In Support of Our Heroic Troops

(Mulubrhan Tsehaye 12-27-06)

War is ugly, war is destructive and it is really unfortunate and sad to see our nation dragged into a war again. Given the condition our country is already in however, one cannot help but feel extremely proud to see our heroic defense force in a hot pursue of an enemy, yet again, that believed it was invincible. The swift and lightening attacks on the enemy that resulted in an instant crumble and a quick disarray of the terrorists is yet another manifestation of the remarkable courage and incredible bravery Ethiopian sons and daughters possess when provoked. One can only say that it is a great honor and an immense privilege for all of us Ethiopians to belong to this extraordinary nation where miracles are performed by its people not only on exceptional events but rather they are part of routine daily life activities.

It is obvious that there have been some opposition parties and their Diaspora supporters who claimed any military involvement by the Ethiopian government with the Somalis outside the legitimate borders of the country would bring about grave consequences. We have heard them allege that a preemptive strike on the Somali terrorists was an attempt by the government of Ethiopia to crush the opposition guerrilla forces like the OLF and ONLF that are trained by the UIC terrorists in Somalia and helped to infiltrate in to the territory of Ethiopia. Perhaps it is with this preposterous assertion that some of the opposition parties including the CUDP and UEDF chose to reject the motion put forward by the ruling party in the parliament for authorization of military force in an event necessary to protect the sovereignty of the nation. And of course, there are those specially, the Diaspora hate-mongers who ridiculously charge that the Ethiopian government supposedly wanted to engage the country with unwarranted war to divert the attention of its people from what they call the aftermaths of the election crises. These are elements who seem determined to use any opening to land as much political jabs as they can on the ruling party with objective of merely settling old political scores at any cost, even if it means at the expense of jeopardizing the sovereignty of the nation.

The fact is the so-called Somali Islamic courts, UIC is led by some of the notorious thugs who were part of Siad Barre’s rule with close links to some of the notorious terrorist groups including Al Qaeda and Al Taha-ad cells. The true colors of this extremist group has been there for anybody to see from the get go including the repeated call for Jihad against Christians perhaps in a dream of adventure similar to the 16^th century’s Ahmed Grang who marched to Ethiopia and slaughtered innocent Christians and destroyed churches and, of course the recent invasion of Ethiopia by Siyad Barre in 1977 to claim Ogaden. The radicals of the Islamic Courts have also made no secret of their ultimate objective, a creation of a "Greater Somalia” thereby annexing the sovereign territory of Ethiopia, the ethnically Somali Ogaden region and eventually export their Taliban style Islam to the Horn. It is thus only Ethiopia, what they consider as a Christian fortress that is standing in the way of realizing this wild dream. In short, Somalia has become a safe heaven for terrorists and extremists determined to destroy anything and everything that stands in their way. In addition to the various concerns that the Somali Taliban-want-to-be Islamic fanatics might bring with them, the ICU leadership has declined all and every attempt for peaceful negotiations replacing it with numerous threats and ultimatums of war against the sovereignty of Ethiopia. It was obvious that their inflated ego of invincibility has resulted from the significant support they have been receiving including foreign extremist fighters and the flow of various arms, funds, and technical support (according to the recent report of the UN Monitoring Group) from Eritrea’s notorious ruler who is determined not to leave any stone unturned to redeem his tarnished ego due to the devastating defeat he endured in the recent Ethio-Eritrean war, and the helping hands of other Islamic countries like Egypt, Djibouti, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Libya and Sudan.

The big question then became, could Ethiopia afford to ignore this rather very dangerous and unpredictable Islamic movement in Somalia and simply wait until the terrorists march and encroach Ethiopian cities? The answer is simple, no sovereign nation in the world cannot and should not allow such an aggressive and barbaric group of thugs that has been threatening the very existence of its people and its sovereign territory. No matter what the critics of the current ruling party might have been advocating, the Ethiopian government is on the right track to have perceived and acted upon the current crisis in Somalia as an open aggression towards the security of its people and its sovereign territory. There is no question that the preservation of the territorial integrity of a nation and safeguarding the security of the people is the solemn responsibility of the governing body. This is what is expected from the current government and the defense forces of Ethiopia and that is what the this war is about.

Ethiopians cannot therefore afford to fall for the divisive propaganda of what the opponents of the ruling party and their handful Diaspora extremist supporters have been attempting to depict the situation in the country as the ruling party’s own making. It is unfortunate that instead of momentarily putting their political differences aside and line up in defense of the national interest of the country, these elements seem to have been desperate to promote their self-serving political interest before the national interest of our country. The fact is, it is crucial that Ethiopian citizens of all political and religious persuasions in and outside the country ought to put their respective political and organizational interests on hold and team up with their compatriots in supporting our heroic defense forces who have glorified, yet again, the true identity of our nation. Our gallant defense forces have shown the whole world the true meaning of who Ethiopians are through their remarkable bravery and solid determination in defending and preserving the security of their people. They need a full support of their nation during this thorny period and standing firm and letting them know unequivocally, that they have a full and unwavering support from us, all citizens of Ethiopia in and outside of the nation is the least we can do for we owe it to them. We wish them all a safe return home.