ERITREA: Meles Zenawi’s Lower Case Treachery
“…Trickery and
treachery are the practices of fools that have not the wits enough to be
honest…”- (Benjamin Franklin)
Today, the minority regime’s cadres are lobbying members of
the Security Council, and specifically the three African states on the SC, to
take immediate action against Eritrea.
They do not want the members of the SC and the Sanctions Committee to read Eritrea’s
response to the erroneous and childish accusations presented in the SEMG
report, as the minority regime knows that, time is not on its side. The
regime’s elaborate scheme to tarnish Eritrea’s image is unraveling and
its lies, deceptions and distortions of the facts are now exposed for all to
see. It has become an embarrassment to those who provided it diplomatic,
financial, military and political shield and support and the Ethiopian people
who have to live with its shame.
I chose the phrase “lower case treachery” (LTC) to describe
Meles Zenawi’s acts against the State of Eritrea and its people because it is
an exact fit for the TPLF regime’s warped mentality. I came across that phrase
while reading William R. Marcy’s essays.
As I read one of his pieces, I felt as though he was writing about Meles
Zenawi and the minority regime in Ethiopia. In that little essay,
Marcy covered everything known about Meles Zenawi’s crab mentality, incurable
inferiority complex and his delusions of grandeur. Allow me to share an excerpt
from Marcy’s essay as he describes what lower case treachery entails. Marcy
wrote:
“…No gain is involved
in this sort of loathsome behavior, no money or sexual coercion, only the
gratification of inflicting a hurt on another human being…treachery is a crime
or sin against a prevailing code, but lower case treachery is different in that
there is no quid pro quo of any sort …It is craven, it is cowardly, it is an
act that often uses a dupe…Lower case treachery is the sin from whence other
sin springs, the sin … This sort of treachery is perpetrated against those who
have given the purveyor of such treachery their trust… a cold and covert evil
act, a spineless act of malice by one who can never be trusted to be on either
side of a confidence, or to ever do the right thing…”
Marcy goes on:
“…Lower case
treachery is more often than not the specialty of the insecure, one who resents
his lack of abilities, disregarded by his peers, relegated to the outer fringes
when in the company of his betters, one who strives to pass off the fiction
that he is a formidable power behind the throne of whatever mindless melodrama
he thinks someone of importance has made him a part of… who makes all the right
mouth noise, particularly if there are important ears to take in his fatuous…
someone who swears oaths to God, country, and individuals he would betray at
the drop of a hat…”
Much has been written about and the international crimes
committed by Meles Zenawi’s minority regime in Ethiopia. Genocide Watch, several
Ethiopian and international rights groups and independent Ethiopian and foreign
journalists have documented the regime’s atrocities committed against
Ethiopians in the Gambela, Ogaden and Oromia regions of Ethiopia. There
have been reports of hangings, of brutal massacres, of detentions and disappearances
of thousands of Ethiopians. Unfortunately, the minority regime gets way with
these crimes because it enjoys the full diplomatic, financial, military and
political support of the US
led international community.
Beyond Ethiopia,
the ongoing crimes committed by the regime and its cadres against the people in
the region are a matter of public knowledge and record. But that is another
story for another day. Today, I want to concentrate on Meles Zenawi’s
treacherous acts against the people of Eritrea. The last 12 years have exposed
the envy and hatred that Meles Zenawi and Tigray Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF)
cadres harbor against the government and people of Eritrea, and the extent that
they were willing to go to destroy Eritrea and its people.
The regime’s shameful diabolical actions are not a normal
act of war; it is treachery at its worst. This “lower case treachery” (LTC) is one that
history and the people of Eritrea
will judge harshly. As I will endeavor to show, in this and future articles, this
lawless and belligerent regime has made neighboring states, IGAD, AU and the UN
Security Council party to its treachery against Eritrea and its people. Of
course it enjoys the full support and shield of the US-led international
community and Meles Zenawi’s handlers in the Bush Administration and Barack
Obama Administrations.
The TPLF regime’s bigotry and racist attitudes manifested
themselves during the Eritrea Ethiopia border conflict in 1998-2000 when the
regime deported over 80,000 Eritreans and Ethiopians of Eritrean origin and
confiscated properties (houses, businesses etc.) worth billions, because the
TPLF regime did not “like the color of their eyes”. Eritreans bore the brunt of
its frustrations in the battlefields when its marauding army invaded sovereign
Eritrean territories and wrecked havoc on the lives of the border inhabitants.
From destroying and looting private property, vandalizing villages, burning
homes and razing farms, to beating, torturing and raping innocent civilians,
evidence of its desire to destroy anything and everything Eritrean.
The regime detained and tortured Eritrean students in Addis Ababa University
participating in the academic exchange program between Asmara
and Addis Ababa
universities. Thousands of Eritreans were detained in Ethiopian jails around
the country, women and children were put in concentration camps and forced to
beg with the hopes of humiliating them. The regimes forces demolished churches
and mosques and burned copies of the holy books, the Bible and the Quran.
Meles Zenawi’s forces destroyed historic monuments like the
Belew-Kelew Stele at Metera that dates back to the 3rd Century A.D. Its
forces destroyed residential houses, schools, hospitals and factories in
Eritrean territories it occupied. But none was uglier than the deliberate and
malicious destruction of cemeteries where Eritrea’s beloved martyrs lay. The
minority regime’s forces dug up martyrs’ cemeteries, stole their coffins,
uprooted and destroyed trees planted in honor of Eritrea’s martyrs. Their bones were
crushed and strewn all over the place. The regime showed its contempt for
Eritreans, and its disrespect for their dead.
In accordance with the 2000 Algiers Agreements between Eritrea and Ethiopia, the Eritrea Ethiopia
Boundary Commission (EEBC) was established with a mandate to delimit and
demarcate the Eritrea Ethiopia border. The EEBC delivered its final and binding
delimitation decision on 13 April 2002 and on 30 November 2007 respectively. After
waiting patiently for over 5 years to demarcate the border with pillars on the
ground, the EBBC left the area in 2007 after demarcating the border using
coordinates on maps (virtual demarcation) instead because Ethiopia refused to
allow demarcation with pillars on the ground.
Emboldened by the US-led international community’s silence, and
the diplomatic, financial, political and military support and shield it
received, today, Ethiopia continues to militarily occupy sovereign Eritrean
territories, including Badme, the casus belli for the Eritrea Ethiopia border
conflict.
Speaking of Badme … After lying to the Ethiopian people
about Eritrea “invading Ethiopia” and declaring war through the Ethiopian
Parliament and dragging the two peoples into an unnecessary war that cost the
lives of over 120,000 Ethiopians who were used as cannon fodder and
minesweepers in the regime’s aggressive war of invasion and occupation against
Eritrea, the minority regime’s treachery against the two peoples is now
exposed.
In a 21 May 2009 Wikileak cable, the flip flopping Prime
Minister tells Susan E. Rice, the US Assistant Secretary of State for African
Affairs and a mediator during the Eritrea Ethiopia border conflict in
1998-2000, the following:
“…The outbreak of
hostilities in 1998 between Eritrea
and Ethiopia
was never about the border dispute in Badme and Zelambessa… It was about economic
and political differences…”
Obviously, it didn’t solve Ethiopia’s economic or political
problems. It only exacerbated them. Ethiopia under Meles Zenawi ranks
at the bottom of all UN indices on development. Ethiopia will not be meeting
any of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) set by the UN, and today, according to the 2011 Legatum
Prosperity Index, Ethiopia ranks 108 out of 110 countries-just above Zimbabwe
and the Central African Republic.
In that May 2009 meeting, Meles Zenawi took the opportunity
to lay out his agenda for Eritrea
and the Eritrean leadership during his 6 hour long conversation with Susan E.
Rice, the US
Ambassador to the United Nations. Meles Zenawi was clear in what he wanted
Susan Rice to do for him:
“…the U.S. and others
imposed financial sanctions on him and particularly cut off Isaias' funding
from Qatar and other countries and the important funding from the Diaspora in
the U.S. Isaias still imposes a mandatory 2 percent of salary tax on all
Eritreans living overseas. Non payment results in family members in Eritrea
being denied food ration cards…”
Notwithstanding the fact that “food ration cards” have
nothing to do with the 2% tax, just the thought that he was willing to “starve”
Eritreans to achieve his political goals says a lot about this psychopath… and
even more so, of those who run to Addis
to seek his advice.
Only a devious and conniving individual would feed US
officials with such garbage. But judging from the cables and the literature out
there, it is the same stupid story the regime has been feeding EU diplomats and
African leaders. Why else would they all point to the “2% tax” narrative? Heck, he had Matt Bryden and the Somali
Eritrea Monitoring Group singing the same tune too. He was feeding Rice with
blatant lies, but blinded by her own personal vendetta against the Government
of Eritrea and H.E. President Isaias Afwerki, she set out to help Meles achieve
his agenda against Eritrea.
So what did his agenda entail? His friends as the US State
Department knew well. The Wikileak cable, “Ethiopia's
Plans and Intentions for Eritrea (c-al7-00598)”,
dated 24 April 2007
outlines his agenda for Eritrea.
That cable written by Donald Yamamoto, former US
Ambassador to Ethiopia,
says the following:
“…Historically,
Meles' approach was to carefully keep Isaias [Eritrea’s President Isaias
Afwerki ] in a "box" by strengthening Ethiopian forces along the
border, neutralizing Eritrea's influence in Somalia, and increasing Eritrea's
isolation in the international community… But now, Meles sees that this
approach must be modified to include more vocal criticism of Eritrea as a
"rogue state" sponsoring terrorism and seeking to destabilize the
region. The Foreign Ministry has pressed the international community to
openly criticize Eritrea,
and wants to introduce UN Security Council resolutions and African Union Peace
and Security Council (PSC) communiques condemning Eritrea as a state sponsor of
terrorism. Further, Meles has elevated Eritrean opposition groups in Ethiopia, designating GOE State
Ministers, rather than office directors, to deal with them. Meles is also
carefully working the Sanaa Forum and IGAD to increase pressure and isolation
of Eritrea…”
With that, the agenda to “isolate” and “demonize” Eritrea was borne.
IGAD, AU and the UN Security Council were going to be used as tools in his
treacherous agenda against the people of Eritrea.
Jendayi E. Frazer was the first US official to respond to Meles Zenawi’s
call. As soon as she returned from Ethiopia, on 23 April 2007-just a day before
Donald Yamamoto’s 24 April 2007 cable- Frazer held a press briefing, and in response to a question
on Somalia and Eritrea
responded by saying:
“…Somalia and
stabilizing it is to have this inclusive dialogue, and so trying to get the
Transitional Federal Government to reach out to the various clans and sub-clans
is a large part of our diplomacy…The issue of Eritrea is one that I would say
that the region needs to take some responsibility for -- the African Union,
IGAD and the neighboring countries -- that Eritrea has not been playing a
constructive role in Somalia because they continue to fund, arm, train and
advise the insurgents, especially the al-Shabab militia…”
Frazer was also the first US official to call for Eritrea’s placement on the US list of
countries that sponsor terrorism, an effort she carried until the very last
hour of the Bush Administration. Her vindictive and vitriolic anti-Eritrea
statements continued for the duration of her tenure as US Assistant Secretary of
State for African Affairs. From supporting anti-Eritrea individuals and groups, to carrying on a vicious
vilification and defamation campaign against the government and people of Eritrea, Frazer
played a key role in the gradual souring of US-Eritrea relations.
But even after she left office, she remained a loyal
apologist for the minority regime in Ethiopia led by Meles Zenawi, her
friend and confidante. In a recent (early October 2011) Council on Foreign
Relations (CFR) event attended by this author and others, Frazer made erroneous
and unwarranted statements about Eritrea and its leadership. Acting more like a spokesperson for the
minority regime than a US
diplomat, and exposing her contempt for the people of Eritrea, Frazer attacked Eritrea and justified what she labeled as being Meles
Zenawi’s intent to “stamp out Eritrea”.
No doubt she will appear in other forums to sully Eritrea’s image in her futile
attempts to “prop up” Meles Zenawi’s illegitimate minority regime.
Meles Zenawi’s treachery was not reserved for Eritrea. His
backstabbing of Sudan, Djibouti, Yemen and others who considered him their
close ally, have been exposed by the Wikileak cables. Let us take a look at
what he has to say about Bashir of Sudan as presented in the Wikileak cable. In a January 30 meeting with acting US AF
Assistant Secretary Phil Carter and AF/SPG Director Tim Shortley:
“…Meles offered that
if he were the United States, he would look at two options. First, which he
clearly conveyed as the preferred choice, would be to "remove the Bashir
regime." Acknowledging that such an option was unlikely, Meles advocated
for making a clear representation to the GoS that the United States is not/not
"out to get them" and laying out clear benchmarks of actions expected
of the GoS on both Darfur and South Sudan that would be necessary to
"avoid continued challenges" with the U.S. Meles concluded the
discussion by highlighting that "they don't trust the Obama
Administration," and "they trust the Obama Administration less than
the Bush Administration," and with a clear reference to U.S. Ambassador to
the UN Susan Rice and former Senior NSC Director for Africa Gayle Smith
"...especially some friends of mine…."
Calling on the United States
to help him starve the people of Eritrea and remove the Sudanese
leader. We also know that it was with the help of the United States that it invaded Somalia in
order to “prop up” the TNG led by Abdulahi Yusuf, only to have him removed a
year later. So much for good neighborliness…if this is not destabilizing
neighbors, what it is?
If there is one thing that the Eritrean leader is known for,
it is his commitment to the people of Eritrea and the region. He is not
interested in gossip and backstabbing…that is why one will be hard pressed to
find a single Wikileak cable that proves otherwise. He is a man of honor and
dignity and would never engage in deceit and treachery. For Meles Zenawi and
his cadres, lying, cheating, exaggerating, fabricating, pitting neighbor
against neighbor etc. etc. is considered “diplomacy” and “politics”…in Eritrea, that
is called newri!
But there was no neighbor that Meles Zenawi and his cadres
played (as in fooled) like the Djibouti
government. It is a matter of history and public record that the Government of
Djibouti and the Government of Eritrea enjoyed warm and cordial relations and
that was not sitting well with Meles Zenawi and his cadres. In a 16 September
2006 cable, “Ethiopia:
Deputy Minister Tekeda Talks Somalia, Regional Issues with Das
Yamamoto”, the Ethiopian Deputy Minister Tekeda Alemu. The cable from US
Ambassdor Donald Yamamoto begins with this:
“…Tekeda expressed
concern about increasing Eritrean influence over Djibouti as well as CIC contacts
with President Guelleh. He encouraged the USG to speak frankly with Djibouti about
the risks of its behavior…
The rest of the cable tells the sordid story. Here is what
it said:
“…The Government of
Djibouti's opposition to IGAD actions in Somalia are the result of its fear of
Eritrean President Isaias, Tekeda said, as well as President Guelleh's personal
business interests with Eritrea. The Deputy Foreign Minister speculated that
the Djiboutian leadership was worried that Eritrea would support Afari
separatist movements, as Isaias had done successfully in Sudan, if Djibouti did
not follow Eritrea's lead in Somalia. Tekeda also told Yamamoto that Aweys and
other CIC leaders had stopped in Djibouti
to meet with President Guelleh on their way back from Libya the week
before. Tekeda maintained that the GOD was "on the wrong path," and
added that Djibouti was not
strong enough to take Ethiopia's
continued friendship and forbearance for granted. He criticized President
Guelleh's recent visit to Tehran
as well as his comments on a recent BBC Somali Service broadcast, in which he
had called on Somalis to be vigilant in defense of their homeland against the
Ethiopian threat…”
Why was the Ethiopian official criticizing Djibouti for its relations with Iran when the Ethiopian regime has closer ties
with Iran
than any other nation in the region? Did Ethiopia not send a high level delegation
an Ethiopian delegation led by Ambassador Fisseha Yimer, Special Advisor to the
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Ambassador Mahdi
Ahmed, Director General for the Middle East, Asia and Oceania to visit Iran as
recently as January 2011?
Eritreans are known for their honesty (some call it brutal
honesty) and their abhorrence for lies and deceit. There is one occasion where
it is okay to tell a white lie. There is saying in Tigrinya that goes something
like this, “hasika seb tiArik imber, hasika seb aytebaisn” when dealing with
conflict between two parties. The English version would be diplomatic tact-the
idea is to not tell the parties hurtful comments made by the other, but instead
tell little white lies to bring them closer. What Meles Zenawi does is tell out
right lies to anger, inflame, and manipulate. By doing that, he prevents others
from trying to find out the truth. Instead of fostering good will and
friendship amongst the people in the region, he pits one against the other.
The regime’s evil acts against the Eritrean people don’t
come as a surprise to those who have followed its brutal reign and stranglehold
on the people of Ethiopia; what
has angered millions is that the regime would find like-minded individuals
within the US Administration to advance its agenda against the people of Eritrea.
In future articles, I will endeavor to show how Meles Zenawi’s regime colluded
with US officials to create a rift between Eritrea
and Djibouti.
We will see how Ethiopia
fabricated long exaggerated tales to inflame Djibouti,
jeopardize its otherwise good relations with France
and sever its brotherly relations with Eritrea.
Unfortunately, the Djiboutians seem impotent to do anything
about Ethiopia’s
stranglehold on their country. Djibouti’s
resignation can be seen in Minister of Cooperation in the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs (MFA), Mahmoud Ali Youssef’s words. This is what Youssef told the former
US Ambassador to Djibouti:
“…In the history of
dealing with Ethiopia, the farther it is apart from Eritrea…the closer it wants
to move toward Djibouti. Djibouti
benefits economically from the existing tensions between the two countries and
while unfortunate in a way… it is "a fact of life…"
It is indeed a sad state of affairs. Djiboutian leaders are forced to relinquish Djibouti sovereignty, independence and the people’s
dignity and their right to live in peace within their internationally
recognized borders, in order to appease the minority regime in Ethiopia. As I said
above, Meles Zenawi is “someone who swears oaths to God, country, and
individuals he would betray at the drop of a hat”…who is next… Kenya?
I’d like to end this piece with an Eritrean proverb, which
goes something like this, “dedihri adgi zikeyid, tirat yilemid”…it’s about donkeys
and farts, something only the minority regime and its cadres would know…
The people of Eritrea will prevail with their
dignity and unity intact…or is that going to be grounds for sanctions too...
The rule of law must prevail over the law of the jungle!