Regarding Bret Stephens's "Failing Up with Susan Rice" (Global View,
Dec. 4): The events in Benghazi, Libya, may have brought Ambassador
Susan Rice to the attention of the American public, but to those who
follow events in Africa, hers is a familiar name. The Eritrean and
Ethiopian rebels led by Isaias Afewerki and Meles Zenawi,
respectively, came to power after having fought side by side to defeat
their common enemy, the Ethiopian government of Mengitsu Haile Mariam.
When a border skirmish in 1998 put these two former friends at each
other's throats, the U.S., by virtue of its close relationship with
both governments, had the ability to put an end to the conflict before
it blew up. Despite Ethiopia's much larger size, its military wasn't
as robust as Eritrea's, which had been battle-hardened in the war for
independence. This is important to your point of how Susan Rice
assumed the Eritrean side was the weaker side and therefore the side
to be strong-armed, while the much bigger Ethiopia was clearly the one
to be appeased.
Ambassador Rice was wrong and misinformed, and the consequence of her
mistake was deadly, costing the lives of thousands and displacement of
millions. The Ethiopian-Eritrean border war has been a disaster for
the region, and by implication for the entire world. I truly believe
the U.S. had an excellent opportunity to prevent the war had someone
who understood the region well been in charge of brokering the peace.
Susan Rice's destabilizing role in the region continues to this day.
She has also helped stop the implementation of the final and binding
arbitration of a territorial dispute in the Hague, Netherlands, under
the auspices of the U.S., the EU and the U.N., which both Ethiopia and
Eritrea had agreed to. Ethiopia disputed the verdict because the
disputed area was awarded to Eritrea. She has spearheaded the passing
of U.N. sanctions against Eritrea based on accusations by her friend,
the late dictator of Ethiopia, Meles Zenawi. Ms. Rice has proven time
and again to be unfair and very partial in her judgement while
representing a country that we all love and cherish.
Desale Yacob
Columbus, Ohio
Received on Wed Dec 12 2012 - 23:11:28 EST
