Open Letter to the US Congress

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By:
Dr. Abarru Gebeda
07/23/2006)

My dear Senators and Members of the House of Representatives: The post-Barre Somalia, ever in turmoil and chaos, once again has become the thorn on the Horn of Africa. The current crisis, the arrival of the Islamist, the Majilis al-shura Council, unless quickly arrested either by the African Union or by Ethiopia, will turn the region into an irreversible regional crisis, hard to contain.

The Islamists, known for their bona fide history aligning themselves with al Quaeda, and regardless of the recent attempt by Sheik Awei and his followers to distance themselves from the perpetually fleeing and hiding bin Laden, are truly hands and gloves tight in their holy war against civilization and the Western world. To get the US monkey off their back, the Islamists must pretend that their affinity with bin Laden is a thing of the past, but does the leopard change its spots so quickly?

It is a monumental fallacy to believe that the Islamist hardliners will abandon the bin Laden camp. When for example the newly formed opposition in Mogadishu with US financial and technical support announced a military coalition, the first thing the Islamist organization did was to mobilize their forces and route the coalition. The irony is, to reinvent and to rebuild this war-torn country, the much needed harmony among the sparring warlords was vital, but the Islamists threw that possibility into the gutter. And the future for Somalia and the region is as scary as ever. If, for example, the Islamists get the upper hand, donor governments, UN agencies and the World Bank, once anxious to extend their support and disburse the much needed funding, will be hesitant to get involved. Here, the Islamist dictatorial reign other than being a menace to the region and taking full control of the seas, will not find sympathy from the West, leaving Somalia without foreign support. From what I see, another cycle of failure will be its only choice.

Make no mistake Ladies and Gentlemen, a deranged and wounded bull, unless cured, will remain as a constant troublemaker in the barn, causing its roommates to bleed and suffer. Somalia is a wounded bull. And the jihad Islamists at the helm are the salt on that fresh wound and not its cure. Somalia will be the hub of terrorists, giving asylum to those who are desperate to find a new home. The United States, exhausted by global turmoil in Iraq, Iran, Israel and the Middle East, North Korea, may leave this matter on the back burner at least for now. But it will soon be too late for the region unless the problem is addressed immediately.

This brings me to the Bill HR 5680 Congressman Christopher Smith authored on behalf of Ethiopia. I am keenly cognizant that the honorable congressman, in good faith, is concerned about the political conditions in Ethiopia, but HR 5680, instead of helping a truly loyal ally in the region, will actually punish it, throwing the region into further bloodletting and chaos. I don’t believe that the congressman is simply driven by the pleas he receives from the Ethiopians in the Diaspora to punish a poor country like Ethiopia; however, to bring light into this obfuscated matter I submit the following brief clarificat-ion on the matter of the Diaspora and Ethiopia.

The Diaspora and the Ethiopian opposition political parties, mostly associates (by direct participation or lineage) of the previous juntas or regimes, aren’t the harbingers for democracy as they loudly claim. These are splinter groups of the previous juntas, who have managed to sign a temporary truce (as they say, politics makes strange bedfellows) with different factions to put on display for gullible outsiders their unity against the current ruling government, their arch rivals. The EPRDF, the party who rules the country today, having taken away control from them nearly fifteen years ago, has been labeled as “the enemy of the nation,” “the fascists’ governing body of Africa,” “the totalitarian regime of the century” to the outside world, making the inflated accusations bogus. In the United States when the Republicans and the Democrats bicker, with name calling all over the air, public sentiment becomes profoundly skeptical. Baseless charges and innuendos against the Ethiopian government, compared with the positive accolades the multiple international organizations have issued in its favor, baffles even the most curious bystander.

Additionally, the May, 2005 election in Ethiopia, having re-awakened the beast, has made it abundantly clear that, if the Opposition and the Diaspora cannot acquire political power through a democratic process, they will use every subterfuge they can contrive to achieve their goals. And now that the futile masquerading has ceased, the battle has been waged on a different format, mainly the collective and massive lobbying in the Western capitals to draw the American and English politicians into their camps. The result of the Bill HR 5680 is nothing but that. I believe Congressman Smith’s genuine intention in authoring this bill is to help Ethiopia (I believe this from the bottom of my heart), but Congressman Smith has been hoodwinked by the newly masquerading “democrats” who are trying to hijack the power that has viciously eluded them for several years. Make no mistake about their motives, though: these self proclaimed “democrats” are the hardcore Derg (the abominable leadership under the aegis of Colonel Mengistou, the butcher of Ethiopia) elements who fled the country avoiding criminal charges against them by the current leadership. Colonel Mengistu Haile Mariam, their leader, whom they fittingly disassociate from nowadays (just like Sheik Awei disassociating himself from his friend bin Laden), also escaped the country in 1991, avoiding the criminal charges against him as well.

Let’s now start from the post-election turbulence and unravel the story that has perplexed most people in America, particularly the Western political leaders.

First, the opposition, won decisively in Addis Ababa in the May election, and they did just as well in a few other cities, but the fact that they lost the major election nationwide seemed truly impossible for them to fathom. What has engendered the ensuing turmoil, however, isn’t their victory in the cities, but their frustration and inability to win the hearts of the rural Ethiopians, those who en masse voted for the ruling party. Had they elected to capitalize on their gain (that of their victory in Addis Ababa and the few other cities), join the parliament and assume the leadership of the Addis Ababa zone, many believe, true democracy could have evolved. However, these ex-soldiers and right hand men of the previous leadership have a different game plan. Choosing a most underhanded way to bring civil disobedience and chaos, in the hope that they would see a repeat of the Ukraine election (they believed, with recount and reelection, they could somehow unseat the ruling party), they reverted to civil disobedience by calling their supporters to defiance and protest in the hope of crippling the economy. They hoped to see the emergence of a civil unrest. To wrestle power away from the EPRDF peacefully and legally seemed impossible while the Ethiopian economy for the first time in its history was showing 8% to10% GNP growth, and the prime minister was named one of the progressive African leaders, winning the Norwegian Yara prize for outstanding leadership. Nominated by African-American business leaders for the Tabor 100’s Crystal Eagle International Leadership award, he has also shown a remarkable acumen as a savvy business leader, marshalling the Ethiopian economy into a different plateau. This writer isn’t making up these stories. Until very recently, many world leaders who studied the Ethiopian progress with a critical eye shared the same viewpoint. Former Secretary of State Madeline Albright once said, “Ethiopia is again earning the world’s admiration, this time for its strides in reforming, rebuilding, and reuniting at home and its leadership for peace and unity across Africa.” Prime Minister Tony Blair had appointed Mr. Meles as the Chair of the Commission for Africa, entrusting him to oversee the African development.

And the recent reservation by world leaders, it must be noted, is the sole result of the Diaspora campaign which didn’t let up in tainting the name of the prime minister. Having made the battle personal against him, they seem to be incapable of seeing the light of the day. Against these massive charges and mammoth slanders, however, the international community has to wait until the storm cools down.

But things are changing. The recent journey of Mr. Paul Wolfowitz, World Bank president, to Ethiopia attests that the country is on the right path (“Ethiopia has made important gains on several fronts”), hence releasing US$500million annually to the nation. And given such accolades and faced with an implacable foe (Mr. Meles), the opposition groups have got to use the “subterfuge,” their only remaining weapon, to still wrestle power away from him. Let’s be honest here. When the Derg elements fled the country, they didn’t leave with empty pockets. Some had robbed the nation’s banks until the safes were left totally barren, leaving the starving nation to bleed to her death. Some are also highly educated and are brilliant diplomats who served in Western capitals and know the power of lobbying in Washington and London. They have the financial resources and the intellectual capabilities to do so. Today, operating from their penthouses in Europe and America, they are using demagoguery to galvanize their followers in every capital and courting political leaders in four star hotels. The streets of Washington D.C., London, Berlin, Paris, were lately filled with deafening uproar. The clamor, loud and meant to pressure Western leaders, has been mainly ineffective. Of course, those who will listen to their diatribe are those who aren’t familiar with decades of horror-inflicted history on the rest of the Ethiopians by the regimes these current power mongers once worshipped and served. Today they are assiduously working day and night to create chaos so the rest of Ethiopia and the well meaning individuals involved in her wellbeing can be blinded by confusion and easily forget the truth. Pressuring Americans (and the people of the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Russia, Canada), to side with them so they can regain their power, not through ballots, but through demonstrating, through false accusation and slandering, through mayhem, has become their style. Issuing false stories of unfounded crimes is a daily agenda. Obviously, what they intend to do and what they are doing is an indication – though very subtle, almost imperceptible – that they will make 10 Downing St., the White House, the Carter Center and the Capitol a yearly pilgrimage to badger policy makers to submission. Until the EPRDF is thrown out by such shenanigan methods, these elitists will not cease their maniacal thrust for power.

Unfortunately that will not work. Name-calling and slandering of foreign leaders will backfire. Former President Jimmy Carter, former President Clinton, former Prime Minister Majors, former Chancellor Kohl and Ambassador Cohn, just to mention a few, and now Prime Minister Blair, Ms. Condoleeza Rice have all been castigated in article after article. And currently, the World Bank leader Mr. Wolfowitz has become the newest target of their slander. Any diplomat or foreign correspondent who speaks truthfully and favorably about the political or economic conditions in Ethiopia is seen as the enemy.

“Stop Aid! Stop Aid! Stop Aid!” is their unending slogan.

Obviously, as we all agree, if aid is withheld, the victims of this calamity will be the millions of Ethiopian peasants. Mind you, not the Diaspora elements in America or Europe. And if the logic behind withholding aid to poor countries is to pressure dictator-ial regimes to flee, that has never worked. It didn’t work on Mengistu, on Mugabe, on North Korea’s leader Kim Jong II. Yes, governments should be held accountable for aid monies they receive, but there is one great fallacy here. When it comes to Ethiopia’s debt, all of it was incurred during the previous regimes’ watch when some of these revenge-bound activists were at work, running the show.

I believe in this spirit that the Bill HR 5680 authored by Congressman Smith will only hurt the Ethiopian people and not make a significant impact on the government leaders’ thinking, even if that were the motive. The Honorable Ladies and Gentlemen:

The story is long. I don’t want to bore you with more details on the root causes of this fiasco, but the Diaspora’s discontent, emanated from a falsely placed belief, is the main culprit. Let me ask a simple question, however. The leaders of the opposition party are in jail being accused for inciting violence that resulted in the deaths of nearly fifty people. We all hope that a speedy, fair and lenient justice will prevail, but if the govern-ment is victimized by your bill, wouldn’t that make the situation even worse? How could this help their cause? Say, if the government of Ethiopia, irate over the United States’ Congress’ unwitting decision, goes to North Korea and purchases its arsenals, dismissing any kind of arbitration by the United States in the future, did we gain a friend here or lose one? Can the US afford losing friends at this time at such a speed?

Certainly, the bill, if passed, will only be a quick and ephemeral publicity stunt for the Diaspora, which will only mean a gathering at Starbucks for empty braggadocio. It would be dubbed as the “Awakening of the Sleeping Giant”, lasting a week of high spiritedness in the communities. Trust me, no more than that.

Then what?

However, for Ethiopia, as the result of the bill’s impact, it will curtail her abilities to fight the mushrooming terrorists of the region. Ethiopia has to go elsewhere to buy weapons to defend her territories. Certainly, this will further alienate her, pushing her into other hostile camps. Sheik Awei, the Islamist leader, has already announced his aim to fight Ethiopia and to spread terrorism. Is that what the United States wants? Is the United States pushing away its vital ally of the region?

In the 1970s, Chairman Mengistu, besieged by Siad Barres’s (the Somali dictator) threat sent his ministers to Washington for help in acquiring arms to defend his country. The Carter administration, gung ho in its humanitarian doctrine at the time, was reluctant to supply shipment to the Horn of Africa. Mengistu, feeling betrayed and frustrated by the US and pressured by Siad Barres’s guns, recalled his ministers from Washington. He then immediately dispatched another team to Moscow, who quickly supplied the armaments the Ethiopian leader sought. This largess by the Soviet Union sealed the marriage of the docile Ethiopia, bringing her under the satellite of the Soviet hegemony and introducing her to a new ideology she had never experienced before. The ideology imported eventually became the cause of destruction and mayhem, taking the country into a total collapse. For a nation, unaccustomed to new ideologies, the advent of Soviet brand socialism produced a plethora of countless little Stalins, bringing the Red Terror that became the symbol of blood and terror.

I am not going to beat around the bush, so let me pose this question for all the honored members of Congress and the Senate. Was the Carter administration indirectly responsible for the Red Terror in Ethiopia? Supposing the Carter administration, instead of being obstinate to its ally at the time of national crisis, had complied with the demand and used its soft powers to advance its humanitarian causes later on, would the Red Terror have occurred? The point is: pushing away a friend at a time of crisis could only strain the friendship. I don’t believe, however, the current Ethiopian government is as mercurial as the previous regime by choosing to bolt out so quickly, but America’s display of friendship will suffer a devastating blow if this bill passes without a deep soul searching.

Tracking Western governments dealing with Ethiopia and the blunders caused as the consequences of cultural insensitivities, the Mengistu-Carter fiasco has a precedent.

In 1865, a remarkably intelligent, ambitious, and powerful king of Ethiopia, whose main agenda was to end the slave trade of the region, wrote a letter to Queen Victoria asking her help to send him artisans. The letter somehow went astray, never reaching Buckingham Palace. Six months after the letter was written and no response came, Emperor Tewodros was furious. He thought the mighty Queen, too proud to respond to a mighty African king, was deliberately ignoring him as a show of contempt. Outraged, he felt justified in putting under house arrest over fifty foreign nationals who lived in Ethiopia at the time, first as a bluff, just to see how England would respond to him. But England, instead of clearly understanding this remarkable man’s motives, was insulted. The House of Commons voted to dispatch Lord Napier of the Bombay army to crush the Ethiopian monarch (“to punish him and to teach him a lesson”), and obtain the release of the detainees. Napier arrived in Ethiopia with thousands of troops and an impressive array of arsenals. At the famous Makdala base, where Napier’s troops had camped, the emperor who bargained for a few artisans to civilize his country ended up with thousands of foreign soldiers poised to kill him.

At the end of this saga, Emperor Tewodros released all the detainees unharmed (most were well fed and clothed during their house arrest, some even being guests of honor at his dinner table), showing that he had no intention of harming them even from the very start. He fought gallantly, but when Napier’s guns were impossible to thwart, he committed suicide, choosing to kill himself rather than surrender to a foreign power.

This was a huge blunder at the time on the part of England. A few artisans and a nice letter of apology would have done the trick, instead of million pounds’ expenditure for the Bombay army to march to Ethiopia. England certainly misunderstood Emperor Tewodros’s motives and destroyed her friendship with an important ally. The negotiators sent to secure the release of the detainees before Napier’s arrival also treated the king with disdain, threatening him with subtle messages of harm if he didn’t comply. This awful fiasco strained the connection between Ethiopia and England to a point, for example, when England was paying £10,000 to the sultan of Zanzibar to stop the slave trade in the 19th century, she had no access to Ethiopia to influence the matter of slavery in the Horn of Africa. France and Italy, then rivals of Britain, had the ears of the succeeding Ethiopian kings on the matter of borders and international affairs. Bad judgment and cultural insensitivity caused Great Britain to stay away from the region until 1940. Because of that debacle England’s presence in Ethiopia was ceremonial (between 1865 and 1940), with succeeding Ethiopian monarchs feeling that the English were quick to punish their friends even for trivial matters. The collective wisdom was: “You don’t punish your friend to teach him a lesson.”

This brings me back to the issue at hand. If the idea behind the current bill is to secure the release of the jailed opposition members or to force the full implementation of democracy, Bill HR 5680 won’t work. Look at it from a different angle. If a Russian citizen is held in the United States under suspicion of espionage and Russia’s President Putin tells the US: “release my man, or else…” would the United States budge?

America today is poised to punish her ally without seriously understanding the root causes of the problem. Driven by their blinding emotion to expel the "Master" or the "Chief" or the EPRDF, I believe the Diaspora hasn't taken the time to inform the Congress about the subtleties of the Ethiopian culture, which may prove a pivotal point in this scenario. Allow me, therefore, to inform you of this important and ancient, but still vital, culture. Never piss off the "Chief" when he has your brother in custody.

I implore the leaders of the Congress and the Senate to take a second look before voting on this bill. King Tewodros didn’t have to be punished. Who knew what would have happened if Mengistu had remained as an ally of the West? Are we repeating the same mistake today? My dear Senators and Members of the House of Representatives: Again, I implore you to reconsider your vote on this bill.

Thank you.

P.S. Readers who agree with the above message are encouraged to print this letter and fax it to their respective representatives. Thanks. The Author

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