Isaias Afwerki: Playing Hardball

Engineer Ghirma

August 25, 2007

Where did all of the previously visible leadership of EPLF go? They are nowhere to be seen.

As parents, many of us have faced our small children, from whom we deliberately hid a harmful object with which they liked to play. They would, sometimes annoyingly, persist in demanding to know the whereabouts of their play things. We would tell them that a mouse took it away (ኣይጧ ወሰደችው), and the gullible ones would be distracted and go about to their playful ways…until they remember again…and demand once more where their play thing was. After several cat and mouse episodes, the parent would tell them, in desperation, that the hyena carried it away (ኣያ ጅቦ ወሰደው). The poor kids took the hyena very seriously, and dropped the whole matter instantly after that!

So, really, where did Mahmoud Sherifo, Haile Derue, Petros Solomon, etc. etc., go? Well, who else but Isaias Afwerki (the human-hyena), carried them away! Why? Because they realized that war with Ethiopia would be disastrous for Eritrea; and a peaceful settlement of the conflict was in the best interest of the Eritrean people. It is not to say that those EPLF leaders had a change of heart towards Ethiopia…far from it; but rather they had realized that Eritrea was pursuing the wrong course in its policies toward Ethiopia; and that it was time for change of direction. Isaias “dumped” his comrades, in many cases inside metal shipping containers, and proceeded with his single minded policy, that has branded Eritrea with its current status as a “rogue nation”, without even a ratified constitution.

Isaias is playing hardball (ትምክህተኛነት), and continues to intimidate Ethiopia, and the rest of Africa, by hurling insults on those who are aspiring peaceful co-existence with their neighbors. Ethiopia has friendly relations with its immediate neighbors (except Eritrea) and the other African countries. Through technical cooperation in various fields; and by proactively promoting “good governance”, Ethiopia is establishing new standards in the effort to face Africa’s new challenges in the Twenty-First Century. Isaias Afwerki on the other hand, is playing hardball to stifle Africa’s evolution toward economic empowerment, and the war against poverty. The Eritrean people have no such aspirations; because they have been pre-set on a war footing in the service of Isaias Afwerki and his cronies in the Diaspora. Eritrean youth have become hostages in their own country, without hope of a better life. They have become source of slave labor in every imaginable sector; including agriculture and the construction industry. Among the Eritrean youth’s task in the construction sector, is to build villas for Isaias Afwerki’s military leaders. If this is not slavery in the Twenty-First Century, I don’t know what is.

Isaias Afwerki’s latest ploy is Eritrea’s role in Somalia in the service of al- Qaeda. The obvious intrusion of that role into Ethiopia has openly (በገሃድ) emerged; as was revealed by the Ethiopian and foreign press. The UN has identified Eritrea as primary supplier of military hardware, including surface to air missiles, to Somalia’s al-Qaeda sponsored terrorists. The U.S. will provide the necessary proof to that effect; and is also considering designating Eritrea a "state sponsor of terrorism". If such a measure is adopted by the United States against Eritrea, it will have disastrous consequences for the Eritrean people. Mass flights of civilians to neighboring countries including Ethiopia will dramatically accelerate. Whereas Eritreans were expected to return to their homeland upon their “independence”, now they are sadly reverting to leaving their country in droves as refugees. We may be witnessing the making of another “Darfur” in Eritrea.

Sometimes we tend to forget that the people who live in Eritrea are Ethiopians to the core. They are the ancestors of Zer’ay Deres. We all know what this legendary hero did in Roma during the brief occupation of our country by Italia. He declared war against the Fascists from their own land, with just a sword in his hand! He couldn’t stand the mockery by Fascists of the Ethiopian flag, and the statue of the Lion of Judah. He was apprehended and declared schizophrenic (ህሊናውን የሳተ ወይም እብድ); and they placed him in an asylum. They said he was a “mad man”. The hell he was! Zer’ay was “mad at” Mussolini’s insult of his country (Ethiopia). Therefore, Isaias’ disrespect for the Eritrean people, in my opinion, is also an insult on all Ethiopians. Ethiopia has a solemn duty to liberate Eritreans from the yoke of a tyrannical regime, one way or the other.

At this juncture, Isaias is feeling like he has nothing to lose by declaring war against the Eritrean people. In his mind, Eritreans are absolutely dispensable commodities. He thinks that he can get away with any and all abuses that he damn well pleases. He doesn’t care about the Eritrean people. He has the mentality of a donkey (እኔ ከሞትኩ ሠርዶ ኣያብቅል). Desperate people do desperate things; and it eventually becomes part of their own undoing. The “lion of Naqfa” is nothing but a “paper tiger”. He is the same guy who ran like a hyena, with his tail between his legs, from Badme to the outskirts of Asmara, leaving his troops buried in their own trenches. Don’t tell that to the Vocal Eritrea’s mentally challenged Diaspora and their CUD/DERG partners; because they actually believe (more like pretend) that Eritrea won the war! Eritreans back home would beg to differ; after all, they are the ones who had to bear the consequences of Isaias Afwerki’s miscalculations; while the Vocal Eritrea’s Diaspora was celebrating its cock-eyed (ሸውራራ) victory.

Isaias Afwerki’s days of playing hardball with the lives of the Eritrean people, and by virtue of our kinship that of Ethiopians as well, may be over sooner than later. The writing is on the wall for everyone to see.

Also on related subject by Engineer Ghirma W.G.:

http://www.tigraionline.com/isaias_afwerki.pdf