OPPOSITIONS’ AND SUPPORTERS’ ENDLESS
SMEAR CAMPAIGNS
PART 8
By Mathza
Most of the oppositions’ leadership and their handful
supporters, particularly the minuscule vociferous Diaspora, and some
individuals obsessed with lust for power and hatred against Prime Minister Meles Zenawi have been and are
doing anything to get rid of him, the TPLF and the EPRDF. They are intimidated
and demoralized by his intelligence, capability, competence and the respect he
commands in the international community. Their hatred is limitless. In their
obsession and desperation to snatch power, they have crossed the line of
treason by compromising and endangering the sovereignty, security, territorial
integrity and national interests of Ethiopia. The following are examples
supporting this statement:
They condemn Ethiopia’s defense against jihadists;
They praise, congratulate, defend, encourage and
support—instead of denouncing—the atrocities committed by separatists and
jihadists;
They condemn Ethiopia’s reaction to such atrocities;
They collaborate and scheme with the Eritrean government
which has been and is trying hard to destabilize and disintegrate Ethiopia;
They belittle EPRDF's sound government policies and
strategies, which have proved successful;
They deny and ridicule the double-digit economic growth, a
remarkable progress and performance in socio-economic development in the last
five years; and
They unashamedly accuse the Prime Minister of being a stooge
of developed countries because of, among others, his success to mobilize
foreign assistance (For example: by not giving in to pressure from such
countries to allow foreign banks to operate in Ethiopia he not only shielded
the development of local banks but also saved the country from the devastating
impact of the current global financial crisis).
In short, these hate-mongers and anti-Ethiopia elements do
not care at all about Ethiopia and Ethiopians. Their only desire is to be in power
by any means—in the driver’s seat—without any concern on how that might impact
Ethiopia and its people, enie kemotku
serdo aybqel.
One of their tactics is a negative smear
campaign portraying the country's image and, in particular, it’s dedicated Prime
Minister with all kinds of monstrous adjectives and pictures. Among the methods
used include politicizing everything, outrageous allegations, lies,
exaggerations, wild generalizations, spinning, misinterpretation and spreading
rumors. Practically all of the writings of these-diehards are replete of
despicable descriptions and character assassinations, all intended purely to
bring down the government. This writing ferrets out examples of statements that
do not make any sense, are illogical, are concocted, or are not supported by
facts—purely intended to misinform and mislead readers, particularly the
Diaspora silent majority. It is a modest attempt to expose those bigots who
have been hoodwinking and continue to hoodwink the Ethiopians and the
international community. (In the future, there will be a series of matrixes
like the one below, each preceded by the current two paragraphs).
|
Title/Source/Date |
Author’s Statement |
My Comments |
|
1. Monkeys have a sense of morality, say scientists,
ethiopianreview.com, February 17th, 2009 |
EDITOR'S NOTE:
We cannot say the same thing about the cannibalistic Woyannes. |
Strange, you Elias, of
all people, speaking about morality! Your comment should read “We, the
readers, cannot say the same thing about the habitual, hateful, pathological
and perpetual liar, Elias, the publisher of Ethiopian Review.” |
|
2. Nigeria, Ethiopia top Africa investment
index, by Peter Apps, Reuters, ethiopiafirst.com, Wed Feb 18, 2009 |
Nigeria and Ethiopia topped a new index of
African potential investor destinations on Wednesday, with the survey
organizers saying the continent offers good potential growth even against the
global economic crisis. It [Ethiopia] had been cited as an
increasingly appealing private equity destination before the global economic
crash. |
This is a “merdo” to that vocal diehard Diaspora, oppositions and
their supporters. This group incessantly denies the progress
made and being made in the social, economic and
political development in the
country. They keep others in the dark by misinforming them. They give the
world a negative image of Ethiopia. They endlessly beg donors to stop
financial support to Ethiopia with no concern of the dire consequences on
Ethiopians. |
|
3. Obama approach to democracy-building troubling: A Quieter Approach to
Spreading Democracy Abroad?, by PETER BAKER, The New York Times, ethiopianreview.com, February 22nd,
2009 |
The realists…are skeptical of assumptions that
what works in America should necessarily be exported elsewhere, or that it
should eclipse other American interests. …the whole focus on elections, particularly,
is misplaced when so much of the world is suffering from poverty, hunger and
disease. Mr. Obama seems to side with that point…he said he wanted to
consider the promotion of democracy “through a lens that is actually
delivering a better life for people on the ground and less obsessed with
form, more concerned with substance.” …And if that were not clear, during her [Mrs.
Clinton] trip to Asia last week, she said that human rights violations by
China “can’t interfere” with cooperation between Washington and Beijing on
other issues. |
This and similar
articles are disappointments to Elias. The contents of the article express
realities contrary to Elias’s and his likes’ dream of Obama coming out with
drastic foreign policy changes in respect of
democracy. To their dismay the Obama administration favors a pragmatic
approach to promoting emerging democracies taking account of specific
conditions prevailing in the countries concerned. This approach coupled
with pursuing American national interest means it is unlikely that the Obama
administration would opt for significant deviation from the previous
government’s practice. In fact, indications are it could be more
understanding and lenient in dealing with countries in the process of
democratization. The above conclusion
is particularly applicable to Ethiopia where democratization is a daunting
task in a country without any democratic experience. Unlike in other
African countries democracy in Ethiopia had to start from scratch after
centuries of feudal and recent communist systems, thus—against all
odds—requiring more time and patience. It should be noted that the
administrative machinery has been evolving and continues to evolve compared
to ready-made modern administrative systems the other African countries
inherited from colonial legacies.
Officials in the State
Department are aware of the peculiar situation
and progress being made in all sectors in Ethiopia. They are also aware
that none of the untested opposition parties, individually or as a group, can
replace EPRDF, the staunch and proven ally of the United States. These are
the main reasons why the U.S. Ambassador to Ethiopia, Donald Yamamoto,
recently declared that the “United States will keep its strong relations with
Ethiopia… America wants to continue that” (See also item 9 below). As the last statement
on the left shows the new administration, apparently, gives priority to the
well being of the people, not to elections. Mrs. Clinton’s pronouncement on
Chinese human rights definitely indicates the new orientation of the Obama
administration. She said "Human rights… don’t take a front seat,
a back seat or a middle seat.” In other words, raising the standard of
living of the people through improving governance and development (fighting
poverty)—exactly what the EPRDF government is doing—is what matters most at
this juncture, not conducting elections. |
|
4. Meles Zenawi and his interview by Yilma Bekele,
ethiopianreview.com, February 22nd, 2009 |
…I thought it would be better for all of us to look at it [the
interview] closely and peer into that murky brain of his [Meles]… …given that that Sheik Ahmed is now the
President of the Transitional Government… has the Ethiopia’s intervention
positively affected things on the ground… The TPLF army was forced to retreat back
across the boarder with the Islamists at their
heels. |
To the question if
there have been positive changes now that Sheiks Sharif Sheikh Ahmed is the
President, the PM’s reply were a resounding yes. His reasons were: the
Eritrean government orchestrated destabilization plan and strategy, the
Somali jihadists and Ethiopia armed groups threats were all foiled by the
Ethiopian intervention. The civil disobedience and chaos in Ethiopia that was
unrealistically hoped for to take place did not materialize. The Eritrean
destabilization strategy is depicted on a map of Ethiopia on the Awate website. This map has been there, a permanent
fixture, since July 22, 2006. It shows war fronts/flash points synchronized to start
simultaneously in all four corners of the country. Clicking on the map
displays the writing related to it. Such strategy would have, probably,
come true had not Ethiopia intervened in Somalia and got rid of Issayas’s surrogates outside of our country thereby
disabling Eritrea from starting another war against Ethiopia. Thanks to the
preemptive strike, lose of lives and destruction of
property within Ethiopia, a repeat of the 1977 Somali invasion of Ethiopia,
was averted. In 2007, with mission
accomplished—the removal of the clear and present danger posed by Somali
extremists, OLF and ONLF orchestrated by the Eritrean government—in about two
weeks the Ethiopian defense forces should have pulled out of Somalia as
planned. However, as we all know there was a second element for Ethiopia’s
intervention, the request for help from the Federal Transitional Government
(FTG) of Somalia. The Ethiopian forces had, therefore, to extend their stay
to fulfill their obligation as well as at the behest of the AU, IGAD member
states, etc. to ensure the TFG was on its feet. Unfortunately, the
sub-sub-clannish nature of the Somali people and the failure of the
international community to provide adequate resources continued to haunt and
delay the TFG from taking quick decisive actions thereby giving time for the
Al-Shabaab to organize, strengthen and play havoc.
Bickering among Somali officials complicated the situation. The last Djibouti
agreement reached between the TFG and the moderate Islamic group of the
Islamic Courts Union stipulated the pull out of the Ethiopian forces.
Ethiopia had to comply. Its troops were not
forced to retreat as the writer would have us believe. Not complying would
have been interpreted as Ethiopia was against the stability of Somalia and
the well being of its people which was never the case. As already referred to
above there are those who argue that there is no change in leadership as the
same Islamist leader, Sheiks Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, is at the helm both before
and after the Ethiopian intervention. We should recall that the Islamists in
those days comprised extreme and moderate groups. The threat to Ethiopia was
from the former, now represented by al-Shabaab
which is currently fracturing and weakening, as manifested by loss of
its biggest military base. Sheik Ahmed belongs to the latter group. His take
over should be a welcome to Ethiopia as Ethiopia has no objection and cannot
object to Somalia adopting the proper Sharia
(Islamic) law, not the “un-Islamic Islam.” In a nutshell, Sheik Ahmed
with a more moderate agenda in power is nothing but a win-win for both
Ethiopia and Somalia. |
|
5. Ethiopia's export to the U.S. rose to $152 million, Reuters, ethiopianreview.com, February 25th, 2009 |
EDITOR'S NOTE: Most of the exporting is being
done by companies that are owned by the Meles crime
family, including his wife Azeb Mesfin.
The money stays in the U.S. and Ethiopia gets no benefit. |
Provide evidence if
you want readers to buy your allegations. The more you repeat this lie the
more you convince readers that you are a pathological liar. Elias and his likes
have been endlessly repeating unfounded allegations that high corrupt
government officials own most businesses and as a result the space for
private businesses is narrowing in Ethiopia. There is no corruption free
country in the world. It is a question of how rampant the corruption is. As
confirmed by many foreign analysts and observers, institutions and
individuals, the level of corruption in Ethiopia is among the lowest in the
world. The latest witness to this is Mr. Donald Yamamoto, the U.S.A.
Ambassador to Ethiopia. During a recent interview he gave he asserted “You
have very little corruption in this country.” |
|
6. VOA interview with Dr. Berhanu,
2/26/09 |
Questions: - Balenbet zemen tornet yawatal way? - Etiopia quwanquwa meseret yaderege yekilil sr’at slemt’tader wode base yers bers tornet ayasgebam
way? - Mn adega liyameta yichlal? |
The questions on the
left were among those asked by the interviewer. Those questions were based on
fears/worries the interviewer expressed in regard to the possibility of
confrontation among nations and nationalities. Surprisingly Dr. Berhanu’s answer in a nutshell was “Ye etiopia hzb wode
irs bers metelaleq/mebelalat yigebal bye alamnm yemitayegn chgr yelem.” What a lie and a blunder! His premise is “Ketnt jemro betarik
yayenew ezih sltane dereja yederesut hailoch hulu kebarnet yliq taglo nestanet
maggnet yshalal blew taglew nestanetachewn ag’gntew new lezih blstgnana lezih selam yederesut.” In other
words, in this 21st century, Ethiopia has to follow the example of
what happened centuries ago in Europe. This is insanity, pure and simple.
Does he really believe that the Ethiopian nations and nationalities who—for
the first time find themselves masters of their destinies—would surrender to
his greed without struggle? |
|
7. Ethiopia under Prime Minister Meles
Zenawi |
…it is all too easy to
point a negative finger at the EPRDF but the stark reality is very different. …in truth, the EPRDF
is a responsible political party… …the EPRDF is the
first party in the history of Ethiopia to develop a proper multi-party system
of governance… …the EPRDF is focused
on modernizing Ethiopia via economic restructuring and democracy… …The EPRDF is steering
Ethiopia on the right path and in recent years you have had major economic
growth. If you look at the continuing political crisis in the Ukraine, and
magnify this with the ethnic, religious, and geographic make-up of Ethiopia,
then the EPRDF is clearly a very responsible political party. |
The quotations in the
middle column are among the realistic observations of a Tokyo correspondent. |
|
8. ሳምንታዊ
ዜና ዘገባ ፍኖተ ዴሞክራሲ የኢትዮጵያ አንድነት ድምፅ
ራዲዮ የካቲት
21 ቀን 2001 ዓ.ም.,
ethiolion.com, 03/02/09 |
|
This EPRP radio
station has the audacity to ridicule and belittle the success story of
Ethiopian farmers. It has the audacity to misinform the public that the
government claims that the success story covers all and every farmer all over
Ethiopia. The government never declared such nonsense. What the government
has been claiming is progress has been made and the number of successful
farmers is growing. Limitation in resources and fast population increase
hinder faster change. Despite this, the growing number of successful farmers
is serving as models being emulated by other farmers. The model farmers are
helping and encouraging their friends and neighbors. The core circles of
their influence keep on expanding and coalescing. It is a question of time
before the majority of farmers join the club. The number of people
needing help does vary from year to year depending on the weather and
drought. There are, of course, those who live in hostile areas whose
agricultural and pastoral development is curtailed by instability caused by
separatists who are encouraged, defended and supported by EPRP and their
likes. There are also those under the safety net program. Their number
is decreasing as more and more graduate every year, i.e. become self
sufficient and more. According to Josette Sheeran, WFP Director, “Ethiopia...now it is producing a
food surplus.” |
|
9. President Barack Obama’s Administration Would Reassess |
Mr. Gonzales expressed
his hope that the opposition parties and the Ethiopian Government would
positively work hard together in order to ensure the success of the
forthcoming election in 2010, lest he felt it is dangerous for the Ethiopian
people, the Ethiopian Government, the Horn of Africa and the World at large. |
Apparently the write-up in question is an
AEUP’s press statement following Engineer Hailu’s
meeting with Mr. Gonzales. While the first part of the sentence on the left
is plausible the second part may have been doctored to give the impression
that the U.S. Embassy supports the oppositions. The same conclusion applies
to the title. In this regard readers should note the title on the press
statement itself is “Engineer Hailu Shawl, And Mr.
Michael C. Gonzales, Agreed To Work Together.” The
title on the first column appears as some kind of subtitle. In other words,
it appears the title on the first column should be replaced by the one on the
body of the article which, by the way, is in line with the Amharic version ኢንጂነር ኃይሉ ሻውልና ሚስተር
ሚካኤል ጎንዛለስ
አብረው ለመስራት
ተስማሙ. Readers may have already read that the U.S.
Embassy had dismissed AEUP’s press statement. The Embassy said “The statement
mischaracterizes the views of Embassy officials… Ethiopia will remain a core
partner for the United States.” (See also item 3 above). ፓርቲው
የሰጠውን መግለጫ ዕውቅና
እንደማይሰጠው
አስታወቀ The latest news is Mr. Gonzales invited Ms. Birtukan’s mother to the U.S. Embassy and talked to her.
As this comes from the same source as the above we do not know if she was
invited or she asked for a meeting. |
|
10. Unleashing the lesson of Adwa, by Yilma Bekele, ethiopiareview, March 2nd, 2009 |
While Yohanes was King he had allowed Menelik
to negotiate a treaty with Italians, which was signed at Wuchale,
Wollo. |
Is
it true that Emperor Yohannes IV allowed King Menelik to negotiate the Treaty of Wuchale
with Italy (signed soon after the former’s death) ? It is
very doubtful that the Emperor would have done this. It is, probably, one of
the ploys of the Shewans to cover up the
conspiratorial activities of Emperor Menelik II
when he was king. Here I am not refering to local
conspiracies the writer mentioned; I am referring to King Menelik’s
conspiracy with Ottoman-Egyptians, the Mahdists
and Italy. Obviously the writer
showed his racial bias as did and do his likes who try to hide the role
Emperor yohannes played in defending Ethiopia from
the Egyptian, Italians and Mahdists of Sudan while
King Menelik was conspiring with all these three
Ethiopian enemies. In practically all written materials related or referring
to the period starting with Emperor Tewodros II the
chauvinist writers have been downgrading the contribution of Emperor Yohannes IV and worse still completely ignoring even
mentioning his name. (See my URGENT NEED FOR RECONCILIATION BASED ON
CONFESSION AND ATONEMENT, The writer is among
the few exceptions who gave some coverage to Emperor Yohannes
IV. He, however, stopped short by not informing readers that Adwa was not the
first defeat of Italy by Ethiopia. Ras Alula routed the Italians at Dogali
in 1887. Other Emperor Yohannes IV’s victories
against foreign invaders were Turco-Egyptian troops
at Gundet (1875) and Gura
(1876) and Mahdists/Derish
of the Sudan at Kufit (1885) and Metema (1889). All battles—including Aylet
(1877), Sanhit (1880), Sahati
(1883) and Sahati (1887)—except Metema,
were fought in present day Eritrea. |
PART 7:
http://aigaforum.com/articles/smear_campaign_part7.pdf