In
any situation war as a means of conflict resolution is seen as a
total failure. For war does mean disaster for the population going
through the ordeals of death, mutilations, horror, trauma,
destruction, hunger, etc. We Ethiopians do know what the
implication of war is as we have gone through the mass terror,
tribulations, bombardments and killings by the dictator Mengistu
and the violent outbreak of hostilities and occupation of
Ethiopian territories by the insane leadership of Shaibya
(Eritrean government). War is anti-development as it demands
relocation of funds and resources for waging both large and small
scale confrontations within or outside the country. Knowing this
fact,
Ethiopia
has been patiently trying to mediate the conflict among the
warring warlords, clan chiefs and clerics since the collapse of
the central government in
Somalia
. Sometimes the negotiations looked like to succeed as for example
the Sodere and several other accords. The transitional federal
government, which is recognized by all continental and regional
organizations, has unfortunately not got the right backing in the
discharge of its official duties. Rather an extremist group of
Islamic warriors have tried to establish itself in competition to
the legal government by allying itself with members of al-Qaeda
and resurrect a Taliban like system in the Horn of Africa.
This
fundamentalist group not only gets its support from the Wahabist
movement but also has got a voluntary influx of Islamic insurgents
from many corners of the world. According to the UN monitoring
report, citizens and logistics were coming from Libya, Egypt,
Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Chechnya,
Afghanistan and Eritrea.
Eritrea
ruled by the megalomaniac and paranoid rule of Issaias has been
trying to destabilize
Ethiopia
ever since its defeat by the gallant defense forces of
Ethiopia
in 2000 by organizing all kinds of “liberation movements” and
anti-peace elements within
Ethiopia
proper and now through the surrogates of hell in the name of Union
of Islamic Courts (IUC) of
Somalia
.
The IUC has been
now and then declaring Jihad (holy war) every Friday gathering in
Mogadishu
. The IUC in its endeavor to occupy Ogaden in
Ethiopia
and Kenyan territories and reunite them in greater
Somalia
has gone so far as giving an ultimate of one week to
Ethiopia
or face the consequences total war. The IUC has even gone further
as to urge our Ethiopian Muslim brothers and sisters to rise
against the legitimate government of
Ethiopia
and overthrow it. Internal intervention in a sovereign state by a
ragtag gathering of fanatics, whose sole aim is rule by terror,
cannot be tolerated to play havoc and destruction with
Ethiopia
.
Ethiopia
has every legitimate concern for its national security and defense
of its citizens.
We have in our
earlier editorial entitled with “Defending
national security and peace” showed how the
irresponsible and adventurous groups of the Ethiopian
“opposition politicians” with the CUD, OLF and ONLF under the
so-called AFD tried to join hands with the Taliban-like Somali
Islamists and Shaibya to disintegrate our
Ethiopia
. The strategy of allying oneself with the “devil” for the
sake of short-term interests of power has been exposed recently in
the Ethiopian Parliament, when some of the opposition groups voted
not to heed for the government’s policy of self-defense and
limited engagements to break the link of the terrorist network.
The heroic
Ethiopian defense forces on the invitation of the Transitional
Federal Government have in a pace of very short time beaten the
“safe haven” of the jihadist training and Al-Qaeda’s
recruitment center. This is a great relief not only to the
Ethiopian people bordering
Somalia
but also to Somalis, who have suffered for the last 7-8 months the
despotic rule of the extremists. News of ululations is already
coming out from
Mogadishu
, where people can for the first time watch films, listen to music
and enjoy normal life without the stringent decrees of an age-old
oppressive order. As soon as the TFG takes control of the country
and the country is cleaned from international terrorists and their
backers, which by the way should have been done by the “talking
clubs” of the world and regional bodies, Ethiopia should leave
Somalia and engage in its developmental efforts. We pay tribute to
the valiant defense forces of
Ethiopia
and the militia of the TFG.
Editorial Ethiopian
Observer
