Comments on: Ethiopia/Eritrea: Another war?

By: Ethiopian21

Ethiopian21 — Mon, 23 May 2011 12:00:15 +0000

‘Meles he is trying to divert the attention of his countrymen to avoid North African-style unrest in a country were high living costs and unemployment are taking their toll.’ He is doing this nothing else.

By: SELAM

SELAM — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 02:53:22 +0000

“From the point of view of justice, the opinions of the Eritrean people must receive consideration. Nevertheless, the strategic interests of the United States in the Red Sea Basin and? considerations of security and world peace make it necessary that the country? [Eritrea] be linked with our ally, Ethiopia”.
John Foster Dulles,
US Secretary of State,

In Dec. 2,1950, the UN voted 46 to 10 to federate Eritrea with Ethiopia. (UN resolution 390/V).

EVER SINCE, THE GRUESOME CYCLE GOES ON & ON, profiting the Western & Eastern “military industrial complex”, at the expense of the destitute Ethiopian & Eritrean people.

By: Hanan

Hanan — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 21:07:19 +0000

Once the west braced these guys as African leaders of the new generation. There was aggressively a campaign to nominate both nations’ leaders for the Nobel Peace Prize. My simple message to both you: please feed your own people first and step down from power for heavens sake. Twenty years are too long to cling on power without accomplishing anything, other than famine and repression of your own people who brought you to ….

By: Wise1

Wise1 — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 22:15:16 +0000

@ Goshua:
“Anything is possible. The two former rebels are relatives and know each other very well. But they are competing to be the best dog in the horn in the face of the Arabs in one side and the west (Israel) on the other side. Both prefer to be a closest ally for the west which Mr Aferworki lost and Mr Zenawi enjoyed unconditional support from the west.”

Wise1: How did Mr Afeworki lose and how did Mr. Zenawi win? What game did they play to decide the winner? You really don’t know what you are talking about and people like you are always part of the problem. You are the reason why the westerner are easily manipulated and lack critical thinking skills. People in the west have become accustomed to using the “right” words to illicit desired “responses” and make themselves appear to be intelligent without actually having any substantive knowledge of the subject they are speaking of. I would also like to know why you are spreading gossip as fact on this site and I expect an answer ASAP.

Now that Egypt is swept by tempest, the West and the power in Tel Aviv are desperately in need of a device with which to intimidate Egypt so as to bring the new rulers to the accord table. There is the Nile again and that is why Meles is threatening Egypt deafening times and at every conference in the last few weeks.
What you

The war with Eritrea is part of the game surrounding Nile , Mr Zenawi’s fear of uprising against his rule and the economy. But I believe strongly the west is behind Mr Zenawi’s suddent chang of policy on Eritrea and the Nile issues.
When the dust settles, the West, once again, will have secured Egypt ’s companionship and will be looking to produce evidence to Egypt by carving another Eritrea in the south out of Ethiopia

Wise1: The only thing I agree with you on is the fact that if Ethiopia engages in war with Eritrea (which is highly unlikely) then Ethiopia will end up being fragmented and the Oromo will take control over the country. The decicion to go for independence will be the decision of the Southerners. Meles is no genius and he takes his queues from his western masters, therefore it is quite possible that they (the west) are playing him like the rook he is. I only agree that it is possible but the more probable reason for Meless war posturing is to deflect attention from the many Arab\North African like uprising which are imminent in Ethiopia. It is clear that both you and the writer of this article are limited in your understanding of the regional Politics in east Africa and even more so ignorant of the history of Eritrea and Ethiopia.

By: democracynow

democracynow — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 18:03:05 +0000

Two issues here.One trivial,one serious.No,the two dictators are not relatives,but one`s dad from Adwa,and the others mum too.It gives a bad impression of a family/village-O`Cracy!Leaving this aside,there is no question M.Zenawi is beginning to feel the heat as an incogruous winner of an election by 97%-he cannot believe his bad luck as near neighbours with a largely unemployed & young population,(internet negligible,but satelite TV comparable to any major city)showing gusto,a rampant inflation at 25%/month…,stifiling regulations on the business cmmnty,introducing an excessive printing cost to muzzle the small “free press”and to top it off,to accusse all and sundry with another dim expletive such as businessmen,egypitans,his old TPLF comrades,oromo`s who d`nt agree with him,Issayas,the diaspora in general and the amhara in particular,the salafist muslim,..Oh not to forget the usual suspects-the somali_shabab…)as “RENT-SEEKERS”. No,my friends,Mr Zenawi is not a genius.If being a genius is to elongate the hold on power by any means necessary in our Country and Continent,certainly!I would also declare war not only on Erirea,but east,south and west-to tap into the limitless well of Ethiopian nationalism.I will also throw in the biggest Dam project,just in case!! Cynical Yes,Genius?absolute tosh,and he knows it.

By: Wise1

Wise1 — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 13:54:39 +0000

@ Goshua, I like how you write with such confidence as to give the illusion that you know what you are talking about.
You made the statement “The two former rebels are relatives and know each other very well. But they are competing to be the best dog in the horn in the face of the Arabs in one side and the west (Israel) on the other side. Both prefer to be a closest ally for the west which Mr Aferworki lost and Mr Zenawi enjoyed unconditional support from the west.”

First of all they are not Cousins (unlike Bush and Obama who are actual cousins), and you either know that or are intentionally lying or you are just ignorant and blelive any gossip you hear at your hair salon. They never even met each other until after the war for independence was over and they definitely do not know each other well (at least not personally, although I am sure they are well aware of each other now).
Secondly Mr Afeworki never had an intention of being the west’s closest ally although he did naively expect a mutually beneficial relationship. You speak about African leaders as though they are little kids and you write with absolutely know historical context in mind.
You might fool some, but you just lost one. You are an arrogant fool.

By: Bashay

Bashay — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 08:19:28 +0000

I agree that “this guy is undoubtedly the most genius political strategist ever seen in African continent”. This time let alon face any uprising, he is getting the highest support he got ever because of the newly planned Millennium Dam. It seems that he has well prepred himself for the dam and any confrontation that might come from any direction. The proof is that he managed to convince the other upstream countries sign the new initiative. He has also successfully built his army in such away that can confront and any attack with less budget (around 1% of the GDP).

By: Zeragito

Zeragito — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 00:06:25 +0000

Whether or not there will be a war between Eritrea and Ethiopia, does not depend on Meles and certainly not on Issaias. Issaias has lost what little influence he had beyond Eritrea’s borders and Meles did not have it to begin with. Meles Zenawi has never been anything but a US puppet. Everything he does, is ordered directly by the US. If Meles makes Ethiopia wage a war on Eritrea or Somalia or any other place, it is on the orders of the US. If Meles refrains from waging any wars, this is on the orders of the US as well:) Stop giving Meles credit, give it to Obama instead lol. Also, the North African
revolutions, were organized by the USA through facebook (their latest tool of control). If Meles is overthrown by a facebook revolution, will you credit Meles’ amazing political strategic brilliance? Please wake up and smell the coffee:)

By: Menelik

Menelik — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 18:38:58 +0000

Zenawi’s trademark is taking multipronged action which often is intended to result in gradations of consequences. On this one, the timing of the threat from Zenawi indicates that he is mainly trying to divert the attention of the people from the fever of uprisings in North Africa. At the same time, Zenawi is also calculating in his paranoid mind that this threat will put Eritrea on the alert hence it will refrain from supporting Ethiopian rebels. He seems to be increasingly worried about the possibility of Eritrea-supported opposition groups somehow sparking an uprising in Ethiopia. Hence this warning is supposed to be a pre-emptive measure. The third objective could be to keep the Army occupied with the thought of an impending war. The role of the Army in Egypt, Yemen, and Libya in the public uprisings has given Zenawi a good reason to be concerned about the activities of the Army. Therefore, he could use such pretext to reorganize and undertake some internal operation in the Army which is almost totaly controlled by the combatant-turned-generals from his own ethnic groups. Otherwise, Zenawi will never start a war as he can not rely on the morale of the Ethiopian people for such confrontation with Eritrea at this time.

By: 3000Hope

3000Hope — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 18:37:08 +0000

Here is MZ him self in his own words telling you that it is purely diversionary to bring the war rhetoric front and center when in fact nothing substantial has changed on the ground that will trigger war or a war talk for that matter. FYI the Amharic version is also the same.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xYcR_7F5 Zk&feature=player_detailpage#t=34s