The Enemies of the Nation

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By: D. Amdemichael
07/27/2006)
The Derg adherents from the Diaspora are lately rooting for Somalia’s Sheik Aweys to be stronger and fight their battle, by removing the EPRDF and hand over the crown to them. Honestly, that’s what they want!

It’s obvious that they couldn’t stage any field battle of their own especially against the EPRDF, a foe of a leviathan magnitude in their eyes (especially if you are seating in DC and enjoying Coors or Budweiser), impossible to remove. So, here are Sheik Aweys and his belligerent followers, accustomed to desert dust and scorching sun, promising to crush Ethiopia with Eritrea’s support, and the good sons of the Derg are saying: “Yea! Go Aweys! Go Aweys! Go Aweys!”

The passion is identical to the Italian fans rooting for their Azzuri in the World Cup.

Little do they know actually that the foxy Aweys is a lot smarter than most of them care to admit. He is not shedding his blood to fight their fight, nor does he advocate their causes. He wants to capture Ogaden, then march all the way to Awash, claim Nazareth and then tell them, “Guys, I love you; but Shashemene is also mine!”

And one more please: He wants the Taliban-like democracy (you can tell I am being sarcastic) to reign in the region. Yes, he wants movies to be outlawed, women to remain captives, Christianity eradicated, all Western diplomats removed or killed (whichever comes first), the songs of Tewodros banned, all the Churches burned, Axum destroyed; what’s left?

Is this ludicrous? Didn’t Siad Barre entertain this mammoth ambition? Wasn’t that part of his main agenda and the reason for him to stage the war against Ethiopia? Isn’t Sheik Aweys a soldier of Barre, who once believed in the same mantra? Didn’t he say (“in a recent interview with Newsweek, Mr. Aweys declared that all regions in neighboring countries where the major occupants are Somalis belong to the territories of Somalia. Specifically, he made it clear that Ogaden, the Eastern part of Ethiopia, belongs to Somalia. This is an area sensitive to most Ethiopians and Somalis alike. This issue remembers millions of peoples on both sides of their memories of sufferings through the years dating back to the 1960s.”) that he will march to Ethiopia to settle his claim.

And Eritrea, Ethiopia’s arch foe, is supplying him with weapons to move on. So, my friends in the Diaspora and their disarrayed Kinijit group are asking: “What’s Meles doing in Somalia?”

Let me answer that in the typical Ethiopian metaphor. Meles doesn’t hold besso in his hand when his enemies are wielding missiles!

And let me add here, just so the Diaspora naysayer can understand. Mr. Meles and Ethiopia, at the end of the day, will prevail not only against Awyes, but against Eritrea as well. About the only thing that is stopping Mr. Meles from smashing his foes, north and east, is: he didn’t want to be the aggressor in the eyes of the international communities. He wants to be right.

But, Eritrea’s overt support to the Islamist warlord by supplying weapons of destruction is a clear intention that Mr. Isaias is hell bent to destroy Ethiopia. And Mr. Meles has every right to send his troops to Somalia and crush the mushrooming al Quaeda elements before they march to Addis Ababa and destroy the Americans and all the Westerners, including his subjects. An Ethiopian saying “begizew yaltefa isat, meliso yatefal” (a fire not wiped out on time will wipe out reversely) is a good sage to deliberate at this time.

Meanwhile, the fans of Sheik Aweys think they have got their Messiah now. The irony is: just how low could they go to embarrass themselves?

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