The Ethiopian government has effectively transition from being known as a TPLF/EPRDF government to Prime Minister Meles government. This change did not come easy. During the armed struggle days TPLF/EPRDF were managed and run as effective organization by a group of leaders so to speak. Although such arrangement continued during the early years, after EPRDF assumed power , the obvious difficulty to run a country with such arrangement became evident as time passed. One of the main outcome of the TPLF leaders split has been that the Ethiopian government was more looking like a government with a prime minister at the helm and not a group of EPRDF leaders at the helm! We think this is good but readers are welcome to disagree. Regardless, we hope we all agree that EPRDF has transformed itself to become a government and not a guerilla movement unlike EPLF or Isaias Afeworki regime in Eritrea!
Prime minister Meles is set to retire in the coming three years. His legacy as a government head will be remembered for generations to come. We think PM Meles will be remembered more for his contribution as a government head and not as the head of TPLF/EPRDF. We say this for two reasons, first, the history of TPLF is more of the history of the people of Tigrai! Second, PM Meles’s contribution as a government head has achieved a lot historians can write volume after volume. One such volume may be his government dealing with the Isaias regime in Eritrea. Given all what has happened so far do you think Prime Minister will be happy to retire from politics without resolving the problem Ethiopia has with the one man regime in Eritrea? Do you agree or disagree the problem Ethiopia has with Eritrea today is significant enough that prime minister Meles has to address while he is in office? In other words, is this a must for PM Meles to resolve if he wants to keep his otherwise magnificent achievement as a government head untarnished? Have Your Say!
Let’s go back and do some research what happened during Ethiopia and Eritrea war. What was the position of PM Meles when many parts of Tigray and Afar were occupied by Eritrea? He voted not to go to war with Eritrea while our land and people were occupied by Shabia. To our unfortunate surprise he ordered the war to stop while we are wining and went to Algeria with treaties that doesn’t garantee our territories. He didn’t accept Tserona and Forto Kodena (sorry for my typo) even if the court gives these places to Ethiopia.
Thanks to Meles we are in a postion of occupying Eritrean land, Badme. Don’t you think we such a losers. So, what we will gain by going to war with Eritrea? If Meles votes not to go to war while our territories were occupied by Shabia, do you think he will order war and lead us to victory? What kind of victory? To reverse the verdict or to reclaim our port? Or what will be the benefit?
I am confused, please someone explain to me what our benefit if we go to war.
If a war comes ,it would be the last option to implement. It has to eliminate shabiya and his followers once and for all. Esayas and his follwers are a victim of thier own ego . The only vocablary they know is ” we are superior than any human being on earth. ” Er to be the singapore and the lion of Africa should be emanted from reality and based on mutual benefit. the so called , “bebe shitarana” has to come to an end. Natsanet is on sale now, thanks to “timkihti” . and after all ,no assuranace has been shown that Er can survive by itslef without someonce help.
Let peace and freedom ring , down to shabiya and his followeres. We ethiopian need peace and if war comes , it should be operated in a way that could bring less economic, social and political cost. let our leaders also know that evrey thing has a limit including patience . Recently, we have seen a crime on afar region, wo what would be the proportinal action, as Newton’s law, for every action there is an equal and opposit reaction, unless the law of the univers would lose its balance.
Victory for peace lover.
Tes
I agree with you 99% if not 100% Shabian supporters are Tigrigna, in fact it is safe to say Eritrea is all about Tigrigna people who got together to create their own little kingdom cos the other ethnic groups seem invisible…hence trusting and supporting the Tigrigna Eritreans is like brewing a killer poison for Ethiopia…I hope PMMZ knows that more than anybody else.
War may not be the option. As Meles is intelctual politician and military leader, he is always the last person to support the option of war. But, again, to my best knowledge he do it when he sees it is necessary. To come to the question directly, Meles is his government are working to solve the Eritrean problem. One way you adress the Eritrean problem is building Ethiopia as a strong state and avoiding vulnerabilities which can not be exploited by war mongers like Isaias. The government is also working to shape the behavours of the Isaias regime, for example through sanction. In comparison to 1998, Eritrea is a very small country Vis -a-vis Ethiopia in all aspects: Militarily, economically, diplomatically etc… In short, Meles and his government are changing the situation. But, there is no need to rush to finish to the end result like overthrow Isaias government or peaceful setlement of some sort. It is a result of different factors including the perception of the otherside. This will come when the situation is ripe. The only thing any rational government do is working towards the desired result.
Eritrea Will make more mess in Ethiopia during peace than in war.The man PMZ knows EpLF inside out.Let him deal with it .
Trully speaking the deadloak of peaceful resolution between the brotherly Ethio-Eritrian people emanates from the wor monger of Issais who deliberately ignited the wor causing the deaths of many innocent people and still is relentlessly working in continuation to his stuborn behavior trying to engulf us to similar tragedy.Considering to pm Meles,his aspiration and commitment was from the very begining and is still to fight against number one enemy poverty by detering any possible wor and this policy is beering to give fruit.So long aggression of ISAYAS and his mercenarys’ DOGS are swiftly contained with out creating much havok to our country, wor might not be necessary and the job of the pm shall be a success story even after his retirement. ON deplomacy ground the one man is alinated and is counting day by day to dig his grave in such a way that he will no longer a big threat to our country and to his people.
Why are you wasting your time? Meles doesn’t have the capacity to wage war against shabuya…if he had he would have done it long time a go…Oromay!!
Well, this is just political propaganda to appease the people of Ethiopia form their day to day misery. Meles will NOT defend Ethiopia, probably he still is worried about Eritrea that their boarder isn’t demarcated and he wants to put the final nail to the coffin. His heart is in Eritrea never been Ethiopia. Thus, what can we expect from his leadership is nothing. He may sacrifices thousands of Ethiopians (if he goes to war), but it will be for political consumption to divert Ethiopians from their opposition to his rule.
The past is evidence and it written in the wall that Meles stands for Eritrea. The people in Arat kilo and in Asmara (Shaebia + Woyane) are the same anti-Ethiopia, period.
A referendum on peace and war should be conducted, when people are dying? what a joke kkkkkkk
Dear Aiga
Some people might think that this is a mock or an attempt to listen to the hearts and minds of Tigrians and see how they feel about Melese.
Twenty+ years later you have raised a question where no one dared to ask.
Why does TPLF put in their political agenda that the question of Eritrea was a question of colonization(Ethiopia colonizing Erirea)!
That is the only question that divided the nation. For the Tigrean people, they were forced to believe that was a legitimate question or so many people did not even understand it.
Those who did, were either labled as “derge” “hanfashi” etc..
Even the splinter group from TPLF(Siye et al_) were part of the problem and they did believe in the core principle, until some of them recant it in public(for political reasons!!)
The people of Tigray, never supported in the session of Eritrea, but it was presented to the Ethiopian people as if they did. If they voice their concerns they would face a lot of issues.
So TPLF/EPRDF has a wrong, biased or twisted principle when it comes to Eritrea. This was a fact.
That is the one and only reason the rest of the country was/is against them.
TPLF/EPRDF (all of them not just Melese) never showed any nationalism and the fact that they had a weird (Eritrean first) kind of thinking separated them from a huge number of people that would have been their supporter and labeled them as a party that volunteered to secede part of its territory (never heard any where in the world)
The question should not be whether we should go to war with Eritrea. The question should be for TPLF/EPRDF to access its foreign policy, especially with Eritrea.
Unless this done, nothing you do matters.
As to war or fighting with Eritrea, now that is never going to happen for the following reasons
1. The war is going to happen in the boarders of Tigray. Affecting our people. displacing lot of them. Go to Zalanbesa and see how the people are living now. The effect from the previous war has devastated the city. Another war will definitely cause a lot of relocation or perhaps the boarder cities/towns/villages will be severely affected.
2. Most of the time, the local people are the once to send their kids to war, most of the time the former TPLF, people from Tigray are the ones who will face death. No way we have lost a generation already!
3. let us say we have war again. What is the guarantee that what ever government comes in Eritrea will give us peace
4. Who is going to take the accountability and responsibility for the 110, 000 people that died in the previous war. 110000 people died in vein? Now we have to sacrifice another 110000? and for what?
I think I should stop here…..
All this saber rattling is designed to bring the border issue back into limelight….look now Meles is begging for negotiation with Shubuya..
Statetment from Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs “…The letter to the Security Council also raises, once again, the issue of the border dispute. The Eritrean Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ignoring the facts of the matter, makes its usual complaint that Ethiopia is occupying Eritrean territories, refusing to accept the decisions of the Ethio-Eritrea Boundary Commission. This is no more than a now threadbare attempt to shift attention away from Eritrea’s own destabilizing activities. Ethiopia has made it known on numerous occasions since 2004 that it fully accepted the decisions of the Commission and that it was ready to engage in dialogue to implement demarcation as the basis for a peaceful settlement and a lasting solution on the border. It has also repeatedly expressed its readiness to talk on normalization of relations. The international community by now is fully aware of the reasons for the stalemate of the border dispute – the lack of willingness by Eritrea to engage in dialogue for demarcation and for normalization of relations.
“
Dear Aiga Admin
In the absence of an actual data from the Ethiopia/Eritrean government on the number of casualities in the war, one is obliged to believe in the western media speculation.
I think the casualities is about the same if not more from the Eritrean Side.
I was definetly not trying to impashise on the number and I can retract it. But the figure is so high (much higher than the number of US casualities in Vietname in 10 years!!)
Regardless of the number(not to be sidetracked from the actual issue) I am sure each one of us have lost relatives in one way or another(on both sides)
Imagine that was only in the boarder conflict.
In a full scale war.. I am sure anyone will agree that the number of casualities, money, and long lasting damage to our country and especially to Tigray is going to be huge.
War is not the answer. But honestly, I dont think there will be one and it is going to be a lose -lose situation.
Dear Aiga Admin
About the figures…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eritrean%E2%80%93Ethiopian_War
Quote
Casualties, displacement and economic disruptionEritrea claimed that 19,000 Eritrean soldiers were killed during the conflict;[66] most reports put the total war casualties from both sides as being around 70,000.[67][68][69][70][71][72] All these figures have been contested and other news reports simply state that “tens of thousands” or “as many as 100,000″ were killed in the war.[16] Eritrea accused Ethiopia of using “human waves” to defeat Eritrean trenches. But according to a report by The Independent, there were no “human waves” because Ethiopia instead outmaneuvered and overpowered the Eritrean trenches.[73]
Unquote
PS/As much as I like and support wikipedia as the promoter of free speech, I don’t 100% rely on it for factual data(as it can be updated by anyone)
So if the figures you contested are unreasonably high and suspicious. I have backed it out.
Dear Aiga,
I think you have brought a hot topic to the front. Aiga, it is now 23 years. We must have not been in a war footing now. But the problem, Meles Zenawi does not believe in working with his citizen. That is the source of the problem. What we have at home is just imposed on us. As one mentioned above, no Tigrean wanted to be landlocked in particular and no Ethiopian in general wanted to be landlocked except Kegnamash Zenawi. Now the problem is getting worse everday aiga. You have ONLF, OLF, G7, EPPF, TPDM, EPRP,… and now ARDUF ressurrected from death? That means we will have Ogaden like situation in afar region very soon because Shabia and other shabia symathizers and Arabs of Somalian affiliates including Egypt will fund ARDUF. Actually shabia will work day and night to make more trouble.
In 1998, this is exactly what I told to Meles Zenawis diplomats. I told them if the Eritrean issue is not addressed now, we will have many secessionists and many war fronts to wage. It did not last long, after a year I found out shabia was training ONLF and other Somalians against Ethiopia. I found out this together with my American girl friend and informed to Abay Tsehaye. Then you went directly to thieir training camps and routed them. But doing that have never addressed the problem.
Things are getting worse now aiga. Our goverment is putting many people in prison and that is going to fire back sooner or later. Those actions create more discontent and rebellion only. They do not suppress discontentment in the country. I was expecting TPLF will reform by learning from the Arab spring. But TPLF does not take anything new except the dedebit principle.
I do not believe UN saction will do anything to our problem. UN has not saved when 1 million Rwandese perished on one one month alone. They never stopped when USA invaded Iraq which could have avoided the loss of many American soldiers and many Iraqi civilians. But they do not and they cannot do anything. Asking UN to do this and that is just waste of time.
TPLF has now two choices:
1. To reform itself, reform its most bizzare, weirdy policy standing for Eritrea. Because that stand never helped Eritreans. It has made them suffer more than ever. For Ethiopia, it appeared it was designed against Ethiopia and so no one will expect good from a policy that is designed to serve Eritreans only. So if TPLF wishes to stay long, it has to rescind Eritrean independence, withdraw the independence , change the ethnic administration to the previous administration system. The federal system can work very well based on geography. Also, remove the articles of session and reform TPLF to become a national civil political entity in the name of Ethiopia. The history of TPLF can be more bigger if its opitimized and upgraded to a strong Ethiopian National civil political entity which can be loved and promoted by all Ethiopians regardless ethnic, tribe, race, color,…. However, if TPLF does not reform, and if does not eliminate shabia, the second scenario will be what TPLF will have in store.
2. The second choice is to wait until shabia becomes more stronger and make more rebels like ARDUF,…. wow, but if that is the case, the Ethiopians must give up fighting and the officers like Meles has to do the fighitng themselves because I am sure people will be get tired of fighing wars in Ogaden, Oromia, Afar, Tigraay. Apparently, if TPLF does not change, that will be the end of it.
The ethio-eritrea issue was not created by PM melese and President isaias. the problem was there even before they were born. If it is not solved sooner it will be there even after they deceased. It will not be addressed by removing isaias. PM melese lacks the talent to deal with this issue. ethiopia has the upper hand to come with a fresh idea with a win-win solution but it should exclude melese as he is very clever in many things he is the most dawn when it comes to the eritrea issue.
By the way the constitution does not limit the term of the prime minister. He can be the PM for ever as long as his party wins and his party wants him to be the PM. So unless he left the party to be PM or not is not up to Melese it is up to EPRDF. PM melese will not solve this issue period.
As he got genes to make him talent in many smaller and broader issues he lacks the gene to deal with this issue. If he tries any thing now he will make it more messy than ever before. it is better if he leaves the office as is. A critical thinker very different from the PM should come and solve this problem for betterment of both countries.
I know the problem of Eritrea and Ethiopia was there before, but when Issayas took arms and Meles took arm, what was the objective? I do not understand what thier philosophy was because, it is wrong to think you can help Ethiopian by excluding Eritrean? you cannot help Eritrean by excluding Ethiopian? It was very very wrong from the beginning to wage 30 year and 17 years war which consumed two entire generation. I know no life than war myself. We suffered so much. I lived in Asmara during the war, there was no water, no electricity, no food, we were eating Akat, very dry food that is credited for saving many Eritrean from famine and starvation. This was for 30 years? imagine, 30 years no development except war in the Northern region of Ethiopia.
When you do things, there is cost and benefit, wha I am saying is that the cost 100% outweighs the benefit. The war has brought benefit neither to Eritrea nor to Ethiopia. Even now, what I am saying, Ethiopian and Eritrean civilians must discuss the issue. Even if Meles draws border tomorrrow which he has promised to do, it will never bring a lasting peace. You can not bring peace by appeasing one side only. There needs to be a middle ground for both side to agree to coexist. And if they do not agree, it will never work for both. For instance, the people in Tigray and Eritrea are connected very much and it is just naive to separate people this way. I know shabia never see the other side except itself, but the main problem with shabia because shabia does not recognize or wish other humans have a right to live on this planet except shabia and its friends. This attitude can only be solved by liberating the civilian Ethiopian and Eritrean to respect their common interest.
For instance, who is benefitting by landlocking Ethiopia? Neither Ethiopia nor Eritrea is benefitting from such blind policy. It is Sudan, Kenya, Djibouti who are benefitting because Ethiopia has to pay billions of dollars while its ports are sitting idle? That is wrong very much. The Ethiopian and Eritrean issue has become, ” yefukukr bet sayzega yadral” I sometimes wonder the amharic prove has proverbs for everything that fits right. What happened to the educated Eritrean? what happened to the educate Ethiopian? are they educated only to live in Europe? why they could not do something? Why are Eritreans waste generations of war, hardship to make new indentity? Are we not Ethiopian? Let us be honest? we did we come from? Even if we deny Ethiopia is not our country, everything is there to be seen naked we are Ethiopian.
In general, the civilian population has to wake up and say enough is enough. The Eritrean youth need to go to school, and University. I do not see the merit of keeping generation of youth in military barrak in the name of Eritrea. Eritrean indepedence must have given more opportunity, ,more freedom and more than before. But the reverse is true now.
The very reason I have come to like PM Meles was because of the 1998 war between the two countries. Every body is intitled to his/her opinion. Once I said that, let me come to the point why I have supported PM Meles.
When we had to go to war against Eritrea, we all know by now that the PM was against it. No matter what, when the war broke eventually, I was for the war along with many of my friends, even- though we live in Europe and do not have to suffer from the immediate impact of the war in any way possible.
The war came and went with so much distruction between both sides. PM Meles argued against the war it is because he knows a lot of stuff about every situation. I was not there at the Menelik palace beside the PM nor was I the member of EPRDF/TPLF for that matter. So How did I know the PM was right, that is the question and I try to answer it as follows:
I based my argument following the interview of His Excellency Ambassador Tekeda Alemu, Ethiopia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations. The interview was conducted in the US by one of Ethiopians radio stations whic I can not remember exactly which one it was right now. However, it was posted on Aiga’s wall.
What Ambassador Tekeda said during the interview was roughly: ” …As the war between Ethiopia and Eritrea was intensified and as a result Ethiopia was winning the battle, external pressure seemed to emerge on Ethiopia from across different continents, like for example America, Europe and even many African countries for that matter. They all raised their voices so that Ethiopia should immediately stop the war against small and relatively new African nation. Both countries as well as leaders were not known that much at the time so many countries in the world took side for Eritre.”
If Ethiopia had pursued the war and as a result had managed to capture Asmara, it would mean that Ethiopia trespassed a sovereign territory, consequently, the UN could have impossed a saction against our country. We all know what that could have meant for a country like Ethiopia, who just came out of war, started the development program and doesn’t have a port of its own. It would have been a catastrophe.”
That was more or less his excellency’s interview if my memory has served me right, that was more or less Ambassador Tekeda Alemu’s interview on this particular issue, i.e Ethio-Eritrea war. This was the situation our country was in and our PM Meles understood the diplomatic matters very clearly and therefore acted accordingly. As far as Ethiopia was concerned, the war was over.
In the immediate aftermath of the war, our country have embarked upon the development program and the economic result is for us all to judge. That is why I strongly believe that PM Meles is more than the right person to deal with the Ethio- Eritrea saga. He has been there, seen it done it all. Sane and Sober, he is master of the game.
I personally am not a war monger so does the PM. I am not comparing myself by all means with PM. But since the 1998 Ethio- Eritrea war, I grow to be his fun. The fact I can not deny. The truth I am not shy about. Let me tell you this, if there is a need of war, there is no a better person than PM Meles to know and it has to be decide by the parlament too. There is no need to rush. Whether the PM resign in three years or not, he would still be round to handle the situation with any political party on power even in future. Ethiopia wont be told when to fight and not to fight.
And finally
There is no need to rush. Whether the PM is still in power or not in the coming years, the Eritrea case should be dealt with the presence of PM Meles. What it matters most is not his position, but his knowledge, his brain. He can work for his country even from his retirement, being an honourable adviser.
Can I finally finish with the following quotations:
” The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy with out fighting”
Sun Tzu
” If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will sccumb in every battle”
Sun Tzu, the art of war, special edition
Salhi,
Never mind the the fact that the person you claim to admire(PMMZ) is a sole architect of a land-locked Ethiopia but being land-locked should not mean Ethiopia should allow itself to be used and abused by those who have ports…to start with it is your kind of thinking that misled Eritreans to think they can have it all. If you remember the TPLF sponsored Eritrean independence euphoria and the disproportional over- excitement, it was as though they were being promoted from hell to heaven and i am sure every Ethiopian who knows how Eritreans were by Ethiopian standard the most privileged people must have wondered why they had to behave the way they behaved..specially, having recently seen how the marginalized and discriminated South-Sudanese people graciously behaved towards their northern Sudanese the Eritrean case was too odd to say the least. But little did we know that what Every Eritrean had in mind was too good not to be over-excited and you can not blame them for being mislead to believe this fallacy of sitting back and milking a land locked giant Ethiopia. in fact having spoken to many Eritreans recently (specially the illiterate once, which there are too many of them) most of them didn’t even know that ethiopia has alternative ports other than Eritrea’s and that tells you where that deadly miscalculation came from. As for your appreciation of PMMZ, you can argue that the only strategic option at the time was to let Eritrea go with all the ports, or you can even credit him for killing the “Eritrea woyim mot” myth and making us realize that life without own port is possible and so on, but you can not credit him for keeping Ethiopia hostage to the very choice he made and allowing Eritreans to continue abuse Ethiopia which for better or worse resulted in a devastating war and the last thing we all want is to repeat deadly mistakes that cost precious lives and resources…,
” We shall negotiate while we fight, and we shall fight while we negotiate.” Meles Zenawi on the 1998 Badme War.
Meles knows when to strike while dealing situations peacefully. Now that his “containment” strategy is already bearing fruit, though that took more time than expected. The “No war, No peace” situation left shabiya to politically and economically bankrupt, and for the first time (in its crap history) is at odds with the majority of Eritreans. This is 2012, where PFDJ is the most hated regime by Eritreans, Africa and the rest of the world. No one gives a damn to its cries, unlike 1998 where 97% of Eritreans were rallying behind PIA’s sick policies, UNKNOWINGLY or INDIFFERENTLY. That, I guess, was the reason for Meles to abort the finishing “business” as it was something that could not be finished, in reality. Eritreans were looking at Ethiopia in the eyes as they saw the Derg.
Now putting shaabiya to the dust bin of history is much easier and less costly. This time, the 97% are on the other side of the story, and they will take care of the business themselves. Yet, looking after, most of the 500,000 army (incl reserve), which is likely to defect/surrender to Ethiopia, is a real burden to deal with. I don’t think Mels is left with any other option than to strike. Me either, I don’t have any option but to support that.
PM Meles Zenawi once said that the reason why TPLF was succesful in the armed struggle and EPRDF as a government is because they don’t repeat the same mistake. That is very true if we exclude their relation ship with EPLF/PFDJ. TPLF/EPRDF appears to make the same mistake over and over again and that is trusting EPLF/PFDJ.
To the conspiracy theorists, it was not just Meles who ordered the war to stop. Awealom Woldu said that apart from Siye Abraha and a certain general they all agreed to that. I don’t see why ARENA leader would say this, if it was not true. If they knew, the no-war-no-peace situation would continue for more than a decade, would they have decided to stop the war? I very much doubt that.
I hope the problem will be solved while not only Meles but also the other EPRDF veterans are still in office. I hate to say this, even if that means going to war.
Wisdom,
I nearly missed your brilliant comment which I noticed just after i have posted my previous comment…you have asked some interesting questions why 30 years+ was wasted for an independent that brought nothing but absolute misery but I think the time we have to ponder on the past has passed and i don’t think there is any chance of agreeing on some thing we have not agreed for the last 50 or so years…plus in this day and ages of 21 century to try and deny Eritreans the right to be what they want is not only unfair but it is also not worse it…It is just not for us Ethiopians to set their priorities wither they choose empty nationalism over rationalism..The issue here and now is, the so called independence has not produced peace and stability, even worse the current leaders don’t seem to have learned from history..Haileselase used carrot because he wanted to keep Eritrea, and Derg used stick cos he wanted to keep Eritrea, right or wrong at least they both had a reason but Meles gave Eritreans a cake to eat and keep it at the same time(at least until he was forced to deny them by their own greed) .but given the pain Eritrea and the whole Eritrean issue is causing, I have to be honest with you I don’t give a toss if a Berlin type wall is built between us if it is deemed to bring peace..Yes I am of Tigrian descent but lately I don’t particularly feel any differently connected to Eritrean than I do with Somalians with whom we have trans-border ethnic bond..But the problem with Melse my friend, In one hand he preaches us about Eritrean independence, on the other hand he preaches us how they are related to us despite the fact that most Eritreans except a few like you are making at-most effort to detach themselves from him..he just doesn’t seem to have the guts to draw a clear line between his personal feeling and realities on the ground. the reality is, Ethiopia needs to defend it’s own interest and if it means we will never see Eritreans again so be it. But a friendship at the expense of Ethiopia is not acceptable and it might even have a dire consequence…history tells us that handling a hostile Eritrea is easier than handing a friendly Eritrea.
I think Meles has to see the removal of the mad man in his times in power. i think Meles do not need a war to remove the mad man, instead a heroic, well designed and hard hitting kind of operation targeting the Man, possibly to bring him to justice in Ethiopia for the crimes he has committed.
Dear Aiga,
here i come again to elaborate a bit om my previous comment. I see most of the commentors have made very important and constructive arguments indeed! few have made useless ,ridiculously nonsense and valueless remarks, especially towards Meles. what is the point of talking about his “Eritreanism’?? Americans never criticize Obama of his origin. we should criticize him as leader of Ethiopia. he might made mistakes, as all humans do.
returning to my previous comment, Shabya has been a threat and will be a threat to our country. I think we all Ethiopians, should all agree on this, we might argue on the possible solutions to this problem. we might compare costs and benefits. if costs grossly disproportionate over benefits, we should not do it! this should be the guiding principle for any decision to be made.
some one can argue that we should go for war “because any scarification now brings everlasting solution” or some can argue “let the no-war-no peace do the magic”.
I am convinced Shabya should be removed. But how??…by supporting financially,technologically, etc. for the already booming and uniting Eritrean oppositions, is one option. I do not support to go for war militarily. no more Ethiopian should die because of Ethiopia-Eritrea war. we sacrificed enough. let our air force bombard Eritrean military bases to weaken the already frustrated shabya military..then it would be easy for the Eritrean oppositions to take care of it.
Dear Aiga,
As much as I admire the PM for his out standing leadership I don’t have confidence on him when it comes to Eritrea. In some occasions I feel he has a part in contributing to the problem in this particular case. The conflict could have been avoided in the first place had he and his close tplf members not compromised the dignity of Tegaru in particular and Ethiopians in general when dealing the situation in 1991 and then after. That was the time when EPLF started to underestimate them as a government that wrongly led the mad dog to invade Badme. The paradox is that the leadership of tplf knew ages ago the unpredictability of EPLF but they failed to prepare for it. What did they expect from EPLF after they (EPLF) let the people of Tigrai die from hunger by blocking the way to Sudan in 1985 (1977 EC)? Ethiopians were humiliated in Eritria in 1991 and TPLF never raised the issue with them and still do not want to talk about it. If you don’t make sure your own people are respected how do you expect other to respect you? I believe these are the main factors that gave EPLF the courage to start the conflict without thinking twice.
EPLF invaded Badem to the ‘Surprise’ of TPLF. Let alone for tplf leadership I with very limited knowledge was expecting such a thing from eplf. So why were they not prepared? After these all the war erupted and the mad dog was ‘defeated’ but why didn’t they finish him off while we were in a better position? This is the reason why I keep on saying I don’t have confidence on the PM in this case.
Let Eritreans fight and die for their own freedom and remove eplf, and let TPLF work on to pay back the people who suffered and died for them to bring them to the position where they are now! There is a lot to go!
The hitoric mistake the prime Minister and his friends committed in landlocking Ethiopia and its people cannot be rectified………the most painful and senseless decision ever made by few political “elites” against the will of millions of people and countless generations to come. While there are many things I honestly appreciate Meles has accomplished, his name will always be equivated to the cessation of eritea, but above all a landlock nation of millions of people called ETHIOPIA. nothing can make up for this tragic mishap facilitated by meles and his colleagues. To add pain to the wound, the reversal of a marching army to appease the west instead of own people during the recent major conflict will remain an excusable and a major legacy of Meles. This even gets worst as Eritrea continues to instigate conspiracy against our people and country. These two misled decisions will continue to cost life, instability, and economic pressure.
To come to your point, there is nothing Meles can do to heal the wound he inflicted to the nation. If he is tempted to declare war, it will only be to self-serve and and failed attempt to rectify history. To be clear to doubters of honest discourse, I will always appreciate his accomplishments in his struggle to throw Derge and the obvious changes in Ethiopia.
Well yes, PPM can go to war with Eritrea, and there by giving the Eritrean regime a reason to rally its people around for another 20 years hegemony. As to either Eritrea or Ethiopia finishing the other militarily, it is highly unlikely without massive external intervention. Both armies are relatively of the same size, and who ever takes the offensive lead doesn’t have the numbers leverage to conquer the other fully. Emotions aside, the math doesn’t add up. Except, of course, to bring some sort of political reorganization on both sides, either for better or for worse! So, war is possible, the victory anticipated, is not.
Some of us still blame the PM for seceding Eritrea to its independence. That was obviously a costly decision taken on behalf of the millions of Ethiopians. But, let’s not forget the curs of Mereb Milash since 1896 that all the generations to come had to deal with. Since the creation of a separate Eritrea by the Italians, and their colonialist rule for some 60 years, it was not much of a problem as the separation was more of governance system but the two people did not see themselves as separate/different. Soon after Itly left the scene, the Emperor played the game wisely complying with the laws of confederation, but he changed the course Ten years later, triggering the first shot of armed struggle for the right to self rule by the Eritrean law Landers. That was when Ethiopia and Eritrea became political divorced, in reality, and the Derg added fuel to the fire.
My point is not to give sympathy to the Eritrean cause. But, since 1896, or rather since 1961, the political situation on the ground had taken a dangerous route, and had cost the two nations a lot. But, the war had to stop at some point. And if it had to stop, the governance system in Ethiopia should have accommodated the political differences occurred/created between the two, some how. Sadly, there was none apart from force.
Thus, I don’t judge Meles as someone who, in his power, betrayed Ethiopia giving away Eritrea along with the two ports. The complexity of the situation demanded a different approach, and the only approach was to acknowledge the mistakes committed by our forefathers. Mereb Milash and the curse of it.
If you read the book ” the last days of Mengistu” by Paul Henze; Meles had clearly stated he acknowledges the right of the Eritreans to self determination, but his best of wish is for Eritrea to remain within Ethiopia under the kind of government he is going to set up. Article 39 in the constitution was included, in my view, with Eritrea as the extreme of Ethiopia’s complex political scenario. Well yes, Isayas too said, when asked what he wanted post Derg, its in his best interest if Eritrea remains within Ethiopia for obvious reasons, but argued his followers wont accept that option. kikiki..
What’s sad is, soon after 1991 or even earlier, the fate of Eritrea was neither debated nor consulted by their intellectuals. All were swayed with nationalistic rhetoric and dances. 21 years later, we still have an Eritrea that’s never at peace with itself and never left alone Meles/Ethiopia. I believe, the only thing Meles is wrong and has to admit is, not the fact that he had to support the right to self rule of Eritrea, but he paid heavy for something he did not receive in exchange – PEACE. He thought granting Eritrea its independent was a guarantee of peace. That did not happen at all. Even then who is to blame? I don’t blame him. If there is one to blame, it’s the Eritrean intellectuals. They kept quite, when shaabiya brought the population to another catastrophic war. Just Seven years later after the long war of “freedom”.
In summary, if Meles has to send his army to wipe out the crazy shaabiya, this time, I think he should be 100% sure that those who will assume power are those who hate or are tired of war, and pay every price for peace- just like him.
Thanks Aiga Forum. HOW NICE TO SEE PEOPLE TALK FREELY GOOD. abut Eritea no need for war because its not abut border what Mr Isaias want is to see ethiopia devided in to 15 and he will be the big man and this is not going to happen AND Remember P.M M.Z when it come’s to Eritera we all know. I dont agre with the people who are saying he will be remember abut eritera and or border the frist and most big thing he will be remember is when he retire becuse he is the frist one in ethio and one of the few in africa to retir peace full he will be remember for ever …………
proud Agame,
well articulated comment…but the only issue i have is when people subconsciously recycle Shabia’s propaganda and make an issue out of Haileselase’s decision to relinquish the con-federation and try to justify decades of war and destruction that brought nothing but misery to people of both nations specially Eritreans…I agree that Haileselase failed to recognize or perhaps misjudged the physiological damage 60 years of Italian brainwash had done but I just don’t see how making ex-Askaris equal with Ethiopians leads to decades of bitter war..my point is Meles may be right in correcting haileselase’s mistake and accepting Eritrea’s right to FULL political independence but he seems trapped with this subconscious belief that Eritreans deserve better treatment than Ethiopians. mind you, at least confederation with special privilege can be said to be a compromise but what do you make of Meles who in one hand believes in their independence, (please don’t be fooled by the fact that he is now at odds with Eritrea, the only obstacle he is having is a stubborn Shabia who wants every thing) otherwise Meles will still want to pumper Eritreans at the expense of ethiopians..He just doesn’t seem to have a clear stand. ..Meles like many Eritreans believes Eritrea for Eritreans and Ethiopia for share…that is exactly what most Eritreans even the most sober once still dream. In most cases they typical eritreans they live with a hope of one day revenging against Ethiopia but at best they still wish Ethiopia and Eritrea are back to the pre-98 arrangement which allowed them to loot Ethiopia and led to a disastrous war..and from the way Meles behaves there is no guaranty that we will not go back to the same old mess…that is my concern with Meles..
I can observe that there are many commentators who are for the war rhetoric (this includes the Aiga. Admin.). There are also few comments that portray misrepresentation of the political stands of TPLF in general and that of the PM in particular. This goes as saying “Eritrea was colonized by Ethiopia”. If my mind serves me well, there was nothing in the teachings of TPLF that resembles that Ethiopia colonized Eritrea. If history can be distorted this far while the makers are alive what would happen few decades later after the generation that created TPLF passes?
There is no doubt that the Eritreans had a concern which in effect pushed them to ignite armed struggle way before the TPLF did. Meles was 6 years old when ELF declared war of independence in Eritrea. And history taught us that that had happened as a result of the change of the rules of the game by the then King of Ethiopia. The Eritreans resorted to war when their flag was brought down and lost the privilege of the federation status. So, it can be safely said that problems we are talking about today are the consequences of wrong decisions of the past. No one in his right mind can doubt the vitality of togetherness. What didn’t and will not work is to base unity on coercion and out of the will of people with stakes. So if the Eritrean question was same as the national question of the remaining part of Ethiopia why on earth did King Haile Selase agree to confederate with it? The Eritrean issue was different because of its colonization of nearly a century. This resulted in new Eritrean identity which seem all along against the unity of the “modern” Eritrea with the “backward” Ethiopia and fought to the last minute that independence was ensured. TPLF only recognized that situation and took a pragmatic position that the Eritrean question should be resolved by a referendum. No evidence can be traced back that TPLF preached that Ethiopia colonized Eritrea. What it was reflecting was that the colonial scramble had resulted in a formation of new identity which was, and still is, menace to peace, stability and territorial integrity of Ethiopia and needed pragmatic solution.
Meles is a down-to-earth man. He believes that peace is the mother of all virtues. If Ethiopia doesn’t become peaceful, it hardly matters whether she has ports or not. On the other hand, if peace is maintained people of neighboring countries interact economically, socially and politically for positive ends. Ports would serve their natural customers with competitive prices (which are surely minimal compared to cost of war). With a prolonged confidence building over time step-by-step integration prevails and borders reduce to meaningless levels and cease to be source of tensions and wars. This was the hope of TPLF and Meles when everything leaves to the people to have their say on major issues of concern. In hindsight we can argue that the peace we longed dearly didn’t materialize. But this doesn’t change the logic. It simply means that the war we fought in 1998-2000 would have been fought much earlier somewhere in 1991 and may not end to this very date. Given the fragility of the Ethiopian state at that time as well as the long-standing principle of self-determination, he opted for Eritreans had their say. The result of the referendum was a foregone conclusion. Eritreans were euphoric for their independence. The Meles’s government had to choose either to recognize their independence or go for another round of war which would have had grave consequences on the part of unity of the Ethiopian state.
To its credit, the EPRDF government didn’t succumb to the demands of the chauvinist elites which identify themselves with aggressive nationalism. If we are serious about peaceful and prosperous Ethiopia, the last thing that should come to our mind is war. That is what Meles believes and does. He might have his personal lapses but who is that Angele who has been at the helm of power for many years leading a country as diverse as Ethiopia and free of foibles?
Meles’s fight and far-sightedness have brought Ethiopia this far. The Ethiopian state has been attacked equally from its sons and daughters in no less than its arch enemies can inflict upon it. In my view, its extreme Diaspora citizens had no stones unturned to tarnish its image in the eyes of the international community and conspired against it in various forms and intents including fighting alongside its sworn enemy. So far all attempts are foiled because of the devolving of power to the states despite all its shortcomings in the implementations and governance issues. The Ethiopian state remained intact against all odds because the major burning political issues are addressed. What is required is to consolidate on the achievements made so far with more accommodative political space for those who are serious and peacefully engaging in the political process. Finally, I believe, it would, at least, take two Meleses for Ethiopia to claim its proper and glorious history of greatness.
AIGA(EPRDF) WE UNDRSTAND WHY YOU RASE THIS QUATION NOW?
AFTER SO MANY YEARS”KEBELEWA ZEDELYOU AMORA YEBLEWA ZAGRA”
YOU ARE RADY TO GIVE BADEME TO ERITERA AND YOU WONT TO NOW
THE PEOPELS WIEW ON THIS.KKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK
SHAME ON YOU
Dear Aiga,
The Axumaite empire /Ethiopia lost its ports of Adolis,Zula,Tajurra and Berbera with the advent of Islam
followed by collonialism hundreds of years back. Then by the deplomatic skills of Haile sellasie and the bigger cold war chase bord game Ethiopia regained its access to the sea and incorporated a Country named Eritrea by Italian colonizers in to His Majesty’s Empire.It stayed for40 years and now lost its 2 ports and the whole state of Eritrea.
Ethiopia had lived and is living without its own Ports.Whereas Ethiopia had never seen a peace full transfer of power while the predecessor is alive and well in its long History.The best legacy Prime Minister Meles Zenawi will leave to the Ethiopian people,to EPRDF and to his decendants is to under go fair and free election hand over the power to the winner party; live with his people there after as a sinior states man and write some books . If he did this he will be rememberd for many generations to come ,this will add another first to his Bio.
Beware what you yearn for. It may come true.
May God be with the poor villagers of Tigray who will bear the burden if something happens. Nothing will happen to any of you posting mesasges on this board. You are all leading your lives comfortably while beating your war drums from afar. Who will die for your crazy dreams of war? The poor farmer and innocent villager? You are filled with hate and vengeance.
I would first like to thank Aiga-forum for bringing this critical issue on board for discussion. It is of course the right time as the PM is about to leave his office.
Coming to the issue of conflict b/n our country and Eritrea, for me it is a matter of daily business for shaebia elites and especially the warmonger dictator Isaias Afwrki to dream a divided and war torn greater Ethiopia.
I firmly agree that the PM must resolve the conflict before he leave his office. Isaias will pursue the agenda of destabilizing the horn and thereby create a weaker Ethiopia so that he could see himself as a superpower of the horn region.
One thing the ethiopian government must also know and surely they know is, Isaias is a kind of sadist and evil person who can never sleep without inventing fresh and ever fresh war agendas.
Isaias and his group always campaign against Ethiopia and Ethiopians to create lasting hatred among the two nations raising the issue of Assab as number one. Whereas, he got those Ethio-opposition camp people in the heart of Asmara who use the port of Assab to mobilize the ethiopian people so that they can get as many recruits. I don’t think isaias likes their agenda, but he is using them to create another front to destroy Ethiopia.
The Same is also true when we see the Al-shabab. Isaias although he can speak fluent Arabic, he doesn’t like Muslims but we see him financing and supporting Al-shabab all the way to destabilize the region and especially Ethiopia. And after 2 years, Isaias will definitely spend the money generated from the gold mining to puchase military equipments that could target our nation.
To my understanding, the moment PM is gone from Office and of course Isaias will accumulate too much wealth from mining, he will start the battle again.
In conclusion, the only thing isaias is afraid of is not the U.S, not the U.K not even his own people, but Ethiopian Army and their leaders coz they know each other so closely.
Although i don’t support war, but the PM must design some kind of tactics to overthrow Isaias and his group.
@ Temsgen,
I agree with you Meles appears so much sympathetic to Eritrea – especially during those honeymoon years of seven – for Eritreans. Every Ethiopian I know was so unhappy of what was going on ” Eritrea ye gil, Ethiopia ye gara”. Yet, I believe TPLF/EPRDF had no the means as in civil servants (rather than the fighters and political cadres) to assume/look after government/corporate posts Ethiopia wide. Something that needed to be conducted inline to its political/economic goals. So shaabiya, and its looters in Ethiopia were exploiting the vulnerability of the system created on those days. The only way such situations could be have been fixed, in my view, is through time – system by system; or else as in what happened all by sudden in 1998- shabiya launched the war, and their cadres and radical sympathizers had to be evicted by force – saving Ethiopia of internal bleeding (in kind as well). In fact, at that time, shaabiya very well knew Meles will not opt to go to war even when he was doing its his nasty jobs. So, they kept on milking, and further abusing all the norms of international relationships between two sovereign countries.
The reluctance of Meles to address the nuisance of shaabiya, tit for tat, is to save what he has been working on since the age of 19. Figure out a plan that will guarantee peace in Ethiopia. For this to work, I think he believed the federal style of governance in Ethiopia, with all the rights of nations and nationalities (including Eritreans), is to be respected up to the point of cessation; then staying within is another best alternative for Eritreans. He thought that could be a systematic/democratic challenge for Eritrea to digest on before breaking away. But they chose to go anyway. Thanks to the lunatic shaabiya, and the Eritrean intellectuals. I don’t think they held a debate on the fate of Eritrea against all the options at hand. Worse of all, the people were directed to vote before they even had a clue of the A B C of democracy. Well, the result had triggered a bit of rough terrace between Meles and the others. Even if they accepted the results, I don’t think all were ready for it. Be as it may, Eritrea’s independence should have brought peace, according to the second option. But, that never materialized. This time, TPLF had to crack vertically in 2001(?). Well, Meles nearly lost his career/life on this one, if you remember.
So the appearance of Meles to be so smooth with Eritrea is just a desperate move to save his plans for peace. PIA knows very well of this and he makes him pay every price for it. Look at the Algiers agreement, the five points of peace plans; look at where he sends his troops even if the source of the trouble is in Asmara, look at his extreme tolerance to the terrorist acts sponsored by shaabiya, etc. All this is to avoid war and make sense of his architecture. Sadly, shaabiya is barood obsessed and hence it plays within Meles’s tolerance.
Thus, in my opinion, Meles had worked to correct the last hundred years of problems we inherited, both Ethiopians and Eritreans. Unfortunately, shaabiya didn’t care.
I think Meles has masterly displayed to the world that Eritria is not a victim as perceived widely by international community specially in Europe, but a distabilizing force in the region and a failed state unable to deliver to the demands of its citizens. Unfortunately this fact has not reached the masses in Ethiopia, mainly due to massive misrepresentation of the facts on the ground by different stakeholders. Eritrea is not in a position at this time to dictate or influence developments in Ethiopia, this does not mean that the no peace no war situation should continue indefinitely. we need a comprehensive solution to the causa Eritrea. Simple change of regim is not enough, Ethiopia should reclaim control of the red sea region again, because it is vital and indispensable for our national security. whether the time is now ripe to achieve those goals should be assessed carefully. Accordingly this is not an issue that Meles alone should solve during his time in office, it’s a matter of the right time.
What about Tigria if the war start between the two nation?we paid high prises under Haielsillasie and Dergue area and also of Badme war agian the huge cost for the Tigria people..40 000+ 40 000=?We have many enemay within side and outside from Ethiopia.
The only option that we have are not to Meles but we first from Tigria who we came to live in Tigria after Mr Meles or EPRDF.remember one,The Tigria people always were in target in the past time and now,so we must be realistic in that matter.
Before we asked Meles, if he could bring an end to the Ethiopian – Eritrean problem; first we should ask our selves if Meles can change his attitude towards Eritrean issue. From my life time observation he is very rigid regarding that issue. As long as PFDJ (Isayas) is in power, Meles will try to keep the Prevailing status quo until his retiring date or if the internal situation allows him, one option on his table is (it is also his preference) to hand over Badme, Alitena and on average 13km times the size of Afar Region bordered with Eritrea but still it is unlikely to bring peace and final solution. Therefore he has no chance to avoid this failure but it is not only to him …ours….. Nation.
With Respect
Aiga,
Contrary to the harsh criticisms levied on P.M. Meles, I strongly believe that he is a very smart man. By all standards containing the wicked Isaias is better than removing him. See what is happening in Somailia. I would argue that having the Islamic courts would have been a lot better than Alshebab. You understand what I am trying to say. Even if you believe at all cost Ethiopia will be successful in “pushing” Shaebia from Asmara shaebia will come back stronger and become a cause for the disintegration of Ethiopia. He has already more than a dozen so called opposition groups in its hand. So the assumption that Ethiopia will be successful in changing the government is a wishful thinking. What about the cost to our economy. The war could go for more than five years. It could be sour grape but the solution is to get into mediation. It is true that we lost a lot because of the war. Moreover we were not successful in defending our war gains in the court in The Hague. However in the end there is no peace that came through the barrel of a gun. It is time to accept the court border ruling and seek help on how to resettle the people who will be affected by the implementation of the ruling. Parallel to that let’s talk about use of port, boarder security, political normalization and possibly trade. How tempting it might be war is not going to be a solution. It is time to swallow the truth.
Many of you are subscribing war from afar sitting in your comfortable place may be under sofa bed somewhere in the west.It is clear that in the past Ethiopia has gone to unnessary war against Eritrea.Tens of Thousands of Ethiopians mainly Tigryans have paid their life for this unnessary war. On both sides Tigryan and Eritrean mothers have griefed alot because of this unnessary war. They have lost their son and daughter for this unnessary war. What was the cause of the war? Most of us are giving a one sided judgment. We are pointing our finger at one side only. I know it is taboo and most of you would immidiately label me Shabiya for revealing the truth. But the reality is besides Issayas, we also had fanatic war wongeres on our side who were just dieing to ignite war among the two people. Not only shabiya but also the anti Eritrean hate filled fanatic elements with us should equally be balmed for igniting the border war.It is those rifrafs of those war mongeres who are just calling for another war and are blmaing Melse for not shading more blood acroos the border. In times of war those who are calling for war are not going to abondon their comfortable life in the west. None of you dashboard fighters will sacrifice your personal comfort to fight Shabiya. All you craving is to watch battle field carnages in video as you did in the past border war. You didn’t fight a war but you have satsfied your desire for blodshed by waqtching the vidoes of the war. In the past let alone sacrifice ones life, no single diasporan has let a drop of blood from his/ her body. But tens of young helpless Tigryans and Eritreans were forced to die for something they don’t know and believe in. I’m stunned by the amount of hate you have for Eritrea? Out of this hate you don’t even trust an Ethiopian leader Melse zenawi who led the biotter Ethio-eri war. How much more blood should be shed to satsify before you trust Melse as Ethiopian.It is very very difficult your twisted mind. My call to eritrean and Tigryans is to reject and resist those who are pushing us to go to war under different pretexts. Because of the border war we are left behind. There is no real dvelopment in Tigray and Eritrea because of the border war. Had we been on the path of peace like the first 7 rears of peace 1991-1998 we could have seen a lot of change in Tigray and Eritrea. Finally OLF, ARDUF, ONLF are not manfuctured by Issayas in a single night. They were there alive way befoe Shabiya seized power. Instead of extrnalizing our issue we should try to look for an internal solution. Derg used to blame shabiya and weyane for everything as yeareb delela. We have Oromiyan, Ogaden, Afar issue and we need adress thse issues. When we adress these issues Shabiya will loose its grip in ethiopia. Thus stop repeating the derg motto and start for peacful solutions with in us and with our neighbours
Wedi Tigrai,
If there is anything I share with you, it is the point of “not to go for a war”. The remaining words are jargons that were added to “mask” you’re your camp. It is clear that you are Eritrean. No body deny the fact the two peoples (Eritreans and Ethiopians) had been brothers. I am deliberately saying “Had Been”. Because, in my opinion, although Ethiopians tried to forget the all the crises that the two people passed through their history, the fact which was mentioned by many commentators, that the backward attitude of Eritreans “uniqueness” and “Eritrea for Eritreans” and “Ethiopia for both” will never be changed. You are trying to benefit your people in a fake name (son of Tigray). Otherwise, the pre-Badme years (1991 – 1997) were golden days only for Eritreans as they were milking the country in every economic sector. EPRDF leaders were acting as if they were leaders of Eritrea. Shaebia’s demolished freedom-fighters (so-called ‘Yikaalo’) had enjoyed the border-less trades where they were not paying a penny as tax. You may not be a shaebia cadre, but you are an Eritrean as you are not feeling the piercing pains that we still feel whenever we remind the court’s decision after we lost thousands of young Ethiopians for nothing, paid unnecessary scarification. You are telling us to accept the decision of the court without any precondition. You are here to divide Ethiopians as you are talking only about the Eritreans and Tigrians, while in reality Tigrians (together with other compatriots) fought and fall at Badme in the name of Ethiopians against your brutal leader. Though there is nothing we can do about it after, we shouldn’t here anything from Eritreans regarding the Badme. Late the EPRDF leaders finalize the issue as they agreed. But one thing is clear. This will remain one of the most shameful deeds in their history of Tigrians. In my opinion normalizing the relationship will benefit Eritreans that Ethiopians. Eritreans were highly benefited and considered as the most respected people during both Hailesilasie and EPRDF, while Tigrians were treated as second class citizens. But they never know the word “Thank you”.
Anyway, we should not go for war.
Why blame PMMZ for Assab port? It was Menelek who gave the whole Eritrea. away to Italy .If it was not for PMMZ leadership , Ethiopia would have been like Somalia.And that would have been like a dream come true for EPLF ,as it was the whole plan from day one .Those who are pro war should learn their true history first ,before wanting to send someones beloved son or daughter to die,to satisfay their ego .Eplf will not give in yet because they have nothing to lose but we will if we did not play by the rules .
Hi Musie,
I understand your pain because it is my pain too. I am not an Eritrean by blood or in any form. Actually I am from the center of Tigrai. To find where I was born and raised you do not have to look further than the place where our Martyrs monument is erected. In a very unambiguous term I am “Endertawai”. I was educated in Melestena and Atseyohannes and enjoyed the pure water in maidegene. I played in balino and Edagababearai. I am mentioning this to you because I wanted to engage you in a discussion that is very useful to Tigrians and Eritreans.
Legesse Assefaw carpet bombed unarmed Tigreans during a day light in hauzen and now he is a free man. According to your analysis he should have been killed. The truth is killing him might satisfy those who have been affected by Legesse, but it is not something that will help us to bring peace. If it does not bring peace then all our future dreams will be shattered. Remember during the old days Eritreans were our friends. Irrespective of difference in ideology they fought and died with us. When TPLF was fighting in Gonder Dergue tried to cut through Rama and occupy Adwa. It was Shaebia and our Militia who stopped it. The same happened during the liberation of shire where the balance of power reversed and led to the fleeing of Drgue army from Mekelle. I contribution of our Tegadelti in Nafa is also something that we are still proud of and Eritreans do not deny it.
I am mentioning the above examples to let you know that because we fought a senseless war we are not going to stop being one people. I said one people because it is a fact. Isaias, Hagos kasha, Sibhat Efrem, Meles Zenawi, Berket simon, Tewodros Adhanom to mention some have an Eritrean and Ethiopian blood. Those are only few examples. So in the end you can not erase such history and say those are our enemies and let’s fight them. Remember the only people who speak Tigrna in the whole world are Tigreans and Eritreans. Actually I support PM Melese’s refusal for the border war and the expulsion of Eritreans from Ethiopia. That was a very wise and mature approach.
Back to the boarder problem. I strongly believe that Isaias started the war to stay in power in Eritrea. I do not buy the reason that it was his economic ambitions. I do not believe he thought he would defeat Ethiopia. However he may have been sure that it will satisfy his hunger for power. He was preparing for the war five years before the economic friction between Ethiopia and Eritrea started. I blame our leaders for not noticing that partially because trying to stabilize Ethiopia was not easy. It was reasonable for them to focus on that. I also despise gebru Asrat and Siye Abraha for being the partial instigators of the war. They were falling into Isaias’s trap.
Now what? We need peace. The road to peace is accepting the rule of law. I wish PM Meles accepted the ruling ten year ago. Despite the anger he may have faced it is certain that things could have been different. It is not too late to take what we have been given by the court and give what is not ours. Because Ethiopia’s flexibility will go counter to Isaias’s king for life dream I do not think it will be easy to get it done. However it is worth it to clear the problems that will pull us back. Peace may not come immediately but sooner or later it will.
“The important thing is to let Eritreans know that we do not renegade on law”. Respect for the law is a measure of people’s civilization. The board issue a black hole in Ethiopian History and it is time to close it.
Beating war drums? It is interesting to see how much human beings are so forgetful. Tigray, look back 21 years ago and see where you were. Search your soul and read reality so close.
The TPLF and its supporters are so blinded with the successes they have achieved or mischieved in the hinterland (mehal Ager). They forgot their origin and how far they have come.
What you have can turn to ashes if it is not carefully and wisefully protected. We have see how war destroyed the dergue … all because of a few determined souls from Tigray and Eritrea. That can happen to anyone if one is not wise enough to protect it and be graceful about.
Today, Ethiopia is not faced with few rebels in Tigray, rather a coutry of 5 million to the north, an opposition group in Ogaden to the East, and a dissatistied but quiet snakes in Oromia and Amhara, and a dissatisified groups in Afar, Tigray, Wolqayt, Gojam, Addis, Addis, and Mogadisho.
Beware what you pray for … it may harm us all and take us the where we were in 1983/1991, if we are lucky. .. and benefit and silent hyenas on the side. The same evil things can be said about Eritrea. But I pray for peace and wisdom between the two brotherly people … rather than pumping adrenaline and beating the evil drums of hate and vengeance from our comfort zones in the West. Help these two people reconcile and fight their common enemy: hate, anger, and blind unreasonable arguments.
May Maryam Shewito be with you all!
Wedi Tigrai I think there is a confusion here. Mussie is responding to me which I posted under the name wedi Tigray not to you wedi Tigrai. Did you see the difference between “wedi Tigray” and wedi Tigrai? Any way i have chosen to use my real name to avoid this confusion. Wedi Tigrai I fully agree on all the points you mentioned. “Sem yimerho letgbar” yibahal. My be it is this Tigrawaynet that made us think same way. Our Tigray has suffered a lot because of successive wars in the last century and we should get out of this war mentality if we want to see our Tigray developed. War is destruction and we don’t gain anything from war. The border crisis should be solved peacefully and in the mean time win the hearts of brothers across Mereb not by bombing their villages as some want us to do. Zeykurmtkasys emni tetiqurtmelu yebahal. They are pleading us to go war from afar. If war erupts it is Tigray and the people of Tigray that will carry the burden of detruction and blood shed that comes with the war. We have seen it in the past. Those of us who live with our people know how our people feel when they loose their beloved ones. We should always see the grieving Tigryan mothers when we think of war. I am not blind supporter of no body. Actually I blame Melse for not doing more to our Tigray. But I fully support Melse for not supporting to go war and for signing the Algeries agreement to stop the bloodshed and destruction among the two brotherly people of Eritrea and Tigray. Some of them here are trying to paint whole Eeritreans as monsters. But history tells us that the people of Eritrea including shabiya are not our enemies. We should not forget that it was shabiyan fighters who come to our help in the bad days when we were weak and our villages were being bombed by derg. Our enemies are the “Issayas-Ali” clique who despise Tigryans. We should envision the peace that comes after this clique ceases to exist. We should see beyond this clique and work towards creating peaceful environment among the two people. This clique will not survive and the Tigryan and Eritrean relation ship will normalize in the future. In the future badme will be just a village and the so called border among the two people will not be a fence but an imaginary line only to be discovered by mathematicians. It won’t have no meaning to ordinary Eritreans and Tigryans. In the future I’m envisioning that the ancient history of Axum, Metra, Yeha, adulis and Keskese should revive that is shared by the two people will revive. The daughters and sons of the ancient Agaziyan people should come out real;ize that they are one people should work for peace.
To a supposed Wedi-Tigray,
listen son, there are a lot of Eritreans who grew up drinking clear honey from Bishoftu yet turned up to be Ethiopia’s worst enemy..so your knowledge of a locality in Tigray and the fact that you drank pure water in maidegene doesn’t make you a Tigrian…it is the context of your comment we are interested in and it is nothing but straight from Shabia’s script..We may be forced to accept any thing meles decides in regards to Eritrea as we have done it so many times in the past, but I can not imagine any Ethiopian let alone a Tigrian entertaining the idea of ceding a territory thousands died for…..secondly..by listing names of Ethiopian government officials you are trying find a bond you yourself(sorry I can not bring myself to accept you as Tigrian) have broken with decades of hate campaign and bitter war not because you genuinely feel connected to Tigrians but only because the going is getting tough. But do not be naive my dear, we have been there before and I hope only hope the most controversial decision TPLF took to let you go with full independence is all about making those lines clear..yes there are Ethiopian officials who have roots in Eritrea, so Somalia, so Sudan(check gambell) and so on…what makes the case of Tigrigna speakers being in different side of borders any different. You see, that is what most Ethiopians are trying to say here.YOU WANT HAVE YOUR CAKE AND EAT IT AT THE SAME TIME> you spent decades of lives and resources to prove nothing but your uniqueness and now all of a sudden we are the same…come on…life is not just for playing…
Wedi Tigray,
I wish you pick another name. Something back in my mind is telling me that you are not from Tigray, whether you are “endertawai” or not. The last 7 or 8 lines of your comment tell you were from Sen’Afe late alone from enderta. I am not the type who argues that Legesse should have been killed for what he did. If his release from prison in line with legal procedures of the country, late it be. The problem is I don’t think we are all sure about the legality of the release of the x-dergue officials. Coming to the main issue, you said you despise Gebru and Seeye for failing into the trap of Isayas. Other HGDEFists still have deep hatred towards these two Ethiopian military strategist and administrators. Had you been a closer political or military advisor to these guys (Gebru and Seeye), you would have tell them to sit idle and look until they occupy the whole Tigray, had a lunch at Mekelle and their delicious diner at Arat Killo. Fortunately, there were no Eritrean advisors in Tigray, although I still could not tell for sure if there few Arat Killo. I used to hear that the PM was guarded by Shaebian soldiers. Is that what you mean by the good old days of the pre-Badme era? So you are longing for these days and wish it to come again. Hm!
My friend, I brought up with Eritreans and I still have very good friends. I had the feeling that we were the same people. I lately realized that I was wrong. But I should not change my people’s interest for the sake of few very nice and kind friends. I will always remember my Eritrean friends as gentlemen of high quality. See my point?
Once again I go for “no war again”, but for the selfish attitude Eritreans. I will not try to be humble and polite. It was a great mistake that we shed bloods of thousands of young men for nothing, for a-no-interest of the nation. I have admired and respected the PM in many aspects, but he has erased his good history for cheap “ideology” (I wonder if it was an ideology after all).
The topic is very interesting and timely. Well, we Ethiopians tired of Eritrean government and its blind supporters (most of them live outside Eritrea, including in Ethiopian camps and addis ababa). Why is the Ethiopian regime supporting all the Eritrean refugees in Ethiopia? I tried to chat with many of them and found them they like Issayas more than their self love. I can easily get friendship with Eritrean as i was born and grown up down there. Paradoxically, they like the issayas regime more than any religious group do for their leaders. I challenged them why they run away from their country if the regime down there is good enough. They don’ want the discussion to continue…..Well, I urge PM Meles Zenawi and its government to reconsider its policy toward Eritreans living in Ethiopia….you can’t give free education and scholarship for those Eritreans who love their tyranny regime. Any reader can go to Addis Abbaba University and the camps, u will amazingly find out that most of them if not all of them support Issayas…….So what is behind the Ethiopian Policy? What does it want to achieve? finally, It is high time that the Eritrean government must be removed (by Ethiopia with any appropriate mechanism) soon not for the sake of Eritreans but for Ethiopia’s benefit.
hello Aiga,
i appreciate your title which every ‘Tigraway’ is concerned about. but, i feel somewhat unhappy with the idea that the ethio-eritrea conflict is related with meles only. Primarily, TPLF and EPRDF as a whole have to take the responsibility. whatever measures taken this conflict will end in peaceful neighbourhood of the two people in the near future.
To add few examples on eretrian charecters who went abroad through ethiopia. I have three friends who went to USA, two of them already engaged anti TPLf particularly anti meles campain and post very bad pics videao and the like stuff in their face book. I am telling you honestly. probably if they read this page they would easly know me as i was firecly argued them. just belive me EPRDF current pro eretrian policy will brought nothing but more mess,