💭 Members of parliament in Uganda have passed a bill that would make homosexual acts punishable by death.
Nearly all the 389 legislators voted on Tuesday for the anti-homosexuality bill that introduces capital and life imprisonment sentences for gay sex and ‘recruitment, promotion and funding’ of same-sex ‘activities’. The bill will now go to President Yoweri Museveni, who can veto it or sign it into law. But in a recent speech he appeared to express support for the bill. The bill marks the latest in a string of setbacks for LGBTQ+ rights in Africa, where homosexuality is illegal in most countries.
👉 Courtesy: The Guardian
👉 Soon the ICC will Issue Arrest Warrant for President Yoweri Museveni.
…Let’s connect the dots….
💭 Hundreds of Ugandan Sect Members Flee to Ethiopia, Fearing Doomsday
Leaders of sect convinced them that end of world is near and death is about to strike their area.
HUNDREDS of people belonging to a religious sect in eastern Uganda have fled from their villages to Ethiopia, Ugandan police said Sunday.
Police said that according to their investigations, the sect members fled to escape the end of the world, which they believe will start from their area.
According to the Anadolu Agency, they said the members of the sect were told by its leaders that their area would soon be hit with death and all the people there would die. They reportedly sold off their property and fled to Ethiopia, from where they are communicating with some of their relatives in Uganda.
‘We are investigating a religious sect called Christ Disciples Church with its base located in Obululum village in the eastern Uganda district of Serere. We started the investigations after getting information that people were being trafficked to Ethiopia since February and it is going on till today,’ area police spokesman Oscar Ogeca told Anadolu’s Godfrey Olukya.
He said the people, who number in the hundreds, were told by their leaders that death is coming soon to their area and the only place they would be safe is in Ethiopia. They were convinced that they should go and spread the gospel there.
✞ Christian Theology Lecturer Fired After Tweets On Homosexuality Describes ‘suffering And Persecution’
A lecturer dismissed from Methodist institution Cliff College after sharing his “evangelical” views on homosexuality says he was surprised by the school’s actions as he describes “a horrendous amount of suffering and persecution”.
Dr Aaron Edwards’ dismissal occurred amid the Methodist Church’s movement towards accepting same-sex marriage, which impacted the college’s doctrine on relationships.
Dr Edwards argued that maintaining an evangelical stance was crucial for the institution’s student base and heritage.
In response to the Anglican Church’s decision to bless same-sex relationships, Dr Edwards tweeted “robustly against homosexuality from an evangelical perspective”.
The tweet read: “Homosexuality is invading the Church. Evangelicals no longer see the severity of this b/c they’re busy apologising for their apparently barbaric homophobia, whether or not it’s true. This *is* a “Gospel issue”, by the way. If sin is no longer sin, we no longer need a Saviour.”
The college initially asked him to remove the tweet – he said he could not delete it in good conscience, as he believed in its message.
The tweet led to his suspension after receiving considerable backlash online, from Christians and non-believers alike. After being accused of bringing the college into disrepute, and threats to take the matter to counter-terrorism team Prevent, Dr Edwards was fired.
In an interview with Premier Christian News, he said he was surprised at his suspension and defended his tweet as a biblical approach to sin “encroaching” upon the church.
The dismissal has had a significant impact on Dr Edwards’ family, leaving them with no income. At the same time, they face eviction from their home within a matter of weeks.
He said: “We don’t know what’s going to happen, but we know God’s going to provide.
“We’re in a loving church. I’ve had so many people praying and prophesying over us over the last month, and that has been amazing.
“Though there’s been a horrendous amount of suffering and persecution, and also people attacking me thinking I’m trying to be a martyr, because I’m talking about it – and I just don’t think they understand what it’s like to go through these things.
“At the same time, my church has been right behind me, and people have been supporting us in all sorts of ways.
“We’ve got a Crowdfunder up now where we’ve asked people to if they want to contribute, I’ve got a vision for theological education in the future that I’d like to explore further, and so I think we’re going to be okay, because I just believe God’s got us in his hands.”
Dr Edwards is currently considering legal action and appealing his termination with support from Christian Concern.
💭 Clashes Erupt Outside Sydney Church Over ‘Anti-Trans’ Speech, exactly on the Feast Day of St. Michael the Archangel.
❖The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church honors St. Michael on the 12th of each month.
Clashes erupted between rival protest groups after LGBT+ activists blocked a church venue where One Nation NSW leader Mark Latham was to deliver an allegedly “anti-trans” speech.
Around 15 LGBT+ protestors, organised by the Community Action for Rainbow Rights, waited outside St. Michael’s Church Belfield in Sydney’s multicultural western region on the evening of March 21.
Soon hundreds of individuals confronted the group, which also allegedly included members of the Christian Lives Matter movement, resulting in scuffles and two individuals being arrested.
Bottles were also thrown at police trying to separate the groups while a live streamer was knocked over.
One Nation’s Latham condemned the violence but also said what the LGBT+ protestors did was wrong.
“They were going to block [the entrance] and deny access to the front entry to the church,” Latham told 2GB radio, saying police told his assistant to park around the back instead.
“I was greeted by mainly mothers and grandmothers who wanted to hear about school education, parental rights, and all the issues I’ve been raising during the election campaign,” he said.
The One Nation New South Wales (NSW) leader has been a vocal critic of the state’s education system, exposing young students to issues like gender fluidity and transgenderism.
“The police informed me that out the front there’d been chaotic scenes—the equivalent of a riot—where some of the parishioners took exception to the fact that access to their church was going to be blocked by these transgender protesters and they took matters into their own hands, which was wrong,” he said.
“I think blocking roads and access to the church is definitely wrong. In that setting, people like myself—a politician running for elected office—should be allowed to make his speech,” he added.
Latham said police suggested he cancel the speech, but he refused to, saying it would mean the LGBT protestors had successfully cancelled his “free speech and democratic rights.”
In a message to churchgoers, Latham said that while they may be offended by the actions of the LGBT+ activists, they should: “Keep your hands to yourself. Don’t be violent, allow the police to do their work, come into the hall, listen to the speeches, go away and make up your own mind on who you vote for.”
The right-wing One Nation is tracking strongly in several seats in the multicultural, religious, and largely blue-collar electorates of western Sydney.
Posted by addisethiopia / አዲስ ኢትዮጵያ on February 27, 2023
💰 Joe Biden was just in Ukraine giving Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky more US taxpayer money.
But that wasn’t enough.
Yellen is now in Kiev to announce another transfer of $1.25 billion to Ukraine.
Janet Yellen is also working to seize the $300 billion in Russian bank assets frozen by sanctions and transferring it to Ukraine to help rebuild the country.
Yellen met with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and other key government officials just days into the war’s second year, repeating U.S. assurances delivered by President Joe Biden a week ago in Kyiv.
“America will stand with Ukraine as long as it takes,” Yellen, flanked by sandbags at the cabinet ministers’ office, told Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.
–This has to be the biggest money laundering operation in the history of humanity. How many days of the week where we DON’T send another billion or two to fund this proxy war and democrat campaign finance operation?
–Biden last week. Yellen this week. No checking of anyone’s baggage going on either… Our political leaders are now just mules for the money launderers…
–More Inter-Tribe kickbacks from Janet Yellen Blumenthal 🔯 to Zelensky 🔯
They’re looting the peasants just like they did under Bolshevism.
–I’m honestly starting to think my hunch of Zelensky being the antichrist might be true?
–Can someone tell me how this is Yellen’s role to announce aid and engage with leaders of foreign nations? What does this have to do with managing the Federal Reserve (not Federal, no reserves)?
–They’re robbing our Treasury before the collapse.
–With all this money Zelensky the mad dwarf has been given, you think he would buy himself a new freaking tee shirt.
–It’s hilarious that top US officials can freely fly in and out of Ukraine when Russia controls the airspace. How much do Russian officials get paid to not shoot down enemy aircraft or fire hypersonic missiles at them?
–How come we’re not getting war coverage like we did in Iraq, Afghanistan and Vietnam
–Something evil is going on. Where is our “free press?” Fake News doesn’t ask questions. More than money laundering. Much more.
💭 Climate activists decapitate prominent Berlin Christmas tree
Last Generation climate activists calling for tougher government action to combat the global climate crisis sawed the top off a Christmas tree at the Brandenburg Gate. Police said they attended the scene and took action.
Climate activists in Germany chopped the top off a famous Christmas tree outside Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate on Wednesday in the latest in a series of public stunts.
Members of the group Last Generation used a cherry picker to reach the top of the 15-meter-high (50-foot) Nordmann fir.
They then cut off the top of the tree and unfurled a banner that read: “This is just the tip of the Christmas tree.”
“So far we’re seeing only the tip of the underlying disaster in Germany,” said one of the activists, Lilli Gomez, in a statement.
“While all of Germany spends the week getting the best gifts from the biggest stores, others are wondering where they will get their water to drink after droughts and floods have destroyed their crops.”
💭 ‘A perverted religion, outright Satanism’: Putin attacks the West while praising Russian values | Russian President Vladimir Putin attacks the West, saying it’s ‘satanic’ and rejected ‘moral norms’ while praising ‘traditional’ Russian values.
In his speech at the Kremlin, Putin cast the conflict with the West in even more severe terms than he had previously, reeling off centuries of Western military actions to denounce the U.S.-led world order as fundamentally evil, corrupt and set on Russia’s destruction.
“The repression of freedom is taking on the outlines of a reverse religion, of real satanism,” Putin said, asserting that liberal Western values on matters like gender identity amounted to a “denial of man.”
Putin attacked the West’s liberalism, saying that, unlike Russia, it had turned away from “traditional” and “religious” values.
At one point in the speech, in which Putin announced Russia was annexing four regions of Ukraine, he asked the assembled dignitaries if they wanted “children to be offered sex-change operations,” a practice he implied was widespread in the West.
In his two decades in power, Putin has routinely promoted what he says are “traditional values” and suppressed LGBTQ rights through a number of laws and by backing ultra-conservative movements and initiatives.
Posted by addisethiopia / አዲስ ኢትዮጵያ on May 27, 2021
MAY 26, 2021 • STATEMENTS AND RELEASES
I am deeply concerned by the escalating violence and the hardening of regional and ethnic divisions in multiple parts of Ethiopia. The large-scale human rights abuses taking place in Tigray, including widespread sexual violence, are unacceptable and must end. Families of every background and ethnic heritage deserve to live in peace and security in their country. Political wounds cannot be healed through force of arms. Belligerents in the Tigray region should declare and adhere to a ceasefire, and Eritrean and Amhara forces should withdraw. Earlier this week, the UN Office of Humanitarian Affairs warned that Ethiopia could experience its first famine since the 1980s because of this protracted conflict. All parties, in particular the Ethiopian and Eritrean forces, must allow immediate, unimpeded humanitarian access to the region in order to prevent widespread famine.
The United States urges Ethiopia’s leaders and institutions to promote reconciliation, human rights, and respect for pluralism. Doing so will preserve the unity and territorial integrity of the state, and ensure the protection of the Ethiopian people and the delivery of urgently needed assistance. The Government of Ethiopia and other stakeholders across the political spectrum should commit to an inclusive dialogue. Working together, the people of Ethiopia can build a shared vision for the country’s political future and lay the foundation for sustainable and equitable economic growth and prosperity.
The United States is committed to helping Ethiopia address these challenges, building on the longstanding ties between our two nations and working with the African Union, United Nations, and other international partners. U.S. Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa Jeff Feltman is leading a renewed U.S. diplomatic effort to help peacefully resolve the interlinked conflicts across the region, including a resolution of the dispute over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam that meets the needs of all parties. Special Envoy Feltman will return to the region next week and keep me apprised of his progress. America’s diplomacy will reflect our values: defending freedom, upholding universal rights, respecting the rule of law, and treating every person with dignity.
Posted by addisethiopia / አዲስ ኢትዮጵያ on April 25, 2021
With the humanitarian crisis in Tigray getting worse every day, humanitarian organizations and leaders of the western world (US, EU, Germany, etc.) and world bodies (G-7, UN, etc.) have been despairing to find a workable solution to the problem. Torn between taking too strong an action against Ethiopia and meeting the demands of the people of Tigray in their suffering, they have yet to find the elusive balancing act they are seeking. While all the balancing act does is provide the illusion of a coming resolution, it neglects the fact that in this humanitarian crisis time is everything.
Sadly, the three partners-in-crime (Ethiopian, Eritrean and Amhara leaders) are maximally exploiting the time ‘in between’ to execute their mission: first by delaying the withdrawal of Eritrea as much as they can; and, second, by conducting an all-out assault within that extended but limited time. The first requires diplomatic maneuverings to convince the West that they are complying with its demands; and the second requires an expedited, enlarged and widened war-and-famine campaign on the ground.
What is odd about the West’s response so far is that even as it puts pressure on Ethiopia, it completely bypasses Eritrea in its punitive approach—that is, even when the main issue is the withdrawal of its troops. Odd as it may seem, it has outsourced that task to Ethiopia, the partner-in-crime of Eritrea. There is no doubt more should be done in pressuring Ethiopia to make it comply with the West’s demands, but the shortest route to resolving this crisis happens to be through Asmara. And this is not meant to seek the Isaias regime’s agency, but to enforce the denial thereof.
Eritrea remains to be the most indispensable party in the military and humanitarian crisis in Tigray as well as in the wider regional crisis. Thus, forcing out Eritrea of the tripartite alliance would be the beginning of peace not only in Ethiopia, but also in the region.
So where has the West gone wrong? The idea that somehow it would be easier to convince Abiy than Isaias is the faulty premise upon which the West has been building its diplomatic edifice. To the contrary, it is easier to convince Isaias to withdraw his troops, if it only knows how to speak his language. He would comply with the demand of the West if the threat happens to be real. The problem is, through his dealings with the West for the last 30 years, he is able to sense when such a threat is harmless, late-coming or bogus.
Genocide to the rescue of Abiy and Isaias in their failed war campaign
Ethiopia seems to be dead set not to let aid reach the neediest people in Tigray. Now that it has realized it cannot win the war against TDF (Tigray Defense Forces) any time soon, it has put all its hopes on the emerging genocide to deliver it a victory. Already, at the initial stages of this genocide, massive ethnic cleansing, the displacement of millions and the killings of tens of thousands of civilians have taken place. The almost total destruction of the health system is meant to guarantee, at minimum, tens of thousands more victims. And the impeding famine is meant to deliver hundreds of thousands more victims in the final stage of that genocide.
Among Ethiopian nationalists, cooperating with the outside world to alleviate the suffering of the people of Tigray is taken as self-defeating. If even millions have to die for ‘Ethiopia to continue’ (as Abiy and Amhara nationalists love to put it), then the people of Tigray would have to be sacrificed—so goes the convoluted logic of the genocidal mind that is tragically dominating the political discourse in today’s Ethiopia. Sadly, the Ethiopian elite are becoming comfortable with the necropolis state they have been building; and death and displacement in huge proportions are getting normalized among the general population.
Similarly, the Eritrean government is unwilling to withdraw from Tigray without a fight. It is willing to test the will of the world, in general, and that of the US, in particular, before it relents. It too has put all its eggs in the same basket as Abiy’s. Isaias keenly realizes a premature withdrawal from Tigray will be the beginning of his end. Having gambled big time in this war, now he is afraid that Eritrea itself may soon turn into a battle ground. As the Isaias regime’s ‘last and final’ military offensive in Tigray seems to go nowhere, it too is counting on the genocide to deliver it a victory.
As the world is catching up in getting the greater picture of the Tigray crisis, it has become louder in demanding Eritrea’s withdrawal from Tigray. At least on that point, a consensus across the Atlantic seems to be emerging. But the incremental pressure on Ethiopia to enforce such a withdrawal it has adopted is not working. And this is mainly due to the West’s poor understanding of the nature of the genocidal beast they are dealing with; namely, Abiy.
A wedge between Abiy and Isaias that doesn’t exist
So far, the West’s strategy seems to be based on a false premise: on a distinction between Abiy and Isaias.
Various versions of this alleged distinction have been aired: that Isaias has been a bad influence on Abiy, but that the latter freed from the influence of the former would still be salvageable; or that Abiy is childish, but not the monster that the war and the humanitarian crisis portray him to be; or that he is comparatively young leader and still impressionable, but one that, with enough pressure, could still return to his reform days; or that he has blundered a number of times, but still remains indispensable to the unity of Ethiopia; etc. The Nobel Peace Prize has added one more layer—that of a ‘man of peace’—to an already multi-layered confusion.
This untenable distinction happens to be invoked both among dubious analysts, who strain to find a vindicating angle whenever writing about Abiy, and among sincere ones, who otherwise are appalled by the humanitarian crisis in Tigray.
The strained attempt to humanize Abiy is to be seen in almost every report the ICG (International Crisis Group) produces. Legitimizing the above mentioned distinction, it writes, “Getting Eritrean forces out may not be easy, given Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki’s apparent determination to crush the Tigrayan leadership, but Ethiopia’s foreign partners should hold Abiy to his pledge that these forces will leave.” Notice how Abiy is made to lack “the apparent determination to crush the Tigrayan leadership” despite him being loud and clear about it being his top priority a number of times. The ICG needs that fabricated distinction to make Abiy’s ‘pledge’ plausible.
Further, in its reports, ICG’s worry over what may happen if Eritreans troops leave Tigray remains as palpable as any Ethiopian nationalist’s, betraying the sincerity and purpose of the distinction between Abiy and Isaias it invokes. In one of its reports, it has suggested that the Abiy government “should curtail [instead of total withdrawal] the Amhara and Eritrean troop presences and let aid flow”. Another deceptive phrase it uses in the same briefing is for the government to “roll back Eritrean deployments”, hinting that it should be gradual rather than immediate.
Alex de Waal, who is earnestly worried about the developments in Tigray, also writes, “Abiy’s initial goal was cutting the TPLF down to size. But his coalition partners’ war aims appear to go much further.” No such distinction has ever existed; Abiy desperately wants what his partners-in-crime want: the total destruction of Tigray and the ethnic cleansing of Tigrayans from Amhara-annexed areas. When it comes to Tigray, Abiy has shown his genocidal tendencies soon after he came to power. His hate over everything Tigray or Tigrayan has been on exhibit from his early days as Prime Minister, something that the Amhara elite quickly realized and latched onto. How is it that Western analysts who know the region fail to see now what the Amhara nationalists saw early in the game?
Based on this faulty premise, Western governments (especially the EU and US) have adopted a strategy of creating a wedge between Abiy and Isaias. Their entire effort has been on how to convince Abiy to abandon Isaias—to evict Eritrean troops from Tigray—and to work for the return of peace not only in Tigray, but also in the wider region. The US has adopted the most quixotic approach: every time it fails in getting its message through, it keeps changing the messenger. This way, it has managed to keep its faith in Abiy intact.
But Abiy is not a fool when it comes to maintaining his political interests. He knows that his fate is now irrevocably tied to that of Isaias; if the despot of Asmara goes, so does he. If Eritrean troops withdraw from Tigray, he knows the Ethiopian army will find it hard to keep fighting for long. Under such a scenario, his only choice would be to settle for peace, one that would probably require his eventual resignation. But there is no such nobleness in him that would make him abandon his ambition for the sake of the nation. The only way he could end up doing that is if he is forced to, either through defeat at the battle ground or through the forced withdrawal of Eritrea by the outside world.
Thus, the world has gotten the logical order wrong. Per impossible, the world is trying to convince Abiy to agree to the withdrawal of Eritrean troops from Tigray. Instead, what it should do is enforce the withdrawal of Eritrean troops on its own and then ask Abiy to come to the negotiation table. That is, it is necessary to weaken Abiy first before he is made to accept a truce. Those who are proposing a ceasefire now may have goodwill on their side, but not good judgement; for they are attempting to do the impossible.
It is not surprising then that Abiy has been plotting with Isaias to make it seem as if such a wedge does indeed exist—that is, as if he is salvageable.
Consequences of US statements if not followed by action
President Biden doesn’t seem to realize his mere being in the White House, let alone his statements, has unintended consequences on the people of Tigray. The main reason why the two leaders—Abiy Ahmed of Ethiopia and Isaias Afwerki of Eritrea—are rushing to finalize the war in Tigray is the change of leadership in the White House.
Anticipating the Biden administration’s move, Abiy and Isaias finalized a ‘last and final’ offensive they hoped would deliver a knockout blow to TDF just after Biden moved to the White House. With Eritrea’s expanded presence, that final offensive is now being waged all over Tigray. And as Eritrea finds itself bogged down in all fronts, it has been increasing its presence by tens of thousands. The influx of soldiers from Eritrea to Tigray has not stopped till this day, with the mobilization of the last kind—women, child-soldiers, and retired men included—being scraped from the hollowed-out population of Eritrea.
It is by that much then that the Isaias regime has been heeding Biden’s warning.
But the point is that this expedited, enlarged and extended campaign is coming with huge consequences to the people of Tigray. Besides the usual ravages of the war, the unusual brutalities of the three armies mean daily massacres, thousands of rapes, burnings of villages, large-scale lootings, massive displacements, etc. Isaias is a desperate man; hence, his kitchen sink approach, throwing everything he has at the TDF (and the people of Tigray)—and all of this because he feels the Biden administration will not tolerate it for long.
So, it is essential to understand that for Isaias and Abiy this is a do-or-die mission. The total war conducted against Tigray with genocide as its ultimate goal is the wish of these two leaders. Any measure that the West entertains should take this as given.
Expedited ethnic cleansing
Another unintended consequence is the Amhara forces’ reaction: alarmed by the US’ warning for them to withdraw from Tigray, they have been expediting their ethnic cleansing at a massive level.
Secretary Blinken’s demand that the Amhara forces move out from Tigray was made with the aim of stopping the massive ethnic cleansing that has been going on in West Tigray—hundreds of thousands—in the four months since the start of the war. Yet, that very demand became a further reason to evict tens of thousands of Tigrayans more. These evictions are always accompanied with gross atrocities, not only with the intention of chasing out ethnic Tigrayans but also Tigrayan ethnicity from that area. Mass rape and the prohibition of Tigrinya language are meant to put a final dagger at the heart of the Tigrayan identity. Those who have been evicted have been repeating the glee with which the Amhara nationalists have been forcing them out of their homes, “Now we will see if America is going to save you!”
But this is not simply vindictive hate at work; there is a well thought out plan behind it. This is done with active collaboration from the Abiy government, with the intention of creating facts on the ground. Even as he claims that the incorporation of these lands into Amhara shouldn’t be done by force (meaning that he has no problem if it is done through ‘legal’ means), he has never opposed the actual ethnic cleansing—not even a word! And now, he has created a commission to eventually legalize the forced annexation. That is to say, it is with the full blessing of the Abiy government that the ethnic cleansing has been going on.
Having now established facts on the ground through terror and decrees, there is no doubt that eventually the Abiy government will claim that the Amhara forces cannot be asked to withdraw because these lands are officially located outside of Tigray. Part of the plan is, after having squeezed Tigray to a manageable size, to make it impossible for it to come to the negotiation table.
These new ‘facts on the ground’ will thus be a precondition for rendering Tigray as the belligerent party, and a sinister way of keeping the wedge theory alive. The ICG has notoriously proposed the land disputes between Amhara and Tigray should be assessed by “a federal boundary commission”—that is, literally by Abiy himself, since there is no such independent body that could adjudicate such a case in Ethiopia. To think that a nation at a time its genocidal hysteria has reached its highest level could be fair to Tigray could only come from an organization that is trying to save the Abiy administration no matter what.
Anyway, the point is again: if a statement made by the strongest nation on earth is not followed up with action, it creates unintended consequences to the very victims that statement is meant to help. If so, what is it that should follow up now, given the damage already done?
The answer is: focus on Eritrea. It would be a shortcut to all this mess.
Why focus on Eritrea?
Why should the world focus on Eritrea? Because Eritrea is the linchpin that holds it all together, be it in the military, humanitarian or regional crisis.
First, there is no way the Abiy government could defeat the Tigray forces without Eritrea’s help since it remains the backbone of the tripartite alliance. And now, with tens of thousands of Eritrean troops spreading to all corners of Tigray, the Abiy government’s dependence on Eritrea has become complete. Yet, even with all this support, the chance of winning the war is getting slimmer by the day. So, the best way Abiy could be coaxed towards the peace table is only if he sees the war option as impossible to attain; and that could be done sooner than later, and with certainty, only if Eritrea is forced to withdraw from Tigray.
Second, Eritrea’s share in creating the humanitarian crisis—this ongoing genocide—in Tigray is huge. That is to say, it is equally indispensable in creating the humanitarian disaster that is unfolding in Tigray; in fact, it pioneered all the atrocities used in generating and facilitating this genocide.
It is no surprise that the Eritrean troops’ main targets to destroy and loot happen to be health centers, food supplies, livelihoods, universities and schools, worship places, historical sites and factories and businesses. Nothing should be left to chance: the totality of Tigray—its body, mind, spirit, history, industriousness, continuity and material possession—should be attacked. Within five months, this total war has achieved a spectacular success in creating the conditions for genocide. Already, there are 2.5 million IDPs and 4.5 million are believed in dire need of food aid, a huge share of this being accomplished by Eritrean troops. Already, 50 to 100 deaths per day due to starvation are taking place, these numbers being hints of the coming famine.
The absurdity of the West’s response to the humanitarian crisis without factoring in Eritrea’s (and Amhara’s) genocidal behavior can be seen in the ever-worsening crisis, as exemplified in the increasing number of IDPs. As the West is trying to meet the needs of the displaced and impoverished people, the three armies are doing their utmost to increase those numbers. With the Eritrean army now spreading all over Tigray, it is repeating all the horrors it has accomplished in northern Tigray. Lately, it is getting bolder: it is blocking trucks loaded with food aid from reaching their destination areas. It becomes a futile game where the West increases its help while the Eritrean army does its utmost to increase the misery, thereby creating a crisis that needs further help. USAID’s ever-increasing help follows this pattern.
But that is not all; while the world is preoccupied with addressing this crisis, Eritrea is already planning ahead for next year’s famine. The Eritrean troops have been killing and looting oxen and donkeys and destroying all kinds of farming tools (yoke, plough, etc.) everywhere they go, depriving peasants of the means with which to plough their farmlands. And, lately, they have been more brazen about their evil intention: they have been directly preventing farmers from ploughing or working on their fields—again, with the making of next year’s famine in mind. To talk about helping these peasants (as the West is doing) while a diabolical enemy is undoing what is being done and plotting to undo the future is the height of absurdity. First, that diabolical enemy will have to be removed from Tigray’s landscape for any aid to make a difference in the lives of Tigrayans, be it now or in the near future.
Thus, with the withdrawal of Eritrean troops, the huge humanitarian crisis the Eritrean occupation has generated would come to an end. And if done in time, the apocalypse of the genocide—at least, to the scope the three partners-in-crime have in mind—might even be averted. That, by itself, would be a monumental achievement.
Third, the mere presence of Eritrean troops everywhere in Tigray, and the genocidal horror that follows them wherever they go, has become a further reason why the Addis Ababa government doesn’t want to allow foreign entities (from humanitarian organizations to journalists) into much of Tigray. So far, the camouflages the Abiy government is coming up with are not working. It has been dressing up the Eritrean troops with Ethiopian military uniforms, even as their famous shida (sandals)—without which they can neither fight nor run—and their emaciated bodies keep betraying them. It has even tried to hide them, moving whole battalions around in a hide-and-seek game with journalists and aid workers. That is one of the major reasons why little of the aid has reached Eritrea-occupied areas.
Besides, even if food aid is allowed to enter areas occupied by Eritrean troops (and, in some cases, it already has), it doesn’t necessarily mean that the needy party will get it. The world can be assured the aid that reaches the most affected areas won’t be stolen only if the chronically looting Eritrean army is gone for good.
Thus, with the withdrawal of Eritrean troops, this bottleneck that is keeping millions on the verge of starvation would be totally gone.
And, last, this focus on Eritrea should also have a long-range aspect to it, since much of the problem in the region is instigated by its vindictive leader, Isaias Afwerki. For a long time now, Isaias has found out the only way he could remain relevant in the region is by involving the nation in multiple confrontations. Once, in a 2009 article, I wrote:
“The only good thing about Isaias is that he has never been a nationalist, but armed with his super-size ego this quality turns into a disaster for his ambition recognizes no borders. The problem with Isaias is that once he put himself in the nationalist straight jacket called ‘Eritrea’, he never managed to disentangle himself from it. He (and ghedli [the revolution]) needed to instill ultra-nationalism in his followers to be where he is now. Once he reached the goal of independence, that very ultra-nationalism became a hindrance to his insatiable ambition to be the most relevant leader in the neighborhood.”
With the coming of Abiy, Isaias found a rare opportunity to get out of that nationalist straightjacket to be relevant again; something that was eventually denied to him by Meles Zenawi. With the Tigray war, he has carved out the most indispensable role for the Eritrean army. Now, both Abiy and the Amhara nationalists depend on him for their morbid dreams to come true. If so, it is essential the evil man of Asmara be denied the relevance he actively seeks through endless confrontations—against Djibouti, Sudan, Yemen, Ethiopia, and now, Tigray—in the neighborhood. The forced withdrawal of Eritrean troops from Tigray would be the beginning of his downfall.
With that, the possibility of sandwiching Tigray between two mortal enemies (Eritrea and Amhara), a phenomenon that has been tempting genocidal elements from Ethiopia, would come to an end. Abiy (and the Amhara elite) would have never attempted to conduct total war against Tigray without having Eritrea on his side. Thus, any attempt at resolution that doesn’t include the end of the Isaias regime will fail, even if it succeeds in achieving a temporary truce between Ethiopia and Tigray. The genocidal elements will always attempt a comeback to wipe out Tigray so far as they believe Eritrea is on their side.
Time-sensitive action needed
What is needed is an action that takes the time frame within which the war-induced famine does its work into consideration.
All the steps that the world has been entertaining so far fail the time-sensitivity test. Cutting financial aid, imposing arms embargo or other sanctions, however harsh, won’t do the job because Abiy and Isaias believe they can weather any ‘sanctions’ imposed on them for a few months. They believe that is all the time they need for their dual war-and-famine strategy to deliver them a victory. After that, they believe the world would have no alternative but to accept the new reality on the ground, as usual prioritizing ‘Ethiopia’s stability’ in the region.
But the point is, whether they win or not, such an attempt is coming at a huge expense to the people of Tigray. If so, sadly, it is those who are wielding genocide as a weapon of subjugation that are heeding the time constraint, and not those powers that are alarmed by this humanitarian disaster—the EU, US, UN, G-7, etc.
What is needed is a tool that delivers in the shortest time possible. Any delay on Biden’s side to act would come at a colossal expense to the people of Tigray—as it has already done, to some extent—who will be massacred in enormous proportions because of the morbid calculations of Abiy, Isaias and Amhara leaders.
The gradual and incremental approaches that the EU and US are using to pressure Ethiopia are time-insensitive that do not take the war-and-famine strategy into consideration. So is it with the UN-led strategy: its procedural bottlenecks meant a lethal delayed action, if ever. Thus, there is a need for a strategic shift in both the enforcer and the target of the enforcement. The West (the US or EU or both—NATO) should act unilaterally to enforce the withdrawal of Eritrean troops by focusing mainly on Eritrea.
It is only by taking these two measures that the West could escape the dilemma it has created for itself, and be able to deliver on a timely basis. Eritrea should be given an ultimatum to pack its armaments and get out of Tigray. Even as aid cuts, arms embargo and other sanctions for both Ethiopia and Eritrea are welcome, the latter nation should be singled out for additional punishment.
The West could start with a no-fly-zone imposed over Eritrea, to be extended to Tigray if Ethiopia does not comply with the demands of the outside world. A no-fly-zone would not be considered as harmless as the various forms of sanctions (not when time is factored in, anyway) and as invasive as outright armed intervention. Besides giving respite to the people of Tigray, it would be taken as a serious move to be followed up by further action if not adhered to.
And as a last resort, there is one acceptable target with the least collateral damage: Isaias Afwerki himself. Targeting one of his many hiding places (they don’t even have to kill him) would bring immediate results than any other aid cuts, arms embargo or sanctions would ever deliver.
Whatever action the West takes though, the main focus should be on Eritrea, and with a big stick behind it. That is the only way the world can avoid a genocide of epic proportion, one that could easily surpass that of Rwanda.
Posted by addisethiopia / አዲስ ኢትዮጵያ on December 27, 2019
The current year according to the Ethiopian calendar is 2012.
Judgment Day Coming Soon…
Starting at 1 Minute and 22 Seconds – God’s Just punishment on the Luciferian Nations of the Orient and the Occident, their Military Industrial Complex and Multinational Companies.
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