurgent leader. Los Angeles Times -
President Gone Wild, Part… We Lost Count: When the facts are on your side, argue the facts. When you have the law on your side, argue the law. When you have neither the fact nor the law on your side, just yell at the poor journalist who is just trying to do his job. Aljazeera via youtube One More Reason To Pray For Defeat Of Mugabe: The regime has vowed to continue protecting Mengistu, despite an Ethiopian Supreme Court sentencing him to death on Monday for a genocide that claimed the lives of 2000 people and the torture of 2400 others. But MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa has said if party leader Morgan Tsvangirai wins the June 27 presidential run-off, Mengistu will be extradited to face justice in Ethiopia. AllAfrica Death Sentence For Angel of Death: Ethiopia's Supreme Court has overruled a lower court and imposed a death sentence on former Marxist ruler Mengistu Haile Mariam for genocide and crimes against humanity during his 17-year rule. VOA Needed: Re-Alliance For Re-Liberation of Re-Somalia: Speaking at a news conference he held in Djiboutian capital Djibouti he declared that that [sic] Eritrea is accountable for the pitch-black relations between the senior leaders of the alliance after some of the officials in the coalition have accused some members of the groups those took part the failed talks in Djibouti that they were not representing the alliance…."Thanks to Eritrea for its help on the establishment of the group, but we see something "bad" from them" Sharif said. Shabelle via AllAfrica Afro Pessimism Continued: On The Brink, On The Verge: "We are on the brink of war," Pagan Amum, secretary general of the former rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), told the BBC. "As the situation is now, the two parties are on the verge of a civil war. The only way to avoid a civil war is to demilitarise the area and implementation of the Abyei protocol," Amum said. AFP
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Isaias Afwerki and Aljazeera (The Riz Khan Show): A general rule for politicians is: don’t go to an interview if you are in a bad mood. Another advice not followed by Isaias Afwerki who strikes out at Langley (CIA), the World Bank, Langley, the opposition, elections, democracy, Langley and, finally, Aljazeera itself (which, according to Isaias, gets its questions from Langley.) YouTube --
Jah Yasteseryal, How About Meles? The case stems from Enku’s cover story for its latest edition on Ethiopia’s most famous pop singer Tewodros Kassahun. Kassahun, known as Teddy Afro, is on trial for murder for a hit-and-run incident in 2006. He is well-known for his songs critical of the government and his fans have protested his trial. IFJ Press Release
Coming Soon: An Ethiopian Petraeus: Ethiopian troops in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, have distributed food aid bought with their own salaries. About 400 bags of sorghum were handed out to about 500 people in southern Baynile district. Ethiopian troops, who support Somalia's interim government, are not popular and the food was accepted with surprise, the BBC's Mohamed Moalimuu reports. BBC RPGs Hit K4. Firing rocket-propelled grenades and heavy submachine guns, Islamist fighters seized the police headquarters at the heart of the government's stronghold in Mogadishu on Thursday, in a bold attack that witnesses said killed two soldiers and two policemen. The insurgents have tried many times to attack the heavily guarded K4 district but Thursday's raid was their first major success. IHT
Quote of the week? Quote of the month? the year? the century? An amazing insight into the thought process of tyrants the world over: “We’re giving the people of Zimbabwe another opportunity to mend their ways, to vote properly,” the Politburo member said. “This is their last chance.” If voters fail to return Mr. Mugabe to office, the Politburo member told a Zimbabwean journalist working with The New York Times, “Prepare to be a war correspondent.” NYT You Can’t Vote If You Can’t Walk To The Voting Booth: At least five people died from beatings at Monday's "political meeting" at Dakudzwa village, about 60 miles north of Harare, in Mashonaland, according to witnesses, the opposition Movement for Democratic Change and a human rights worker who requested anonymity for fear of reprisals…."The idea is clearly to demoralize MDC structures and to discourage people from voting in the runoff. My own sense is that a lot of the people who have been beaten are unlikely to go out again and vote in a runoff. I think they have been very traumatized," he said. LA Times Who Will Police The Police? Zimbabwe's "war veterans" militia plan to intimidate voters by posing as police officers during the presidential run-off, a policeman has told the BBC. Source Same Story Different Land: An informed source said the soldiers handed in themselves as they reached the Yemeni lands, justifying they were escaping compulsory conscription. Saba The Non-Agression Pact of April 08 Is Replaced By The War Treaty of May 08: Sudan cut ties with neighboring Chad and threatened retaliation on Sunday after accusing it of helping train the rebels who attacked a suburb of Khartoum. Source A Proxy Meeting In A Proxy Land: Representatives of Somalia's Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and an Eritrea-based opposition alliance were gathered in Djibouti on 12 May for peace talks, with the government expressing optimism about the outcome. "We are hopeful and optimistic that once discussions start we will find common ground and a solution to our problems," Abdi Haji Gobdon, a government spokesman, told IRIN. However, opposition sources said there had been no direct talks with the government. "Our dealings have been with the UN envoy only. IRIN
Take It To The Limit…One More Time: No tipping the toes and testing the waters for Isaias Afwerki, when he is in, he is ALL IN: whether making friends or enemies, there are no half-way gestures with the man. 2008 (Iran) President Mahmud Ahmadinejad said here on Monday that Iran and Eritrea see no limit for expansion of mutual cooperation. 2002 (USA): Q: What can Eritrea offer? President: We are not offering anything but we are here to provide our limited resources if they can be useful in any way. Q: Does that include inviting U.S. Forces to your country? President: That's the least we can offer. 1995 (Sudan): Now President Issaias Afwerki has told The Economist flatly: "We are out to see that this government is not there any more. We are not trying to pressure them to talk to us, or to behave in a more constructive way. We will give weapons to anyone committed to overthrowing them."
How Do You Say “Delusional” In Amharic? Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said on Wednesday he would keep troops inside neighbouring Somalia until "jihadists" were defeated….Turning to domestic affairs, he said Ethiopian rebel group the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF), which operates in a region on the border with Somalia, had been largely "neutralised" by a military offensive going on for a year. "There is no organised ONLF operation in the Somali region. It has been neutralised," he said. "There may be a few individuals and we are picking them one-by-one." Reuters
Science To The Rescue of Hergigo: "With simple experiments we are able to produce food and money for poor people where it did not seem possible. We can convert barren mud flats into mangrove forests and use these to provide the bulk of food for livestock," Sato said. "In a few short years, poverty should be eradicated in this village," he told a newspaper. The project was named Manzanar after the California desert internment camp where Sato and his family spent World War Two with thousands of other Japanese Americans. Reuters
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