Ethiopians fightback to save their country from ‘eternal collapse’: Commentary

Addis Ababa citizens will rally this Sunday to call for an end to TPLF's tyranny

Undeterred by President Obama’s foreign policy failures, Ethiopians fightback to save their country from ‘eternal collapse’: Commentary

By Agahde

8/19/2016

The emerging storyline is that… Ethiopians – inside and abroad -- are fighting back against the bankrupt regime in Addis Ababa and its powerful allies within the Obama administration, in an effort to keep their country out of the list of failing African states. And they shall succeed!

Mr. Robel Habte at the Summer Olympics in Rio

Early this week I decided to completely stop watching the 2016 Summer Olympics, and spend my precious evenings reading instead.

Needless to say the Olympic Games coverage in the US is a joke. For those of you outside the US, the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) owns the all rights to the Summer Olympics and we get to watch all games so long it’s the US team. Oh yes, we get to watch most games on a four-hour or more tape delay too.

In this land of the free, one would have hopped, as I did, to watch everything and anything the Summer Olympics has to offer, and experience the excitement and surprises of the games as they happen, including Mr. Robel Kiros Habte’s debacle.

Don’t worry Ethiopians; I am confident that Mr. Robel Habte wouldn’t make it into the history books. That’s just intended for the Woyane’s morally-corrupt loyalists… and yet another symbol of shame!

Biased reporting by the US Media

So as I am getting back into the swings of reading about the ongoing uprising in Ethiopia, I noticed some of the major news organizations in the US have published or republished articles about the uprising, including the New York Times, Washington Post, and National Public Radio.

The good news is they’ve began to cover it. The bad news is that the coverage seems to reflect the views of the usual suspects within the Obama Administration, somewhat ignoring people’s demand of “regime change” and minimizing all the atrocities committed by the regime’s security forces against unarmed protesters.

In fact, all of the articles I managed to read so far seem to have originated from the same ‘divine’ source. The New York Times titled its article “‘A Generation Is Protesting’ in Ethiopia, Long a U.S. Ally”, while the Washington Post, NPR and Associated Press kept reminding their readers using identical phrases that the regime is a “close security ally of the west” and it’s a “key U.S. ally in the Horn of Africa”.

Clearly, the subtle message to readers is that the regime in Ethiopia is a strong US ‘ally’ and the administration has yet to find ways to save it from its own people, never mind that the Ethiopian people are determined to get rid of it.

“the ongoing uprising in Ethiopia deserves good and hard coverage in the west”

And of course, Ethiopians are responding to these coverages with outrage on social media. An Ethiopian friend of mine posted his reaction on his Facebook page... “Jeffrey Gettleman of NY Times, Please Stop! The regime is killing its own people in broad daylight and [therefore] it’s [actually] a security risk for [the] US.” To this end, Professor Ezekiel Gebissa has powerfully and eloquently echoed this widely accepted sentiment to Al Jazeera on Sunday.

Given Ethiopia’s regional significance, there is no question the ongoing uprising in Ethiopia deserves good and hard coverage in the west.

At any rate, this type of politically influenced news coverage by the western media may be new to some Ethiopians, but not to us Eritreans. We have had 65 years of “battle scars to prove it”, as they say.

No room for manipulation, Ethiopians are telling their stories without delay

It’s obvious that the protesters are not only young and tech-savvy, but also politically astute!

The protesters are not allowing the regime to hijack the narrative of this countrywide uprising with fear of ‘breakup of the country’ and ‘ethnic conflict’. Protesters in every town are constantly putting out unfiltered videos and photos on social media to tell stories of their plight under the ethnocentric regime, and express support for one another.

We have already seen several videos of horrific attacks by regime forces against peaceful Amhara protesters holding signs “Stop Killing Oromo People!”, as well as, Oromo protesters chanting slogans in solidarity with protesters in other regions.

“this Ethiopian uprising is the mother of all uprising in Black Africa!”

Thus far, the underlying message is clear: Ethiopians are 100 million strong, and this time they are united -- more than ever before -- to get rid of the ethnocentric regime that is killing them “in a broad daylight”. Hundreds of these brave Ethiopians -- of all ethnic background -- have already paid the ultimate price protesting against this divisive regime and many more are risking it all each day they are out protesting.

And it’s for this reason that I think this Ethiopian uprising is the mother of all uprising in Black Africa!

Again, all these stories and images are posted online for everyone to see, including to the NY Times journalist reporting from Nairobi, Kenya.

Moreover, there are nearly a million Ethiopians in the US and Europe, who are fully engaged and determined NOT to leave this historic revolt against the blood-thirsty regime at the mercy of western ‘journalists’. The Ethiopian Satellite Television (ESAT) is reporting actual news stories from the ground, featuring videos, photos and local testimonies. Other regional news outlets, such as this one, continue to play an important role aggregating local news, analysis and insights, countering the false propaganda of the regime.

All this endeavors are extremely important for getting the information out early and frequently, leaving no room for politically motivated manipulation by regime’s propagandists and their powerful allies in the US.

Spotlighting yet another Obama’s failed foreign policy

The Ethiopian regime and its ‘true’ friends within the Obama administration may still have some tricks up their sleeves, but I am sure they have already seen ‘the writing on the wall’.

It’s evident that the administration’s policy goals to make the regime a stable and democratic ally of the US has failed, and it failed miserably. In spite of regimes’ ‘laughable’ claim that it won last year’s election by 100%, Ethiopians are out in the streets demanding its downfall, without ifs or buts.

Case in point, an Eritrean website correctly called attention to a phrase from the New York Times story that subtly pointed out yet another foreign policy failure of the Obama administration that Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn “does not have the trust of the Tigrayan-controlled security services”.

This is very important information because, for 4 years, the administration failed to legitimize Prime Minister of Ethiopia Mr. Desalegn. Today, he is “all hat and no cattle” prime minister, with no actual power or responsibility.

“it’s not too late for the Obama administration to pull the plug on the Ethiopian regime that is totally rejected by its people”

We actually know the story of Mr. Desalegn, including how he was promoted to the Prime Minister position by the Obama administration but left out to dry by the TPLF clique.

As one proud Wayne insider told it, the story of becoming Prime Minister Desalegn goes…when the 40 or so member of the TPLF Central Committee met for about a week or so and miserably failed to agree on the terms of selecting a successor to the late Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, fearing the crisis was threatening the capacity of the regime, President Obama abruptly called the then acting Prime Minister Desaglen and informed him that the US looks forward to working with him as a leader of Ethiopia. We all saw the media reports of this “congratulatory” call on the 24th of April 2012. As strange as this story sounds, half of the TPLF Central Committee learned about the call/decision from the news media, just like the rest of us, and they didn’t like it.

Completely accurate or not, I like this Woyane story and I am sticking to it.

Besides, from international crisis management/intervention standpoint, the details are not more important than the decision itself and the aftermath of the decision. And this one too will need to be added to the rap-sheet of foreign policy failures of the President Obama in Africa. Yes, President Obama … “you make it, you own it”, as I heard you say it yourself once on TV.

This is not to say it’s not too late for the Obama administration to pull the plug on the Ethiopian regime that is totally rejected by its people. The US could live without the ethnocentric regime, but not without the Ethiopian people.

As each day goes by, however, we all can't escape the horrifying truth -- more innocent Ethiopians will die in the hands of regime’s security forces, intensifying existing resentment towards the Tigrayan people and certain divisions between the political leaders of the various ethnic groups.

I only hope the Obama Administration will heed to the voices and demands of the Ethiopian people sooner than later.

In conclusion, the emerging storyline is very encouraging: contrary to regime’s narrative or western media reports, the evidence clearly shows that Ethiopians are out in the streets fighting against the regime in one voice.

Black Africa is once again looking for the Ethiopian people to rise above ethnic and religious divisions and defeat the divisive regime in power to keep their country united, and as Ethiopians, build one nation, peaceful, that the next Ethiopian generation would be proud of, just as the previous generations.

I, for one, as an Eritrean and African, am rooting for you Ethiopians! And you shall succeed!

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