Somalia and
Ethiopia have been each other’s worst nightmare for the past five
hundred and plus years. They fought over everything from land disputes,
religion, geopolitical hegemony, and more. It is undisputable fact that
despite it’s the numerical advantage and colonial connections, Ethiopia
has never succeeded to penetrate Somalia’s border and successfully
reach the Indian ocean until the year of 2007.
Ethiopia is one of the poorest nations in the world if not “the poorest”.
Its
population is severely fragmented and often prosecuted by their
dictator regime. Without any foreign help, Males Zenawi’s oppressive
regime can not keep the country together, let alone meddling with
Somalia. The UN, EU, AFRICAN UNION, IGAD are all sided with Ethiopia in
various capacities; They pass resolutions, hold conferences, while
financing all the atrocities committed throughout Somalia and Ogaden.
I
am calling for all Somalis NOT to fall for the artificial
reconciliation conferences held by these organizations. The UN is sided
with Somalia’s Enemy, Ahmedou Ould Abdallah is very skilled diplomat,
he understands exactly what is wrong with the Somali situation, but he
has to work within the framework of the UN, and that means he has to
look out for the presumed US interest in the region, which is also
intertwined with that of Ethiopia. That is why you don’t see him
mentioning the US air strikes, or condemning the Ethiopian invasion, or
saying anything against all the violations of the International law
taking place in Somalia.
In
early December of 2006, the former US ambassador to the United Nations,
John Bolton in his last days at the UN, pushed for a draft of a
resolution 1725 to lift the Somali arms embargo, which paved the way
for an Ethiopian invasion in Somalia.
Bolton pushed the
resolution through the Security Council by adding specifications that
there will be IGAD Deployment plan, which will not include those States
that border Somalia (i.e. Ethiopia, Kenya) ironically Ethiopian troops
were already present at the time of the proposal and only strengthen
its presence after the resolution was passed.
On April 10, 2007: A
US State Department spokesman acknowledged that it knew Ethiopia
received a shipment of military equipment from North Korea. The
shipment arrived in January. The shipment included spare parts for
Ethiopian tanks. All of these are happening despite The North Korea is
under sanctions that prevent it from selling certain weapons and is
under the US radar for arm proliferations. Again, the UN was silent
about it.
Innocent
Somalis can not wait any longer; they are sick and tired of the
genocide committed by the foreign occupiers. The last thing they need
is a flash back of last year’s dishonest and illegitimate
"national
reconciliation accord" , which has been sponsored jointly by the United
States, EU and the Saudis, but its result remained irrelevant,
considering that none of the opposition groups or resistance factions
were invited. The results highlighted that the casualties of Mogadishu
grew dramatically. On
Nov 15, 07,
The EU had passed a resolution
where European deputies called for an independent probe into war crimes
and rights violations in the Somali capital, where the government was
battling rebels, . The resolution also called for "the cessation of all
foreign military intervention in Somalia," referring to thousands of
Ethiopian forces. Almost a year has passed since, and things only
changed from worse to worst.
On early October,
2007, the US House of Representatives passed HR 2003, the Ethiopia
Democracy and Accountability Act of 2007. The bill, called on the
Ethiopian government to foster accountability, respect the rule of law,
and release all political prisoners.
HR 2003 was supposed
put an end to these kinds of abuses and irresponsible acts by the
Ethiopian government but was it likewise ignored by Ethiopian dictator
given the fact that he is in bed with the US officials in the region.
“The government can
no longer hide behind the ‘ally in the war on terrorism’ cloak,” US
congressman Payne who sponsored the bill asserted in the October 2nd
hearing. “It cannot champion the rights of others while disrespecting
those same rights of its own people. What type of government chokes off
humanitarian aid to its citizens as a retaliatory tactic?” Payne
commented after the passage of the bill. Several
months
after the bill was passed, the Ethiopian troops are massacring
civilians and torturing detainees by the thousands; why shouldn’t they?
They are immune to International criticism. Human Rights Watch, Amnesty
International, or any other body can criticize all they want, and
nothing will change
—Everyone else who is
receiving US military subsidies does exactly the same, (i.e. Israel)
Under the guise of fighting terrorism everything is possible.
The
Somali people need to understand the historic rivalry between us and
Ethiopia; we can be peaceful neighbors as long as they are willing to
leave us alone. We can blame each other but nothing will change until
we change ourselves, and do whatever it takes to expel all foreign
troops outside of our borders, and only after we liberate our land,
defend our country against all enemies foreign and domestic, we can
hold genuine reconciliation conferences and heal our wounds. Somalis
have always fought with each other and reconciled under a tree. Let’s
pray for our devastated people and all the oppressed innocents’
civilians across the world. Sooner or later, peace and justice will
prevail.
Ismail Warsame, BA
International Affairs/Political Science
University of Maine
E-mail:
ismail.warsame@umit.maine.edu