In an interview that is a well considered smokescreen, conducted by Saleh “Gadi” Johar, the captain of awate.com, on Wednesday, April 13, 2011, Meles Zenawi boasts obsessively as usual about the imaginary economic achievements of his regime, retracts or tries to tone down some of his earlier bravadoes and provocative statements on Eritrea and Egypt. Yet at the same time wanting to brazen it out! No matter how he tries to seem refined, the Abyssinian feudal warlord in him would not let him to be purely diplomatic even in his most relaxed moment. For him deep down cleverness and intelligence, politics and intrigues are the same, constantly trying to appear decided to brave the storm, the brand of Cain, of a murderer, on his face, for those who can see. This time he is more scatterbrained than ever. So to smooth over his perplexities about the anti tyranny upheavals in the region, he tries to serve up a load of seemingly deliberate statements in a seemingly chatty, light conversational tone to the awate cyber wizard, both of them eager to misuse each other for their own separate agenda. They can keep it up indeed while there is time!
The Eritrean opposition groups in Addis Ababa ( Awate.com advances their agenda ) and the Somali warlords around the renegade Sheik Sherif can never convince their respective people, even with the help of the entire western world, that Meles Zennawi means well with them. Just imagine Meles being of service to democracy in Eritrea and Somalia! All these groups have shown, in my opinion, complete disregard for the minimal dignity and awareness of the ordinary peoples not only in their countries but also in the Ethiopian empire, or else they are mostly buying time, which is a different thing altogether, but still full of pitfalls and incalculable adventures.. How can Woyane initiate democracy, the very thing it lacks and dreads, in neighbouring countries? Nothing worries Meles Zennawi more than the prospect of democracy in Eritrea and Somalia. He would invent dictators in these two countries if they were not already there. Saleh “Gadi”is not unaware of this. The hypocrisy of it all! Never say die. Is it necessary to be dirty in politics?
For me the situation is crystal clear: most of those elements from Somalia who, also under western pressure, collaborate with Woyane are moved mainly by mercenary considerations. Their main motive is to be rolling in easy cash by all means .If thereby blood lust in Somalia continues it is of no major concern to them. I know well that many Somalis in Somalia are capable of selling themselves to the devil for financial advantage. Here some are absolutely unpredictable and change positions swiftly, in a flash, before you knew it, which is a curse on their nation. The Anglo-American circles know this very well and count on it for the success of their policies in Somalia. I am not moralizing here. I know how hard a life can be for many in Somalia if they fall out of their clan solidarity structure.
The financial factors can by no means be ruled out also when we consider most of the the Eritrean opposition groups from the highland based in Addis Ababa. But there is more to it than that here: the coming together again of Tigray nationalism in Ethiopia and Eritrea. The greatest majority of the Eritrean highlanders in Ethiopia are firmly, therefore, behind woyane regime. They are its most trusted allies. Both Eritrea and Ethiopia are literally run by Tigray supremacists engaged in power struggle. But for most of them, despite the differences, Tigray supremacy is an overriding issue, not discussed openly of course .. Does this sound paradoxical? I mentioned this question in passing when I first published bariisa.com. The Somali governments which hosted the Eritrean liberation fronts and finally also the TPLF had failed completely to understand and register the close relationship of solidarity between the two segmented parts of Tigray ethnic identity. The riddle of Tigray and Tigrinya. To this day many Somalis are totally confused about this! The Somali understanding of Ethiopia and Eritrea is in general very superficial and shallow to say the least. It is an extremely sinister situation.
The Eritrean lowlanders ( I assume Saleh “Gadi” is one of them) mostly know the facts clearly from the beginning but most of their political elite chose denial in order to ensure Eritrean independence. But their people are paying for it dearly. In short, it cannot be repeated enough that the repressive criminal regimes in Eritrea and Ethiopia at present are the two sides of the same coin. It is not just that the one is no better than the other, no matter how subscribers to awate.com sing another tune. Read please for example the article by Dr. Bereket in awate com headed ” Eritrea 20th Birthday: Time for reflection.” It gives the impression that in Ethiopia all is well while Eritrea is in hell. Good writing does not necessarily make honest journalism.Even in the days of their liberation struggle most of the Eritrean political elite with some important exception did not really care seriously about the ordeal of the oppressed nations and nationalities in the Ethiopian empire. For them, it seemed to me, Ethiopia was just one country like any other. Its internal affairs was not their business inasmuch as it did not affect them. . Mind you, all this not from ignorance as was the case mostly with the Somali leaders but well considered and studied! Their pretensions did sicken me profoundly. In those days I knew many of them personally and had to deal with them. Some are still alive and active somehow. I did not hide from most of them my great astonishment even then. although I did not try to confront them as I would like to do now if I can meet them ever! If they ever distance themselves from our bloody dictator as I distance myself from theirs. No matter how the conflict between the two Tigray dominated regimes may be explosive, an undercurrent of unifying factors of Tigray nationalism are at work at many levels in both countries. Anyone of us who denies this as a major factor in political equation in the Horn of Africa does so at our own peril.
This is a secondary issue for the Amhara chauvinists who consider the Oromo question as their biggest problem. To them Tigray supremacy is admissible somehow even though painful if it helps to sabotage imagined Oromo supremacy which they dread more than anything or if it undermines effectively the struggle of the Oromo people for independence! They will never seriously challenge Tigray supremacy beyond making noises unless they think they can replace it without losing Oromia. This is their dilemma. Meles Zenawi benefits from this greatly and is pleased.
More important, one may also ask how can the West keep supporting popular protest movements in Arab countries while turning blind eyes to, or maintaining criminal regimes in power in the Horn of Africa? But we know enough what double standards in international relations are .For Saleh “Gadi” interviewing Meles, this question seems irrelevant.
Time is a great healer. There are situations when falsehood exposes itself by itself unasked as if under irresistible pressure from a mysterious force.. In this interview Meles Zenawi said at one point without promptings from Saleh “Gadi” that his government would immediately recognise officially the separatists in Somaliland had it not been for the possible objection of the AU. Remember he already not only recognises but maintains in power with western backing the Mogadishu government which is “legally “ the government of all Somalia, and yet now shows his intention to openly recognise a narrow minded opportunistic separatist clique in the North. He will, if he can, do the same for Puntland in central Somalia, splitting the country into three mini- states. What a show of good will towards the neighbour! But why not if hired and selfish Somali clan chiefs, businessmen, clerics and intellectuals go to work with a vengeance against their own people. These are indeed human beings who have lost any sense of decency.
Here is yet another moment in the interview that is still more revealing when falsehood exposes itself by itself. Meles Zenawi says suddenly his entire team will leave office by the end of his term. Without taking breath he adds, however, that he and his team have already started training those who will take over power then when they leave! In a clear text, this means that another generation of TPLF thugs will run the empire indefinitely. What a business! No mincing of words.
Such thinking comes of course from deep contempt surpassing contempt for the dignity of nations and nationalities who are mostly used generation after generation to living as subhuman. This statement, mind you, cuts across ethnic and religious differences. Do we need to keep this truth from ourselves? Do we need to blame only foreign powers eager to safeguard their interests everywhere in the world no matter what the conditions are.?