Eritrea Foiling Wars by Other Means

Eritrean military parade in Asmara

Eritrea Foiling Wars by Other Means

By Amanuel Biedemariam

The Tigrayan Minority apartheid regime is crumbling, falling- apart and is at the precipice of total annihilation. That is welcome news for the people of Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan and Eritrea.

Tigray Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF) betrayed Eritrea. Betting on the fall of government of Eritrea and with the support of their western handlers, the late master-traitor in-chief Meles Zenawi was on a quest to destroy Eritrea once and for all.

In 1999, while waging senseless war and mass deportation, the ruthless genocidal Meles Zenawi, when asked about the deportation of Eritreans bragged,

"When we say go because we don’t like the color of your eyes, you must go." And proceeded with heinous acts throughout his reign.

The Tigrayan minority regime is responsible for the lives of over 20,000 youth. The TPLF waged successive wars that lasted three years and internally displaced nearly one million Eritreans. The TPLF robbed Eritrean businesses and forcefully deported 80,000 Eritreans from their homes in Ethiopia in a manner designed to humiliate and demean them. And so on…

Eritrea foiled successive military campaigns and frustrated the regime and its sponsors. And as time went on, Tigrayan minority clan realized conventional war alone was not going to defeat Eritrea. Thence, Meles recycled methods his predecessors used. Divide, weaken and rule. Meles pulled all stops to accomplish regime change and to control Eritrea. His favorite move, try to elevate Eritrean quisling league, make them feel relevant and give them marching orders. He invited them to Menelik Palace to give orders that they follow to this day. One by one these traitors took pictures with genocidal war-criminal that brutalized mothers, kids and families.

Meles’s approach was a saving grace to the treasonous lost-souls like Tesfaldet Meharena, Amaniel Iyasu, and the Awate fundamentalist extremist-klan Salih G-hadi who like to pursue TPLF’s agenda. Eritrea divided by region, ethnicity, politics and religion.

One message Meles wanted to send Eritreans is that they are welcome back to Ethiopia to regain properties he took. And he exploited these traitors to pass-on this message. And slowly, some greedy, immoral, irresponsible, traitors started to go to Addis Ababa to reclaim their property.

Meles’s next move was Eritrean youth. He expanded his message to encourage youth flight from inside Eritrea. This is another assault on Eritrea. Countless Eritrean youth were displaced with false promises. Kids were wooed by speedy asylum promise in Europe and North America. They enticed thousands of kids to flee their homes and fell prey to TPLF’s human trafficking rings.

The Tigrayan clan did all they can to destroy Eritrea. The amount of resources wasted, time spent hatching ill strategies, time spent lobbying/bullying African leaders, time lost colluding with western powers and money spent could have changed Ethiopia and the region for better. The crowning achievement of the TPLF is the sanction they colluded with Susan Rice to pass.

Every Eritrean must ask what were the purposes of the sanction? What did they want to achieve?

Sanctions are designed to be the worst forms of death sentence. It is slow painful death. It is designed to tear apart nations piece by piece. It is designed to frustrate people and encourage them to rise against their leaders and governments. It is designed to decimate institutions. It is hostile act designed to weaken and render nations defenseless. That is what arms embargo mean. It is a declaration of war. It is continuation of the war. It is not designed to help or bring better future for any nation. It is war by other means.

Think about the size of army Eritrea is forced to deploy on the border with Ethiopia and Djibouti. Think about length of time the youth are forced to spend in Asab, in the heat. Think about the money that Eritrea is forced to spend on the military. Think about the economic hardship, the banking restrictions the sanctions brought on the system. Think about lost-opportunities to develop tourism; industrial development opportunities curtailed as result, shortages of electricity and water people are forced to endure. Think about medicine, education etc.

In short Eritrea was blocked from conducting trade. The arms embargo denies Eritrea the right to self-defense. The sanction denied Eritrea from conducting regular international business and banking related activities. And since the arms embargo uses broad language and parameters, it is impossible to determine what constitutes ARMS. Worse yet, countries have no recourse or ways to get justice or fight the sanctions. Lynching by other means.

The government and people of Eritrea knew this. On a recent seminar in Washington DC, His Excellency Foreign Minister Osman Saleh told Eritreans, "We bought machinery for developmental projects and we are not able to get delivery because many countries are afraid to violate the sanction.” Hence, machinery designed to better lives are not available for the people.

However, Eritrea weathered these challenges with balance. In one hand defending, and on the other building future under extreme duress. If there is one word that describe Eritrea over the last 19 years, it is RESILIENCE. The people of Eritrea showed unprecedented level of patience, determination, doggedness and resilience.

The brilliance of Eritrea was demonstrated slowly but surely. Eritrea managed to weaken all enemies and the tools they used against her. The minority clique is in its death bed on respirator as a result. Suddenly, countries that used the Tigrayan Minority clique as a tool/stick, namely Washington and western partners found, their hands to be ineffective and agendas they used against Eritrea backfired.

Shifting Trajectories

The minority Tigrayan regime in Ethiopia is no longer what Western powers intended it to be. Washington worked hard to make Ethiopia anchor state to direct its agendas in the region and beyond. Washington wanted to use Ethiopian army as extension to of US army. However, today, it is clear to US representatives, State Department and the Pentagon; working its agenda through the minority regime will not bear fruit. Washington is clear about this now.

The TPLF is mired in internal power struggle. Aa result, some are leaving the party, some got demoted and accusations of corruption against high ranking officials such as Bereket Simon persist. The regime is faced with internal crisis creating fear about the future.

For example, on October 6, Brigadier General Melaku Shiferaw who came to the US for global security coalition against ISIS absconded and asked for asylum in the US. This is high ranking army officer US military depended-on to fight ISIS and the war on terror. This could-not give American military leaders confidence because it is an indicator of much larger rift within the regime’s military.

As the uprising gain-momentum and strength, the minority apartheid regime is losing grip. Money is running out faster than they can count. Hard currency in Ethiopia is none existent. The country is forced to sell sugar at a loss to Kenya to acquire hard currency. Foreign investors are forced to flee because their investments are burning. Turkey, China, India and others are losing investments in areas of protests. TPLF is losing control of the nation as it is unable to protect international investments. This demonstrate government’s inability to control the nation.

Worse yet, the biggest investor in Ethiopia, Mohammed Al Amoudi is in Saudi jail for corruption. On a recent piece, “Sheik Mohamed Al Amoudi Arrest in Saudia and its Implications to Ethiopia,” Nov 5, 2017, this author penned,

“It is the biggest disruption that the TPLF has ever seen. It is disruption that will destroy the banking system. The vast sums of money he controlled worked as engine for many sectors of the country’s economy and way of life. It is certain all his money was controlled by him and the TPLF cannot and will not have access to it. As a result, shortage of hard currency will worsen. Secondly, Al Amoudi has vast array of services and hundreds of thousands of employees that work for him in agriculture, Agro-processing, educating and training, plastic/ product, building, construction, metal work, mining, transportation, retail, management, health system to mention some. These are institutions with extensive spin-off effect in the economies of the regions they operate. These are institutions that directly affect the way the country operates. The arrest of Al Amoudi is therefore certain to disrupt the flow of these institutions immediately because the controller of the money is Al Amoudi. Disruption of money-flow will undoubtedly be immediate, and it will impact payroll and operations. That means Midroc-Ethiopia, Al Amoudi’s conglomerate in Ethiopia will disintegrate. In other words, the people that work for him will soon find themselves unemployed.”

Money is also running out because Europe is facing internal political and economic hardship. And the policies they pursued became a major reason for the influx of refugees that created instability in many parts of Europe. As a result, and due to continuous human rights violations by the Ethiopia regime, Europe is not as generous as they once were.

Tigrayan Minority Clique’s Moves Debunked

In 1998-2000, when the TPLF waged wars against Eritrea, it managed to turn Ethiopian people against Eritrea. Today, the minority clique is being hunted by the people of Ethiopia who want to cooperate with Eritrea. The army is divided. High-level government officials and military officers are defying the regime publicly and defecting. These are the realities in Ethiopia today.

The minority Tigrayan clique tried to manage the army and Ethiopian affairs by applying divide and rule tactic. They tried to destroy nationalism by employing federal system designed to divide. TPLF created satellite political parties based on ethnic identities. TPLF established loyal satellite businesses and administrative personnel that serve its needs.

These corrupt personalities have acted as thermostat to control situations throughout the nation. They are there to inform, advise, bribe, appease, threaten, kill or an anything they deemed necessary to maintain the status quo.

After 26 years of abuse, Ethiopians have said enough and have learned to fight it. They are burning businesses, factories and trucks and have placed the agents on notice further diminishing the reach TPLF enjoyed for a while.

TPLF’s agenda in Somalia failed. TPLF invaded Somalia for temporary gain at the expense of the future of the region. It helped mess up Somalia. The crimes against humanity the genocidal regime committed is biblical in proportion with lasting sting.

In South Sudan the regime made a mess of US-agenda and helped it descend to chaos and civil war.

The only saving grace the regime has is Sudan. Omar Hassan al-Bashir is the only strategic partner that it can rely on.

The TPLF once used the UN, UNSC and EU, it exploited African Union (AU) headquarters to do its bidding. With help of Susan Rice and others the TPLF managed to embed its agendas and did damage.

However, today, shifting alliances in the Middle East, war in Yemen, the election of Donald Trump and other developments have changed the geopolitical dynamics and made the Tigrayan minority regime irrelevant.

This historic momentum is pushing Washington to reassess its policies and change course not only in Ethiopia but the region. It is a moment in history when policies of EU and other countries are shifting drastically.

Thus, Tigray Peoples Liberation Front, EPRDF’s rule in Ethiopia can-no longer assert its authority, be effective diplomatically, maintain trade relations, keep its fiscal house in order, contain and sustain institutions of the country.

The TPLF did not cultivate nationalism. It cultivated ethnic nationalism. And naturally, the military reflects the makeup of the nation. The apartheid TPLF regime is from Tigray, a region that represent 6% of Ethiopia’s 100,000, 000 population. Yet, 95% of the command post is controlled by individuals from Tigray. No one Ethiopian considers the army to be the representative of the nation. It is not Ethiopian army. Hence, TPLF cannot wage wars with army it cannot manage confidently. It is mercenary military that works for global powers in the name of Ethiopia. Exiled Ethiopian air force pilot was quoted as saying,

“If I die while serving TPLF, I died as mercenary not as Ethiopian soldier!”

The TPLF waged sustained military campaigns against Eritrea and failed. It has done all it can to topple the leadership and failed. The TPLF has long acknowledged No War No Peace strategy failed. Sanctions and all the subversive activities have failed and backfired. It is desperate for a way out. And to find solutions it has been meeting in Tigray for over a month.

Eritrea remains their focal point. The Tigrayan clique still believes, if they can somehow inflict damage and topple Eritrea, all their woes disappear. But the only option left, is trying to create division between Eritreans by any means necessary. To that end, and as a last-ditch effort, multi-pronged strategy to attack the unity and harmony of Eritrea is currently at play.

On one hand, TPLF is campaigning for the hearts and minds of Eritreans. While on the other, TPLF is actively funding, arming extremist religious groups, exploiting few regionalists and pressing for more sanctions to push its agendas.

They have targeted Eritrean culture and music to disarm Eritreans in the diaspora. To that end, TPLF is recruiting Eritrean musicians to play alongside Ethiopians. Social media is abuzz with Eritrea Ethiopia peace messages. They are actively courting Eritrean students in universities all around US and Canada to create “Habasha” Abyssinia grouping.

But can these approaches succeed? How can they expect Eritreans to forget what the Tigrayan minority apartheid clique has done? How can they expect Eritreans to forget, 20,000 dead? How can they expect to win friendship while they are actively trying to extend sanctions designed to hurt Eritreans?

Concluding Remarks

War by other means is psychological-warfare, economic-warfare, it is war against culture and nationalism. The TPLF employed all its resources and played zero-sum game that it has no chance of winning. In the process, inflicted unnecessary suffering in the region. Today, biggest problem Ethiopia and the region face is the TPLF and its stubborn desire to continue this path.

Tigrayan minority apartheid clique is desperate because they are staring at the open gates of hell. Their grip is long-gone. They have lost control, no money, no geopolitical leverage except the mercenary military that brutalizes people. Even the TPLF agents in the diaspora are in hiding because people are exposing those who received asylum with false statements as Eritreans.

Eritrea is on the other hand, is on a much better path. The hardest and most difficult sting of all their attempts are behind her. Electrification, water resources, agriculture, education, medicine and all the campaigns designed to place Eritrea on a path of development are in place. The foundation for growth and the platform for the future are laid with Eritrean ingenuity and might.

Peace is the only viable option. Hence, all affected must work together to rid of this vermin.

Awetnayu@hotmail.com

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