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An Exercise in Obstinacy, Deception, and Self-Destruction

There is no other way to describe the policies of the current leadership in Eritrea. Please watch this appalling interview of the Eritrean President Isaias Afewerki with Riz Khan of Aljazeera and come up with your own series of adjectives to describe that incredible exchange.



The fact that Eritreans are dying under the oppressive and misguided dictatorship of Isaias Afeworki frightens and saddens me very much. The fact that there is no immediate hope is downright depressing.
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Anonymous said…
Well this is an example of what happens to a country, when the west harks about democracy and rule of law then goes back to undermine and manipulate the issue.

With out going back far, if we look at the border issue between Ethiopia and Eritrea, rule of law should have prevailed, but American Strategical interest superseded any international law and UN shamelessly has been manipulated to fit its own criteria. The Eritreans are simply saying do not move the goal post.
Here is the US trying to manipulate the already completed UN border decision that is final and binding.
http://www.slate.com/id/2178793/

Here is also another manufactured crisis between Djibouti and Eritrea that no one including Reuters seems to have picked.

“A military source said French forces based in Djibouti had carried out a reconnaissance on Thursday at the government’s request but had not been able to confirm an incursion.”

http://www.thetimes.co.za/News/Article.a spx?id=753588

Here is another example of Bush Admin. warped reasoning of arming Ethiopia with tax payers money by letting it purchase massive amount of armaments from North Korea, breaking all rules and breaking UN sanctions. The UN seems to be happy about keeping quite while whining and trying to block Zimbabwes’ armed shipment from China that is not breaking any UN rules.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/04/08/n ews/arms.php

Here is Assistant secretary of state Jendayi Frazer being caught lying about US’s planning and invasion of Somalia with Ethiopia six months ahead of the event.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VJka6q16 Os

Here is the same woman, denying the horrible atrocities committed by the Ethiopians, giving them cover, while being accused by Red cross, Amnesty etc.

http://tinyurl.com/ysmvtc
http://tinyurl.com/5aljl4
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gWSu Ntg8sIGBjTzDalP38Fz1wFBg

And here is the reason why somalia is in chaos

According to BBC, ICU came out of necessity
http://tinyurl.com/4ddmmu

Until CIA started paying the very people that were involved in black hawk dawn hundreds of thousands until it backfired big time

NY times article below
http://tinyurl.com/3u964k

So you understand where he is coming from, He is trying to protect the interests of Eritrea, as he can see International rule of law does not mean any thing at all but is a smoke screen of what the west and specially the three members of the Security council want.
As history tells us, they have not been kind to the Eritrean people and they have no plans to start now.

As much as people try to pile accusations on him, I think they should try to do the right thing first and accuse him later.
As has been seen, the border issue has huge implication on the whole of the horn of Africa. If that is not fixed, as the saying goes ” For the want of nail….. “
- Posted by Dan
May 25, 2008 at 12:06 AM
Anonymous said…
Dan,

Thank you so much for the very thoughtful and detailed comment. I don't deny that the US and the UN have failed Eritrea in many ways, particularly in not pressuring Ethiopia into the 2002 border ruling. They have used democratization and threat of terrorism as excuses to forge alliances based on self-interest rather than ethics. Those alliances have certainly not benefited Eritrea.

However, my real point is that the current Eritrean administration has used the border conflict with Ethiopia as a means to strengthen its dictatorship which started well before the border conflict in 1998. It has used a series of border skirmishes to distract citizens from dire economic problems. It has mobilized a large majority of the youth into the war zone or military service. It has squashed every bit of opposition in the country. It has shut down the free press. It has given zero hope for free and fair elections. Meanwhile, Eritrea has become an outcast in the international scene and Eritreans at home and in exile are living in despair over a country with so much hope and promise 17 years ago. The Eritrean government has let its people down and it is busy blaming the US, Ethiopia, the UN and everyone else with the least influence in the country.
May 25, 2008 at 9:42 PM
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