BLOGGERThese days some Ethiopians are on offensive and they are preoccupied on exposing the double standard and hypocrisy of western powers. Even though there are many of these blunders coming from the west, these Ethiopians on offensive forget the dirt in their own backyard. Especially self-declared supporters of the so-called peaceful opposition or peaceful movement accused the ONLF rebels for the massacre in Abole. The Ethiopian ambassador to America condemned America for not labeling the ONLF as a “terrorist organization” for killing 70 Ethiopians and Chinese workers. Does the ambassador have values he tried to depict or how genuine are these claims?
Not much.
First of all, the government supporters started complaining as soon as they heard that the HR 2003 is alive. Many months have passed since the ONLF massacred the innocent Ethiopians which I heard included non-Ogadeni Somalis, mercilessly shot in their sleep. The ONLF act was barbaric, just like the post election 2005 massacre was barbaric. What doesn’t make sense in all of this is, when the ONLF congratulated itself on BBC radio, the Ethiopian government said nothing. As the ONLF leadership continued to live in Europe, the Ethiopian government didn’t take action or complain to UK. But when the HR 2003 moved forward, the Ethiopian government all of the sudden became shocked about what happened 5 months ago, so shocked that Ambassador Samuel started writing protest letters to Washington Times. Other than the Ethiopian government saying ONLF is a terrorist organization, it didn't take aggressive steps and it didn't take diplomatic actions about the ONLF, until the HR 2003 gained momentum.
The reality is, other liberation movements like the OLF were also accused (by EPRDF) of doing much more killings than the ONLF, the last 15 years. And the accusation is not just killings by OLF before 2005; in fact, the EPRDF accused OLF of killing 400 Oromos in Oromia during the last elections.
(Source: http://www.jmu.edu//nelsoninstitute/U.S._Policy_Toward_Ethiopia_(Pham)%5B1%5D.pdf) So why wasn’t the government demanding America to extradite OLF rebel financers two years ago and pressure America to label OLF a terrorist organization too? Also, why not accuse other Ethiopian Diaspora members who often finance the EPPF rebels that have killed many people as well?
The truth is, the Ethiopian government knows the limits & boundaries of its influence on America. So it has not asked America about the OLF & EPPF leadership & financers living in the WEST. If the hypocrite government supporters really cared about the values of peaceful change and if they were very sure that the government they support also held itself accountable to such values, they would have complained about American hypocrisy the last 17 years, because violence in Ethiopia existed since DAY ONE under the current government. Therefore, Ambassador Samuel Assefa and others who talk about western hypocrisy don’t have any better values. Their complain began when the HR 2003 bill re-appeared. So they are just as hypocrite as the West. It has all been about politics, not really about principles. If it was about principles, the ONLF would have been the LAST rebel group to be cited as an example of western hypocrisy and double standard, when we talk about a violent rebel group that is headquartered in the West. So it is not about values. Also, the same Ethiopian government accusations raining on Eritrea for financing and supporting rebels against the Ethiopian government should have been pouring on America since even more wealthy, more open, more active rebel financers live in America and in Europe. In fact, some of the so called “anti-Ethiopia” rebels have headquarters in Washington D.C.
My advice for those Ethiopians complaining is, instead of wasting your time on picking out western hypocrisy, look in the mirror. Everyone already knows western double standard existed for many years. The recent case of Pakistan is an exclamation mark on the centuries old legacy of western hypocrisy. At the end of the day, the same way that an American military response against global Islamic fundamentalism will lose, an Ethiopian military response against ONLF, OLF and others will lose also. The government supporters should try to change Ethiopia using political and economic solutions instead of pursuing a military solution and instead of wasting your valuable time complaining about western hypocrisy.
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