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“The difficulties of peace are better than the agonies of war” Menchem Begin (Israel PM) Yohannes Aberra, PhD 09-05-20 Although I can't be sure about what the implications of the decision of the House of Federation, to consider the elections in Tigray as null and void are, I had spent the entire day building scenarios based on the possible decisions the House may reach until the news broke. Today was a tense day for us all because if the House of Federation succumbs to the pressure of the satanic recommendations of some opposition parties and hate mongers, who are eager to see Tigray in flames, it may make a historical mistake of plunging Ethiopia into a bloody civil war. War in Tigray cannot be one of the episodes of a Silvester Stallone's "Rambo" series. It would be like the destructive "Game of thrones" reducing the seven kingdoms into triviality and the separation of the north. Sun Tzu said: "the wise warrior avoids the battle". Sun Tzu was a Chinese general, military strategist, writer, and philosopher, who is credited by the whole world for authoring the "Art of War". Bravery is giving priority to alternative paths which lead to peace rather than to war. War mongering has never been bravery. In fact, history has shown that those who initiate it out of the belief that they have the capacity to win it, have perished in it. The invincible Napoleon was defeated in Russia! so was Hitler's war machine in the same place. A mechanized European army was defeated in Dogali and Adwa by spears and swords.
The decision of the House of Federation, which focused on the rules and procedures rather than on mutually destructive measures as proposed by politicians who are blinded by the craving for power, disregarding Ethiopia's peace and unity, will provide a level ground for national dialogue and reconciliation. The decision should also go great distances enough to accommodate the results of the election in Tigray and discuss on how to go forward. Laws are made by people to help them live in peace. If some of the laws lead them to war, they must have the guts to change them or to temporarily turn blind eye to them until reconciliation takes the place of aggravating misunderstandings. The problem at hand is quite simple to solve if we all stop inflating it beyond our capacity to manage it. We should rule the rules; the rules should not rule us. We don't violate or compromise the “Ten Commandments"; but anything below that is possible and acceptable as long as it leads to peaceful resolution of our common problems. Very busy as we are aggravating our problems, we are becoming easy prey for our enemies. Ethiopians must stop residing in their destructive emotions and be rational for the sake of continuity of this great Nation of ours into eternity! |