Mesfin Arega
Marh 2, 2021
The US Secretary of state, Mr. Antony Blinken, recently called for the “immediate withdrawal” of Eritrean forces and Amhara regional forces from “Tigray”. This is a crystal-clear interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign country. It is more so in the case of Amhara regional forces.
A statesman of Antony’s stature would not issue such an undiplomatic statement about a “friendly country”, if not in consonance with the leader of that country, with whom he has had several discussions before issuing the statement. Hence, the question is why would Ethiopia’s prime minster Abiy Ahmed want to use Mr. Antony Blinken as a proxy. In particular, why would Abiy Ahmed ask Mr. Blinken to demand the withdrawal of Amhara regional forces?
Based on the measures he took since he became Ethiopia’s prime minister, Abiy Ahmed is widely regarded as the undeclared chief executive of Oromuma, the stated goal of OLF (Oromo Liberation Front) to establish an Oromo empire covering most, if not all, of present-day Ethiopia as well as parts of neighboring countries. As such, Abiy Ahmed can realize his dream of completely oromizing Ethiopia, if and only if he can reduce the so-called Abyssinian regions (Tigrai and Amhara) to vassal regions of Oromia, led by confused or convinced subservient puppets. Now that Tigrai has become one, the one and only obstacle to the realization of Oromuma is the Amhara region. Therefore, anything and everything which would make the Amhara region bigger and stronger should be fought tooth and nail, using any and every available means.
The reincorporation of Welkait and Raya to their rightful Amhara region would no doubt make the region the most powerful in the country, rendering Abiy’s dream of oromizing Ethiopia forever irredeemable. Therefore, this reincorporation must be blocked by any means necessary, including diplomatic.
First, Abiy Ahmed demanded the withdrawal Amhara regional forces from their own lands, through a well-known official of his puppet administration in Tigrai, Mr. Abraha Desta. Then, to give the demand more weight and, more importantly, to frighten the Amhara region officials into submission by implicating them of genocide, Abi Ahmed gave an ultimatum through the foreign minister of the United States, Mr. Antony Blinken.
Mr. Blinken may have his own reasons for requesting the withdrawal of Eritrean forces from Ethiopia, eventhough this would still be interference in the internal affairs of sovereign Ethiopia. However, he would use hearsay to accuse Amhara regional forces of genocide and to demand their eviction from their own land, only at the behest of the anti-Amhara Abi Ahmed.
Granted that American statesmen expertise in international politics is mostly nominal, even though the foreign secretary of the US is new to the job, one would expect him to be thoroughly briefed about the situation in Ethiopia before issuing any serious, albeit disrespectful, statement about the country. In particular, he should have been well informed about the decisive infighting between the different factions of Abiy Ahmed’s Prosperity Party. However, when Mr. Blinken issued his request for the withdrawal of Amhara regional forces, he may not have realized that the shrewd Abiy Ahmed has outsmarted him by making him unwittingly take his side.
Truely, Abiy Ahmed is a master hypocrite whose deeds and words are diametrically opposite. Just as he is dismantling Ethiopia for the sake of Oromia, while professing his deep love for her day and night, he is lauding the bravery of Amhara regional force, while conspiring with foreign powers to tarnish its name so much so that it would be labelled terrorist.
The Amhara regional force is the last line of defense to save Ethiopia (including, of course, Tigrai) from the plague of Oromuma. The recent TPLF (Tigrai People Liberation Front) debacle has glaringly shown that the Amhara regional force, though poorly armed, is a formidable force that can easily handle any Oromuma force Abiy Ahmed can muster, however strong that Oromuma force may be. The only way Abiy Ahmed can vanquish this regional force is by colluding with western powers under the pretext of genocide.
Mesfin Arega
mesfin.arega@gmail.com
