Letter to Mohie

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By:
Kebede Anemut
07/29/2006)
Dear Sir:

I have read your article on recent developments in Somalia. I can understand your frustration due to the suffering of the Somali people for the last 15 years. However, I don’t agree with your assertion that Ethiopia is against the people of Somalia. The only people who are against Somalia are the Somalis themselves. Had it not been due to the warlords and factional fighting, Somalia wouldn’t have been in such a mess. Ethiopia has hosted hundreds of thousands of Somalis at their time of need; sheltered and feed them. It is simply untrue that Ethiopia is against Somalia or the Somali people and facts on the ground don’t support your baseless assertions.

Your threats of recruiting thousands of Jihadists from Somalia and Ethiopia itself to destabilize my country is merely a wishful thinking which comes from a frustrated mind. In Ethiopia, Christians and Muslims lived together in harmony for thousands of years and will continue to live. Neither Christians nor Muslims could throw swords at each other’s throats. Do you know what we do during Maskal or Arefa celebrations? Even in one family, oxen or sheep are slaughtered for each religious group. Believe it or not, there is no religious extremism in Ethiopia. So recruiting jihadists from Ethiopian soil is unthinkable as is fragmenting Ethiopia. Look, we are a nation of 80 or so ethnic groups with diverse culture. Yet we have always coexisted in harmony.

It is true that thousands of jihadists could be recruited from Somalia but what difference would it make? Even if you recruit millions of them, you can’t win a single battle let alone a war. We know you because we have fought how many wars? And do you know were you are? Siad Barre miserably failed after years of preparation to strike at the heart of Ethiopia at a time the country was in turmoil. He couldn’t make it with all the planes, missiles, well trained & soviet equipped mechanized army. Al Itihad tried to destabilize Ethiopia but couldn’t make it because it was cut and killed. Now we know it has come in the form of UIC. If it crosses the line that it is not supposed to, it will receive a decisive blow like before. Here I am not stating the government’s position because I don’t know what it is pertaining to this matter. Regardless, I stand for my country and I am willing to shed my blood for its unity and territorial integrity. You should learn from history that no one has forced us to knell down; be it Italians, Turks, Egyptians, etc. Do you know what has happened to small Eritrea when it invaded Ethiopia in 1998? Now that Egypt and Eritrean are behind this current conspiracy to weaken Ethiopia by arming and funding jihadists and known terrorists. Believe me, we have a reliable army, man power and fire power to thwart the ambitions of our traditional enemies. It is true that we don’t want war but if war is imposed upon us, we don’t blink our eyes to whatever force may face us let alone to a band of terrorists. When our country is at war with our enemies, it is in our tradition to close ranks and support the government regardless of our differences. Eritrea lost big time during the 1998-2000 war and desperately wants to avenge. But if it hopes Ethiopia will bog down in endless war in Somalia, it will only remain a wish. The Eritrean dictator should have known by now ( after all the lessons of Badime, Barentu, Zalanbessa, etc.) that we know how to wage war and win quickly.

God bless Ethiopia

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