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Ethiopian PM pledges to stand aside and Transcript: FT interview with Ethiopia’s prime minister - FT Times - June 23, 2009 Comment: A favorite topic of Meles is.... himself. I might resign, I might not, my party could beg me to stay... This whole drama is the result of excessive, unseemly, self-indulgence. Its embarrassing. As if there is an independent "public opinion" within the TPLF that can make decisions (forget about the EPRDF). In any case, Meles or Bereket or Sebhat Nega, are insignifcant to Ethiopia's future. They are already obsolete. Years of repressing and abusing the Ethiopian people has devalued them and chained them tightly to Ethiopia's past. The interviewer makes a good point on the NGO law: The TPLF government itself is heavily funded by aid. And aid is fungible. Thus the TPLF iself would be barred from political activity according to the new law. ALSO: Invisibilization - According to researcher L. Hammond, "invisibility is a function of governmentality in Ethiopia that has enabled inaction on the part of a wide range of stakeholders See: Strategies of Invisibilization: How Ethiopia's Resettlement Programme Hides the Poorest of the Poor Invisibilization is a basic TPLF policy that helps to define the parameters of all interviews given by Meles. Many crucial topics are left out because the TPLF has hidden the evidence, or at least made it difficult for the Ethiopian people to express concern. Here are some other examples of what Meles has made invisible:
Web Pries Lid of Censorship by Iranian Government - NY Times - June 22, 2009
"Despite the crackdown, the videos and tweets indicate to many that broadly distributed Internet tools — and the spirit of young, tech-savvy people — cannot be completely repressed by an authoritarian government." Comment: The Meles internet policy is pro-TPLF. Not pro-Ethiopia. Not pro-Tigray. But the slow, dim-witted TPLF/EPRDF cannot win this battle. Like their Iranian counterparts, young Ethiopians will play a key role in swamping the TPLF dinosaurs when the uprising comes.
Who is Responsible for the Electricity Crisis? - Reporter amh - June 21, 2009 The Electric Corporation's Board of Directors's is reported to be unqualified. But what was the role of Meles? Oh, Meles says it is all Ken Ohashi's fault - Ethiopia Says World Bank to Blame for Power Blackouts - Bloombeg, June 22, 2009 Ken Ohashi of the World Bank is right. This charge is BOGUS. Why was the Tana Beles project delayed while Tekeze fast-tracked? Meles was heavily involved in that project which disrupted the Electric Corporation's strategic plan. The World Bank has gone beyond the call of duty to keep Ethiopia's economy functioning despite the bad policy choices of Meles. Ethiopia can't even afford a generator because Meles:
Ken Ohashi has no power to make policy choices and direct the economy. To blame this hardworking professional for the mistakes of Meles is pathetic. Meles is a typical petty, little man. Can't take responsibility. Whines about other people not giving into his overbearing demands. Pathetic. ALSO: Where is my vote? Preliminary Analysis of the Voting Figures in Iran’s 2009 Presidential Election - Chatham House - June 21, 2009 The TPLF vote fraud in 2005 was far more widespread and easily detected using a variety of measures
Brainwashing, June 20, 2009: Shabab used this young (boy?) as the suicide bomber in Beledweyne to kill 42+ and injure dozens more Soomaalinews.com MARG BAR DICTATOR! June 20, 2009: NY Times blog on Iran - The Basiji - militia equivalent to how Meles misused the elite Agazi troops - are in action, attacking protesters but... "I don’t know where this uprising is leading. I do know some police units are wavering. That commander talking about his family was not alone. There were other policemen complaining about the unruly Basij."
Do we want the death of dictator Meles Zenawi? Its the wrong issue. We want justice. We want liberty. We want the death of the dictatorship. The dictatorship is not the product of one man, but of a human society. It is the product of forces that lie deep within every human being (ala A. Solzhenitsyn). The only known way these negative forces can be controlled is by the independent action of other human beings freely pursuing and defending their own interests. Meles and the TPLF dont understand this, and in any case, after years of drug abuse (power is a drug) their brains are brittle and deformed - just like those of crack addicts. Killing a pitiful, petty little man like Meles is a far too base and negligible a goal for such a noble campaign as the Ethiopian democratization movement. Shabab and allied hard-line Islamists nearing victory, June 20, 2009: Somalia's cabinet declares state of emergency Reuters - TFG is asking for emergency support "We want them to come here within 24 hours," he said. "We've been forced to make this request because of the escalating violence. Those fighting the government are being led by a (former) Pakistani army general, they are burning the flag and killing people," Madobe said." ALSO: Fighting Restarts in Mogadishu Shabelle al Shaabab spokesman warns Kenya - "Kenya had been saying that it will attack the mujahideen of al Shaabab for the last four months. If it tries to, we will attack Kenya and destroy the tall buildings of Nairobi," Sheik Hasan Yacqub told reporters in the southern port city of Kismayu. BUT: Hizb-ul-Islam and Shabab are at odds over the suicide bombing that has killed at least 45 people in Beled Weyne. Sh. Aweys actually condemned the act: "I am saddened by the loss of so many lives...the enemy is behind this [attack]," Sheikh Aweys said, but he did not elaborate who the enemy is. Asked if his comments could trigger a conflict with Al Shabaab, Sheikh Aweys dismissed the possibility but stated that "anything is possible" if the various armed factions fighting the Somali government do not have a "unified ideology." (Garowe Online) MEANWHILE IN IRAN: A TPLF-style crackdown appears to be underway, though it hasn't reached the standard set by Meles Zenawi yet.
The most successful Shabab Operation Yet: Somalia minister killed by bomb BBC, June 17, 2009 - But like al-Qaeda in Iraq, Shabab is creating enemies. In this case, the clan whose elders were killed is likely to react violently against Shabab. ALSO: Any remaining Ethiopian fans of Shabab please read what else your "freedom fighters" are doing: Meanwhile, the U.N. children's agency says al-Shabab continues to occupy the UNICEF compound in Jowhar, preventing the distribution of aid to women and children in the area. - VOA
Top Somali warlord: willing to talk? CSM, June 17, 2009 - Typical Somalia conflict; fight, kill, switch, negotiate, shift alliances, start again ALSO: Sharif (TFG) may have lost another police station to Shabab, while Shabab has killed the TFG police commander .
These Tehran University students are disputing state media. They are organizing without a permit. They need to be beaten like they were Ethiopian AAU students: Savage Attack on Student Dormitories Rooz Online, June 16, 2009 June 16, 2009: Temporary halt to six months of pleasurable torture of Birtukan Mideksa: I have no doubt that the isolation of Birtukan Mideksa in a small cell is done at the direct behest of Meles Zenawi. I also have no doubt that he derives pleasure from doing this, and from openly showing Ethiopians that he is not subject to any law, and has the power to torture anyone at will. Birtukan Temporarily Placed With Two Inmates - Abugida Source from Addis Abugidainfo, June 16, 2009 Birtukan out of dark cell after six months Ethiopolitics, June 16, 2009 Meles, if we ever get our hands on you... ... No you should't be tortured. You shouldn't be physically mistreated. Instead read this:
UN 'runs out of aid for Ethiopia' BBC, June 16, 2009
"But even when the grain gets through the WFP says there is an acute shortage of trucks, with the Ethiopian authorities preventing the agency from bringing in its own fleet from Sudan." "The UN says the Ethiopian authorities have exacerbated the situation by refusing it permission to use a fleet of trucks to transport the grain from Djibouti." Comment: This is an example of a conflict between a TPLF priority, and a Ethiopia and Tigray priority. As usual the TPLF makes the pro-TPLF policy choice. Not the pro-Ethiopia or pro-Tigray choice. The TPLF priority is to make high profits transporting food aid. Why should the interests of nursing mothers and small children in Tigray and elsewhere in Ethiopia take precedence? As proof that the TPLF is more important than these nine million suffering Ethiopians, note that you will not find this news on any state media or any TPLF follower website. They do not represent these people and hence will not advocate for their interests. Here is a proposed amendment to the constitution: IF ANY CHILD IN ETHIOPIA DIES OF STARVATION, THE PRIME MINISTER SHOULD BE EXECUTED FOR CRIMINAL NEGLIGENCE OR MURDER. (if this were the law, Meles would have thousands of bullets in him by now). ALSO: Give Africa economic freedom, says Ethiopian leader Reuters, June 16, 2009 "I do not know whether I need to explain why sovereign African nations should plead to be given policy space," said Meles. "The simple answer is that they are not so sovereign when it comes to economic policy making." Comment Meles relies on begging rather than giving Ethiopians the economic freedom that most people in the world enjoy. Without the insistent begging last year, the Meles government may have imploded due to its own economic mismanagement. Meles should be grateful that they saved him by nearly doubling aid to Ethiopia last year.
June 14, 2009: - Five Imprisoned Coffee Exporters Released - Reporter (amh). They were imprisoned for "causing harm to the national economy". Almost all had been awarded prizes by the government in previous years for export performance. Also: World Bank representative Ken Ohashi, expresses disbelief at the gov't -reported 10 percent growth rate for 2008/09. And: Gov't projects 10 billion birr budget deficit for 2009/10; with 6.5 billion birr of the deficit to be covered by govt' domestic borrowing. This is way off target as compard to what the gov't promised the IMF. Meles said gov't domestic borrowing would be zero in 2008/09 (what was the actual figure?) and IMF projections indicate an expectation of only 0.3% of GDP govt' domesitc borrowing for 2009/10. Now who knows what the real GDP is, but gov't domestic borrowing was 6.2 and 6.5 billion birr in 2006/07 and 2007/08 respectively. This was a major factor in the inflation crisis. So this magnitude of borrowing in 2009/10 means the gov't is partially retreating on the fight against inflation, and instead wants to continue its free-spending ways (to get support). The resutl will be the same as before. High inflation rates that punish the poor and anyone else with no access to gov't money sources.
Protests Flare in Tehran as Opposition Disputes Vote NY Times, June 14, 2009
Comment: Shouldn't these people be slaughtered like in Addis Abeba, June 2005? Meles gave the "shoot-to-kill" order with no hesitation. The TPLF shares a solidarity with all ruling groups that have ever been rejected by their people. Ahmedinajad should hire TPLF advisors to show him how its done.
Comment: "They ignored my shouting..." In Ethiopia, shouting will get you jail - if you are lucky enough to be married to an EPRDF official - or a bullet in the head if not.
June 13, 2009: - An Open Letter to my fellow Tigrayan brothers and sisters who are supporting the TPLF - Obang Metho, Executive Director Of the Solidarity Movement for a New Ethiopia Comment: I wonder if any TPLF official, or follower/supporter, will have the courage to publicly respond in an honest and constructive manner to Obang Metho? Probably not. The TPLF is a vanguard party. The TPLF Politburo, under the direction of Meles, establishes the party line on any subject. The party line is then transmitted to the central committee which organizes the cadres. The cadres then implement the party line by herding the people in the direction Meles wants them to go. Vanguard parties do not allow members to publicly express independent opinions or honest assessments that differ from the party line. Thus no TPLF supporter can raise the issue of TPLF chauvinism. In fact, most remaining TPLF supporters are probably hardcore TPLF chauvinists themselves. What is TPLF chauvinism? It is a fatal illness that has crippled the EPRDF, and will destroy its host organization too. I think there is a difference between ethnic chauvinism (e.g Tigrean chauvinism) and the emerging TPLF aristocracy (which exhibits an extremely high level of organizational chauvinism that is congruous with Tigrean ethnicity - a very unhealthy and dangerous development for Ethiopia). To put it simply: the TPLF is fundamentally pro-TPLF and not pro-Tigray. With every passing year, as its internal kinship and elite class ties strengthen, the distance between the TPLF and the people of Tigray will increase. In this respect they are following the typical path of all ruling elites in human history. Read more here - very rough 2007 draft of Theory of TPLF Ethiopian Chauvinism (In actuality there are almost no TPLF supporters. They are virtually all followers in that they have absolutely no chance to influence the leaders. In a normal party the leaders are constantly checking with their supporters because they cannot continue to lead without support. In TPLF-style parties, the leaders are dependent not on support, but on control. Control of media, control of military, control of land, control of internet, control of telecoms, control of cement, control of fertilizer, control of transport etc... All this leads to Control of People, including control of TPLF follower/supporters).
June 13, 2009: - Ahmadinejad Re-Elected; Protests Flare - NY Times. At his news conference, Mr. Moussavi cited irregularities that included a shortage of ballots. He accused the government of shutting down Web sites, newspapers and text messaging services throughout the country, crippling the opposition’s ability to communicate during the voting. June 11, 2009: - Some in Qaeda Leave Pakistan for Somalia and Yemen - NY Times.
One senior American military official who follows Africa closely said that more than 100 foreign fighters had trained in terrorism camps in Somalia alone in the past few years. Another senior military officer said that Qaeda operatives and confederates in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia had stepped up communications with one another. Link to article at AbbayMedia - June 9, 2009: - In Search of Peace: Ethiopia’s Ethnic Conflicts & Resolution - by Messay Kebede. Articles like these are too rare. Why don't more Ethiopian intellectuals write for the public? Compare the ideas and depth of understanding and synthesis in this article with the output by Meles and the TPLF. The articles by Meles/TPLF on this topic are rehashed, plagiarized, mind-numbing Leninist dogma. Ethiopia needs to move on and engage its challenges with new perspectives as outlined in Messay's paper. June 7, 2009: Intl Narcotics Agency Reports that Mexican Drug Cartels Tried to Use Front Companies In Ethiopia to Import Chemicals for Making Banned Drugs: - International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) - Feb, 2009 annual report. (The INCB is an independent, quasi-judicial monitoring body for the United Nations)
Read more and watch PBS program online (arhived 2006): The Meth Epidemic
June 7, 2009: Market Failure or "Genius" Failure? Who is responsible for the disastrous cement and electricity policies? (OPINION) - As usual, Meles has disappeared from view. He always goes underground when a crisis becomes acute. Underlings are left to take the blame. A good example is the electricity disaster in Ethiopia. Severe blackouts have become common. As the Reporter newspaper commented recently, we find out about electricity problems only when the power goes out. The population was completely unprepared for this because state media had been broadcasting non-stop boasts about electricity exports. The same situation occurred with cement. Why is the planning process so bad in Ethiopia? We have a "genius" who sets policy and directs in detail the work of government ministries. According to Meles, the state needs to play a very active role in the economy because of "market failures." The free market, he says, is driven to make bad choices and unproductive investments, so the state (i.e. Meles) should make those choices. Cement policy is currently completely controlled by the state. In 1999, Meles (who is a genius) analyzed the cement demand in Ethiopia and determined that there was a production surplus. The TPLFs Messebo cement factory was just finished and Meles did not want the free market to import cement or produce cement at cheaper locations (closer to Addis Abeba). So the "genius" prohibited private sector investment in cement and prohibited imports. It turns out to have been a spectacularly bad decision. A genius failure. The electricity sector in Ethiopia is completely state-controlled. The private sector is not allowed to invest in production (although some changes were made recently). Utilities are all state owned of course. The state electricity corporation had a strategic plan to build power plants on various rivers. Tekeze was not one of these rivers because the civil war had prevented adequate study of dam sites and river hydrology. But the genius decided that a Tekeze dam had to built now, ahead of those other dam sites that had already been studied in detail. A rush contract was developed. The World Bank and other lenders can not fund dam projects this way. So Ethipia had to invest $300 million dollars from its own limited funds to build the dam. The contract went to the Chinese (of course). They were suppposed to build the dam within a specified number of years. They are several years overdue (of course). And Ethiopia has no money to even temporarily rent generators to cover the electricity shortfall. Another genius failure.
Jun 7, 2009: SOMALIA - Reports of Sheikh Aweys Death Premature - (SHEIKH AWEYS WOUNDED, POSSIBLY DEAD) - AFP and VOA talked to him: Somali Insurgent Leader Denies Reports of Death On the other hand, Reuters reports: Aweys is either dead or badly hurt - family Somali battle kills 123, rebels deny leader Aweys dead - (Reuters); 50 killed in central Somalia clashes, Aweys 'wounded' - (Garowe Online); Sheikh Aweys (a major hardline islamist figure) had traveled from Mogadishu to the south central town of Wabho to lead a big attack on the moderate Sufi milita Alhu Sunna. Sheikh Aweys a former officer under Siad Barre, has had a long and eventful career in Somalia politics, and was active in Al-Ittihad during the 1990s.
Neither side controlled Wabho on Saturday, locals said, but the battles had halted for them to collect and bury corpses. Who are the proven Assassins? - June 4, 2009: - Ethiopia charges 46 with 'assassination plot' - AFP - Comment: Shouldn't we first investigate the evidence of Meles-ordered or at least Meles-condoned assassinations? For example, Tesfaye Gebreab, the former government media director working under Bereket Simon, has made serious allegations; here is an English translation excerpt of one assassination that has never been resolved: Tesfaye Gebreab: Committees of Woyane Members Vote to Kill Prominent Oromo Nationalists. How about the well-documented assassination (or execution) of Etinesh Yimam? Also: Harsh Austerity Measures Implemented in Ethiopia - VOA, 04 June 2009.
"At first it was all about we want a faster Internet connection and I wish I could have this and that. But now it has come down to, I wish I could have electricity. We're just hoping for some improvement," he said.
Comment on Ginbot 7, Andargatchew Tsige and Isayas Afeworki; June 2, 2009: - The "Ethiopian Review" (self-appointed, unofficial spokesman for the Ginbot 7 opposition party) has announced that Andargatchew Tsige, secretary general of the party, is in Asmara for talks with Isayas Afeworki. ER also announced that Ginbot 7 hopes to establish temporary headquarters in Asmara. ER further indicated that Berhanu Nega himself may go to Asmara soon. Ginbot 7 has not issued a denial since ER published this information on May 29. Nothing positive for Ethiopia will come from these talks. On the contrary it will damage Ethiopia's democratization movement. The example of the Eritrean-directed AFD is instructive. Soon after proudly announcing the alliance, the ONLF massacred over 70 people in the Ogaden. And the Ethiopian people were supposed to cheer this? Where is the AFD now? What is Andargachew planning for Round 2? An alliance with Shabab to establish bases in Southern Somallia? Isayas Afeworki is sponsoring them too so it will be more efficient to share supplies and logistics. But why stop with Shabab? Why doesn't Andargachew sign an alliance with Shabab's parent organization al-Qaeda? As long as it helps get rid of the TPLF then its ok? No principles can stand in the way of Andargachew's revolution? What is the price for getting visas to Asmara? What are the secret side agreements that will assuredly accompany any deal with Isayas? Resumption of Eritrean killing squads in Ethiopia, suppression of anti-Isayas Ethiopian parties, economic privileges, Assab obviously off-limits, and Irob wereda signed over to Isayas (Has anyone asked the Irob people about this?). Who, other than lunatics like ER, trusts Isayas Afeworki? Why on earth would someone put themselves and their organization at his mercy? This self-destructive behavior defies belief. |
Iran Focus
Links to Interesting Articles
Strategies of Invisibilization: How Ethiopia's Resettlement Programme Hides the Poorest of the Poor Journal of Refugee Studies, 2008 21(4):517-536
- "...a scheme that renders many people more needy than they were before they left their areas of origin. Inadequate planning and resourcing of resettlement on a massive scale and rushed timeframe, blocking of NGO and other independent monitors' access, and careful control at the federal level over information relating to conditions in settlement areas makes it possible for this space of invisibility to be created"
'Dissident Movements' and Non-Violence: -
"The 'dissident movements' do not shy away from the idea of violent political overthrow because the idea seems too radical, but on the contrary, because it does not seem radical enough." Vaclav Havel,The Power of the Powerless 1985
Shabaab al-Mujjahideen: Migration and Jihad in the Horn of Africa Nefa Foundation Report, May 2009
- "One of the most important places to target the Ethiopian enemy is their international airport"
Pastoral conflicts and state-building in the Ethiopian lowlands T Hagmann/A Mulugeta, Afrika Spectrum 43 (2008) 1: 19-37
- "A major incentive for pastoralists to identify with pre-defined ethnic collectivities and to adopt expansionist political tactics to the detriment of neighbouring groups, was the extension of fiscal and administrative resources from regional capitals to districts."
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