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IT
IS THE WATER, STUPID!
II
G.
E. Gorfu
It
is not only the policy of Khediv Ismael from a hundred years ago, as sated
in Part I, but also of Anwar Sadat who in 1978 warned: ‘Egypt would go
to war if Ethiopia made a move to build a dam on Lake Tana or any
irrigation projects that would affect Egypt’s agricultural and
settlement programs.’ (1) He was
stating that ancient, aggressive, and ever ongoing policy of belligerence
towards any progress and development of Ethiopia.
Sadat was not making an empty threat. Soon
after signing the Camp David Accord with Israel in 1977, his first order
of duty was to purchase long range missiles from the US. Why did Egypt
need long range missile if Israel, just across the Sinai, was his arch
enemy? The enemy Sadat needed the long range missiles for however was not
Israel, but Ethiopia. He must have acquired those weapons in his arsenal
when he made the threat.
In 1987 Ethiopia applied for a loan from
African development Bank to build a dam for water conservation and to
increase its water storage facilities due to repeated drought and famine.
But in 1990 Egypt blocked the loan (2) and killed the project. Ethiopia
has never harmed Egypt, nor has the intention to do so, but Egypt’s
policy always harms Ethiopia.
In September 2007, BBC reported Mubarak’s
announcement of plans to build several nuclear plants: “…making it
clear there were strategic reasons for the program, calling secure sources
of energy an integral part of Egypt's national security system…”(3)
Wow! Nuclear plants with reasons of ‘strategic national security’?
What could that mean?
What is Mubarak talking about? We have no
doubt the strategic national security means not secure electric power, but
‘secure source of water’. It is interesting to note that no one raised
an eyebrow when Egypt announced its plan to build the nuclear power
plants, but when a poor country like Ethiopia builds hydroelectric dams,
they cry of ‘environmental concerns’ and start letter writing
campaigns to block the loans! Is that a double standard?
For the first time in centuries Ethiopia is
attempting to rise from the dust and take control of its waters and is
building dams. For the first time we see some signs of progress and
development however meager these may appear to be. And already our enemy
seems scared to death that we will dry up the Nile and turn Egypt into a
desert. That is baseless. But Egypt is not only relying on nuclear power,
but has enlisted our educated elites to do its dirty work, and push HR
bills through the US Congress. What a shame!
Mubarak, who took power after Sadat’s
assassination in 1981, has ruled Egypt with an iron fist, arresting some,
and banishing other political opponents into exile. He has won every
election since then, by a landslide victory of 90% or more. There is no
democracy, no transparency, and there are no opposition political parties
in Egypt. In spite of that, it has remained the largest beneficiary of US
Aid, receiving more aid than all other African countries put together. So,
where is the HR bill on Accountability Act for Egypt, uh?
This enemy is proactive, always planning
and staying several steps ahead, but all the Ethiopian elites can do,
appears to be: fight among themselves, or push stupid HR bills through US
Congress to aid the enemy, and entangle their country in an indirect
control by foreign governments. Some are so obsessed in divisive ethnic
politics and their own Chauvinistic stand that they fail to see the real
enemy behind all these machinations.
Many Ethiopians are so foolish as to join
these political schemers and operatives, and even give their monetary
support, while some of the elites leading the legislation of HR Bills are
outright traitors in the payroll of Egypt’s Mubarak and Eritrea’s
Issayas. What a dastardly and heinous act! Is that what your motherland
deserves? Is that how you repay the poor peasant who worked hard, tilled,
and sweated to get you educated? How sad!
Notes :
1. http://www.addistribune.com/Archives/2005/02/18-02-05/What.htm
2. http://www.issi.org.pk/journal/2002_files/no_1/article/9a.htm
3. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/5376860.stm
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