Comments on: Eritrean passions

By: Dan

Dan — Sun, 24 May 2009 16:58:21 +0000

Mr CawthorneThank you at least for trying to be impartial, those who try to be impartial reporters are like a flower that sprouted in the middle of a sewage system, it gets overwhelmed by the surrounding.Journalism has become an incestuous state of affairs that gets dictated by interested parties to create initial momentum, there after they cross feed from each other .The best example of this is Dick Cheney’s saga of the Niger Yellow cake saga. Officials leak information to newspapers, and they quote newspapers as a source. Things propel themselves from there.As we know, truth in the end comes out,but by then it is history and there are new lies to be made.When Eritreans say it is conspiracy it is not a figment of their imagination but based on facts that can be substantiated by anyone, but people rarely do.Even the people that were part of the conspiracy write about it on their books and memoirs.Two such examples are the booksSurrender Is Not an Option: Defending America at the United Nations by John BoltonWhere he clearly implicates the Bush Admin represented by Jendayi Frazer and Blair Admin represented by Lord Malloc-Brown as the culprits for the impasse between Eritrea and Ethiopian.“Unvanquished: U.S.– U.N. Saga” by Boutros Boutros?Ghali Secretary general for UN (92-97)In the book he accuses the current puppet master in Somalia Ould Abdallah (UN Official) the same man that is accusing Eritrea of gun running, and was instrumental for falsifying of the UN monitoring report that stated 2000 Eritrean troops in Somalia in 2007, as sleepery eel that was bought by the Americans.Here is an excerpt from(Page279):After a late Saturday night arrival in early July in Yaoundé,� �the capital of Cameroon and the h ost city for the OAU summit, I be gan to seek support among the delegates early Sunday morning. Although warned that the Americans were on the scene in force, I was shocked to find s uch a high powered U.S. team of officials work ing so intensely to discredit me. There, in the hotel lobby, I reali zed for the first time the full m eaning of the American term “lobb ying.” Countless young American di plomats seemed to be constantly rus hing from one part of the hotel t o another. Every time I stepped in to the elevator, I would encounter� �a sweating American Foreign Service officer on his or her way to me etings with African leaders. “Assi stant Secretary of State for African Affairs George Moose wa s there. With him was the man who had held that same job during the Bush Administration, Herman “Hank” Cohen, now director of a foundation dealing with Africa. I knew both men, because we had o ften worked together on African iss ues. Strangest of all to me was the presence of Ahmedou Ould Abdall ah, a Mauritanian I had appointed as my special representative for Bu rundi. Ould Abdallah had slipped in to the American camp like an eel,� �perhaps because he had suddenly le ft the United Nations to become th e new head of Cohen’s foundation. My aide Fayza Abulnaga cornered O uld Abdallah with feline fury in a hotel corridor and denounced him as a despicable turncoat.”

By: Joe

Joe — Sun, 24 May 2009 03:27:30 +0000

Selamawit,I wonder how some people could ignore this kind of brutality and praise this tyrant who’s about to be condemned by the entire world?

By: Dawit

Dawit — Sun, 24 May 2009 03:27:10 +0000

AndrewThanks for the articles.For those denigrators, nay sayers and day dreamers, is it not the countries that purport to be democratic countries flooding Africa with arms, sucking dry African resources with the help of few greedy citizens and vilifying any one who does not agree with them.Unfortunately in every country there are placard waving useful idiots that are clueless of what is at stake.Leaving the countless invasions based on lies and heinous crimes like Abu graib that no one wants to explain, why aren’t the so called democratic countries not accountable to the same rules and international law.My casing point is the Journalists that were locked since 2001 in Iraq with out trials, because they are allegedly “high security threat.” . I don’t see the same uproar or US ranked 173rd by RSF (that is funded by USAID & NED)http://tinyurl.com/ry49deor the UN and AU protesting of arms dumping in Africa bought from the so called Axis of evil with uncle sam’s moneyhttp://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/08/w orld/08ethiopia.htmlhttp://www.youtube.c om/watch?v=7VJka6q16OsOne can write a book the size of “war and peace” on the hypocrisy and conspiracies that are still going on.

By: Selamawit Tesfay

Selamawit Tesfay — Sat, 23 May 2009 21:15:13 +0000

Dear Mr. Cawthorne,while you are still in Asmara you might want to take a stroll to Godaif (nr. 4 bus), and find some people to interview about this (http://www.awate.com/portal/content/vie w/5160/3/ on May 23, 2009). I’m sure the president would be delighted to talk about it, too:”In what has become an annual ritual since 2001, the Eritrean government has rounded up thousands of Eritreans, mostly the youth, from the environs of Asmara. Eyewitnesses report that many youngsters who were fleeing from the military police (MPs) were beaten cruelly to the extent of being hospitalised. One eyewitness describes the fate of a young “warsay” (conscript) who was beaten until he was unconscious. This happened in Godaif, an Asmara neighborhood. The eyewitness describes what he saw as “zeskaHkiH” (gruesome.)”

By: Hagos

Hagos — Sat, 23 May 2009 21:05:28 +0000

Corrected versionWe all know the difficulties Eritrea is faced with over the past 7 years. We have a stubborn government that is fixated on this self reliance model …Which is noble in itself but needs partners to succeed. They need to tone down the rhetoric.I was one first few who joined a chorus of people asking for more transparency from the government back in 2000. I saw how the so called opposition was highjacked by foreign interests (USAID, England and some American NGO in the States). I was disappointed by the lack of honesty and transparency by this so- called opposition groups that I withdrew all my support. No wonder why the opposition has failed miserably .What you have now is loose association of groups with different and opposite views (one is pro-democracy and one is pro-sharia etc..) that the only thing bonding them for now is their hatred towards the PIA and the money they are getting through peace and democracy organizations.Having said that, I am fully supportive of the GOE Actions. PIAis our Mandela our Che and one thing for sure he leaves no one indifferent! –):Talking about conspiracy –):All hate emails you are getting are not all from Eritreans… Our friendly neighbors followed the story as well read below and are not particularly happy about all media attention the PIA is been gettinghttp://www.ethiopianreview.com/co ntent/2 009/05/woyanne-reacts-to-president-isaia s-afwerkis-interview/Good job Andrew and so long!

By: AnotherAsmarino

AnotherAsmarino — Sat, 23 May 2009 20:56:19 +0000

Mr. Cawthorne,your interview is an exercise in sidestepping any interesting question to The Man.Just ask questions like “Where is Abune Antonios? Can I visit him?” or “I’d like to talk to the G-15 at Eiroeiro” or “Why are Dr. Kiflu, Dr. Fitsum, Dr. Tecleab and Keshi Gebremedhin still in Carshelli prison?” and watch any signs of relaxedness disappear in an instant…

By: Hagos

Hagos — Sat, 23 May 2009 20:52:50 +0000

We all know the difficulties Eritrea is faced with over the past 7 years. We have a stubborn government that is fixated on this self reliance model …Which is noble in itself but needs partners to succeed. They need to tone down the rhetoric.I was one first few who joined a chorus of people asking for more transparency from the government back in 2000. I saw how the so called opposition was highjacked by foreign interests (USAID, England and some American NGO in the States). I was disappointed by the lack of honesty and transparency by this so- called opposition groups that I withdrew all my support. No wonder why the opposition has failed miserably .What you have now is loose association of groups with different and opposite views (one is pro-democracy and one is pro-sharia etc..) that the only thing bonding them for now is their hatred towards the PIA and the money they are getting through peace and democracy organizations.Having said that, I am fully supportive of their actions. PIAis our Mandela our Che and one thing for sure he leaves no one indifferent! –):Talking about conspiracy –):All hate emails you are getting are not all from Eritreans… Our friendly neighbors followed the story as well read below and are not particularly happy about all media attention the PIA is been gettinghttp://www.ethiopianreview.com/co ntent/2009/05/woyanne-reacts-to-presiden t-isaias-afwerkis-interview/Good job Andrew and so long!

By: wedi'smera

wedi'smera — Sat, 23 May 2009 17:31:30 +0000

You’re talking about Isaias Afwerki as if he matters. He is is but a useful pawn in the strugle against Ethiopia, one of the oldest Christian nations in the world and an island in a sea of muslim nations, which, as the main source of the fertility of the Nile delta in Egypt, happens to be the cradle of civilizations as far back as the Pharoes. Isaias doesn’t matter in the least. Neither does Somalia, absent the supreme prize of what is today Ethiopia. Eritreans are like children – they can’t see past yesterday or tomorrow. History doesn’t seem to have any impact on them. They seem to think Eritrea was created by Mussolini. They feel more kinship with the Italians than they do with their cousins in the south. The few that have realized the truth are either abroad or in prison. But they don’t matter anymore either. They matter even less than Isaias.

By: asenai kibret

asenai kibret — Sat, 23 May 2009 14:32:10 +0000

first thanks for giving us info,about eritrea frpm yourprspective,as for your assertion eritrea to cuba and castro, well what can we say every eritran and most of the people in most of the developing world knows how thewestern media sale their services.one more thing to tell you which we used to say many years ago before independence is ERITREA IS ENDOWED WITHTHOUSANDS FO ISSAIAS AFEWERKI for those who try to porttray he is the only one for good or bad of the country.

By: Yoel

Yoel — Sat, 23 May 2009 10:19:34 +0000

Mr CawthorneI am gland that you went back to Eritrea to interview one of the most cruel leaders in Africa. I believe u also believe in facts and u would judge some one by his actions. Well u r a journalistn, u have asked him some of the question inwhich the Eritreans journalists had asked him before he send them to Jail. And know for u that u know there journalists in prison for like 8 years with out a trail. SO I hope u have asked about them. I dont expect good answers from him anymore but atleast the world she know that he is one of the criminal supported by people who have some special interest. This man doesnt have any kind of public support. He has been in power for 18 years the same like the Ethiopian dictator Meles Zenawi. So both in power for decades with out the public support. So I dont know wat u have asked him but I would have liked from u to raise questions concerning Journalists and the Youth who is fleding the country. All in all I thank u for ur effort and I hope u will be one of the Journalists who will try to bring the truth and help in prevailing justice.