Consequences: the war should have taken its full course. Abiy has given the TPLF leadership a chance to escape literally unscathed. No questions asked about the treason they committed when they attacked the Northern command and thus initiated the disastrous war that has been raging from 2020 until now, a war which has consumed the lives of Tigrayan and non-Tigrayan civilians, which caused ethnic cleansing of Amharas such as that at Mai-Kadra, using the children of Tigray (some underage) as cannon fodders in what they dubbed “human wave” and causing the demise of millions of people.
I am sure that Goebbels and his gang would have happily signed such an armistice in the final months of 1945 if they were not to face Nuremberg, and the National Socialist German Workers’ Party not only survives but is allowed to play a role in the recreation of post-Fascist Germany.
The TPLF clique that is currently in Addis enjoying the luxuries of Skylight hotel in Bole does not give a hoot about the people who suffered from the bloody fratricidal war they fomented. They were on the verge of collapse and were awaiting arrest in shackles until Abiy, impelled by the West that dangled Infront of him carrot and stick, relinquished Ethiopia’s national interest and submitted to the pressure, thus accepting an armistice with the enemies of Ethiopia who were bent on dismantling it.
With this armistice, the TPLF leadership has not only saved their skins: they are back to enjoy the loot accumulated between 1991 and 2018, which enabled them to monopolize the ownership of not only price real estate properties but also major factory establishments (Tsadkan, for example, will be allowed to reap profits from his Raya Beer brewery and live happily ever after!)
Here is where the Faction Professor Messay predicts will arise to conduct guerrilla warfare. The last group will almost exclusively be those who did not have enough loot during Woyane control of state power and have nothing to lose if they carry on a guerrilla warfare. Both ways, the Tigrayan people, are the losers. Both ways, the rest of the Ethiopian people are the losers.
Bit I am an optimist. Whatever is happening now and may happen in the near future, Venceremos! Ethiopia will survive. Those who opt for guerrilla warfare will not succeed. They will be defeated like their predecessors and will be thrown into the dustbin of history. As I said in my keynote speech at Michigan State University in 2018, “Ethiopia is like an India rubber boll. The harder you dash her to the ground, the higher she rises!”
P. Milkias
በሀገሪቱ ሕግ መሠረት የሚፈቱ ጉዳዮች1. በትግራይ ክልል ሕጋዊ ምርጫ ማካሄድ2. የትግራይን ብቻ ሳይሆን ሁሉንም የክልል ልዩ ኃይሎች ማፍረስና አስፈላጊ የሆነውን ያህል ብቻ የመከላከያ ሠራዊት አካል ማድረግ። ክልልሎች በፖሊስ ኃይል ብቻ የጸጥታ ሥራዎችን እንዲሠሩ ማስቻል3. ሕወሃት በጉልበት ወስዶ የትግራይ ክልል አካል አድርጎት የነበረውን የሰሜን ጎንደር ግዛት ወልቃይት ጠገዴ ሁመራና ዳንሻ እንዲሁም የሰሜን ወሎ አካል የነበረውን የራያና ቆቦ አውራጃ በብዙ መስዋዕትነት ላስመለሰው የዐማራ ሕዝብ በሕግ ማጽናት4. የችግሮች ሁሉ ምንጭ የሆነውን ሕገ መንግሥት በሕግ አግባብ በማሻሻል ወደፊት ችግሮች እንዳይፈጠሩ ዘላቂ መፍትሄ ማበጀት5. ለዚህ ሁሉ ችግር ላበቁን የአሸባሪውና ወራሪ ሕወሓትን ልፍርድ ማቅረብ እና አስፈላጊውን ቅጣት እንዲያገኙ ማድረግ |
It would be very naïve to expect Abiy to exact justice as he himself is also guilty of all the treasonous, atrocious and terrorist acts of the TPLF/EPRDF committed against the Ethiopian people and country.
Here is the bottom line. This senseless and bloody conflict was carried out by historically brothers and sisters. They deserve the chance to lay down their deadly guns, find peace and pick up their shovels, hammers and nails and start rebuilding. They have more than enough resources to start the reconstruction. We should do our part and help the effort by pitching in with everything we can financially and materially. There is no going back to violence. USA and other generous nations will be a standby to start pouring billions to help the mending. The rehabbing is not confined to the destroyed and damaged infrastructures but it also should include the healing of those millions who are emotionally wounded by the bloodshed they endured. The reconstruction will not be a cake walk. It is an enormous task of historic proportion. We should refrain from thrashing this noble peace deal. Let’s not jinx it. Peace y’all!!!
I would like to say a word or two to and share my thought with my dear countrymen/women who have made USA their home sweet home like me. Mid-term election is upon us. We need to cast our vote this coming Tuesday November 8, 2022. Just like any midterm election there is a lot at stake this time around too. The primary factor that determines our preference should be based what affects our livelihood here in the USA. The economy and security should be what should influence our vote. What is happening in the old country will not have any bearing on our economic wellbeing and safety here in the USA. Other than that make sure to go out and vote. It is one of the most precious entitlements we have.
Agree with the comments above. The Pretoria agreement sets out conditions that establish order and stability not only in Tigray but also in the entire country. Building trust will be a challenge especially among field army generals who have seen bloody fighting. In the meantime, we plead to people like P. Milkias to refrain from writing negative commentaries that are nothing more than the extension of their personal political frustration.
What is the alternative? Another skirmish, ongoing conflict and create another angry generation? No one forgets the atrocities committed by TPLF, but time to let it go and give peace a chance. No need to repeat the mistakes of our generation, let’s teach the younger generation the power of forgiveness and the importance of discussion and conversation. Time to lay down the foundation for collaboration and enhance the power of the younger generation for the good of the country. Forgiveness doesn’t mean forget but holding on to the past only impair our future.
If this writer who left his name in initials P. Milkias is the same person we know as Paulos Milkias in several other articles in the past I am stunned by this one. I thought scholars like him among us belong to a group who has learned a bitter lesson from the mistakes of the 1960’s and 70’s. That was when the word ‘persistence’ was taken at its face value and rawest form that led to disastrous consequences. This is a peace agreement like no other since the mayhem began in 1974. It is still not more than a few days old. It is not the time to doubt it. Nothing should be taken out and nothing can be added. The latest news is that the two top commanders of both sides are scheduled to meet in Nairobi to chart out the disarmament of the TPLF forces and their subsequent rehabilitation into the ENDF or back into civilian life. These two are both seasoned generals and fully understand what their failure to come up with a doable plan means for the suffering citizens. What they will come up after the meeting could shame them or honor them for the rest of their lives. The reputation of the old country is in their hands. There are no excuses for failure. None! I will be holding both of them responsible if their meeting is adjourned without a soon-to-start practical disarmament. Let’s go guys!!!
Ittu,
“This senseless and bloody conflict was carried out by historically brothers and sisters”. Are you sure this statement of yours is true? I strongly believe that if you were in the shoes of the Amhara people, who are hunted through out every corner of Ethiopia, you would not say this. Why does this happen? It is only because of TPLF`s fascistic propaganda against Amhara people which was then echoed by fascists such as OLF and Amhara-hating primitive groups from other ethnics. I seriously believe that as long as TPLF and its hateful ideology are not abolished from the face of Ethiopia, peace remains a dream.
Meseret,
Did you say ‘primitive groups from other ethnics.’? You are not an Amhara. The Amharas who I know beginning my formative years don’t say such vile and repugnant thing to others. Get lost!
Mr. Milkias,
Excellent article. You nailed it on the head. Criminal Abiy and his criminal buddies in current ethio government under the umbrella of EPDRF were part and parcel of the looting, killing and raping of ethiopians, eritreans and other neighboring east african people from 1991 to 2018. EPDRF was composed of TPLF, ADP(amhara democratic party), ODP(oromo democratic party) and SEPDM(Southern ethiopian people’s democratic movement). Abiy was a member of ODP.
TPLF’s crime was not only attacking the northern command in 2020 and starting the current war on Nov 2020. I will list a few of their crimes.
1. TPLF killed EPRP leaders, whose base was in Tigray(Asimba), in early 1970’s and allowed Derg to rise to power. Derg killed and displaced hundreds of thousands of ethiopians, eritreans and somali people. EPRP(ethiopian people’s revolutionary party) was a representative of all ethiopians including those from tigray and eritrea origin.
2. During tigray famine of 1984, TPLF diverted hundreds of millions of dollar coming from all over the world to help the starving tigray people to buy weapons and enrich TPLF leaders. TPLF’s criminal selfish action led to the death of atleast 400,000 tigray people. In other words TPLF killed 400,000 tigray people and not only got away without punishment but also got rewarded with the leadership position in ethiopia.
3. Once TPLF took power in 1991, it created ethnic based regions. Millions of Individuals/families from different ethnic groups, except members of TPLF, were not only deported to go to their ethnic group regions but also hundreds of thousands were killed/raped/looted.
4. TPLF leaders looted, killed, enslaved, destroyed the cultures of millions of people in southern regions such as in Gambella, Sidamo.
5. TPLF made addis abeba the homeless capital of the world by giving all the job and rental properties to TPLF agents and making the vast majority of ethiopians unemployed. As landlords of addis abeba they raised apartment rental price to unaffordable level for every day addis residents. Moreover, they forced millions of poor addis residents to demolish their house which they had for over 50-100 years in order to build so called very expensive modern apartments. Thousands of homeless residents died every year due to lack of food, sickness, depression and suicide.
6. TPLF deported hundreds of thousands of ethiopians of eritrea origin whose parents or grandparents came from eritrea to ethiopia over 60 years ago. Most of the deported were wealthy and very successful in life and TPLF goal was to steal their wealth and properties. Since most the deported ethiopians of eritrea origin did not speak eritrean language, did not have relatives in eritrea they decided to go to other countries and many of them died on their journey, many committed suicide.
7. TPLF started the war with eritrea in 1998 in order to return eritrea under the control of ethiopia. The war resulted in the death of over 200,000 Eritreans and Ethiopians.
8. TPLF led ethiopian forces conquered somali in 2006 in order to install a US, UN and EU puppet leaders. TPLF forces were paid handsomely by US, UN and EU to invade somali and remained in somali until 2-4 years ago. Since 2006, the invasion of TPLF led to the death and starvation of millions of somali residents.
9. TPLF forces were paid handsomely by US, UN and EU to play a crucial rule in the break up of sudan into southern sudan and northern sudan. These break up lead to the death and starvation of thousands of southern and northern Sudanese people. TPLF forces were deployed at border of southern and northern sudan until 2-3 years ago.
10. TPLF created the eritrean refugee camp in tigray. At the beginning few eritrean refuges were at the camp and UN said no need to establish refuge camp due to low number of refuges. TPLF decide to recruit tigray people and sent them to eritrea refuge camp to boost the numbers at the refuge camp thus the birth of eritrea refuge camp in tigray. Over the years, TPLF members used the refuge camp to sends hundreds of thousands of their family members to US and europe. Moreover, they not only sold the identity of hundreds of thousands refuge for the highest bidders but also replaced their identity with their friends and family members. Consequently, thousands of the real refugees remained in refugee camp for decades and thousands of them died from hunger, sickness and suicide.
11. Since TPLF started the war with ethiopia in Nov 2020. Hundreds of thousands of tigray residents/soldiers and hundreds of thousands of ethiopian/eritrean soldiers and residents have died. TPLF has used every day tigray people and tigray kids as mine swipers and had thrown them under the bus while the TPLF elite are not only hiding far away from war zone and harm’s way but also are enjoying a very comfortable life in US and EU with their families and growing their business using money stolen from tigray and ethiopian people.
Due to lack of time I will stop here.
If an everyday ethiopian steals a $1000 what will happen to him/her. He/she will go to jail for 12 month.
If an everyday ethiopian kills one person what will happen to him/her
He most likely will remain in jail for the rest of his/her life
Since TPLF members stole over 50-100 billion dollar from ethiopian people how long should they remain in jail.
Let us do the math. If $1000 gets you 1 year in jail, 50 billion will get you more than 10 life time in jail
Since TPLF killed over 1 million ethiopian, eritrean and east africans how long should they be in jail.
Let us do the math. If killing 1 person gets you life time imprisonment, killing 1 million will get you multiple life time in imprisonment.
Nevertheless, ethiopian justice system has the rules for thee(every day ethiopians) and not for me(powerful elite ethiopians)
Punishing TPLF members and other criminals proportional to their crime will not only create a positive historic precedence that will be passed on from one generation into another but also make everyday ethiopians to start believing that justice/rule of law exists and will start trusting their government which is extremely important to the advancement and civilization of ethiopia. Otherwise, ethiopia will remain a lawless, poor, uncivilized, beggar and prostitute country for generation to come and no one in their right mind, except for criminals, will invest in ethiopia. Investing in ethiopia will be like building a home on a sand.