Should I feel good seeing the Ethiopian regime's Badme dream
placed close to open fire and roasting slowly? I would be a liar if I say I am
in distress by this latest development. But it is not over yet, and it may take
a while before the Badme saga finally comes to an end. Like in a horror movie
were the dead keep resurrecting, the bloody Woyane seem to have a way of
putting life to dead issues.
The last Eritro-Ethiopian war is not a long gone historical
fact that requires a sage to enlighten us about. We all lived through it. We
have seen it, we have heard about it, we read the stories and many took part in
it. Hard as they may try those wicked, wicked Ethiopian leaders could not fool
us about their murderous intents. They were heavily pregnant with malice much
before they delivered an ugly child that disgraced the region when they
declared war on our nation on May13, 1998.
From the beginning of the conflict they lied and laid traps every turn, and made it impossible for Eritrea to back down by demanding its forces to withdraw from "all Ethiopian territories"! All along Eritrea kept the defensive posture and sought a peaceful and just solution, where as the Woyane had a devious scheme to render. They bombed our cities and villages, including our beautiful capital city, Asmara. They also attacked Assab and the pearl of Red-Sea, Massawa. In the process they killed many innocent people and damaged property. Not only did they boycott our sea and air ports, they also threatened other countries from using our facilities. Their plan was to put us under siege- economically, diplomatically and militarily. They dispossessed and deported around 100,000 people from their country to Eritrea, and incarcerated many. Every time Eritrea tried to de-escalate the tension, for example by letting go some 200 POWs in the summer of 1998, the Ethiopians would ratchet up their attacks. Even two years after the onset of war, when peacemakers were criss-crossing the two countries seeking compromising solutions, the Woyane opted for the latter! Eritreans went on World Wide Peace March, Ethiopians asked for our blood. Subsequently many died, a third of our population was displaced. They raped, looted, and destroyed the occupied areas in the south and western Eritrea. The Woyane convinced many millions of gullible Ethiopians to dance to the tune of "Total Victory", in fact many even dreamt of Assab. Now they are told Badme is not Ethiopian!
It is nice to reflect every time a milestone is reached. What were then the memorable events in the past 4-5 years in Eritrea? The match-strike that lit off the war, the heroes and villains that it created, and some other special episodes remain etched on the people of that country. May 13, 1998 was the flash point. December 12, 2000 was the official ending of the conflict agreeing to the Colonial Treaties as the basic definition of the border. April 13, 2002 was the delimitation date, and of course, we wait for some date in the near future in which the borderline would be physically marked on the southern rims of the nation. But, one can't forget the March 21, 2003 as the date of "observation" either. Maybe we got the message on the Friday after (i.e., 28/3/03), regardless of the precision of the date the accuracy of the message was there- "Badme is Eritrean"!
Now let see if any Ethiopian goes to dance in Mesqel Square in Addis Ababa to celebrate "Total Victory - III". No, it's a "coming to terms with the cold facts day." But then they did celebrate as the open hostilities came to a close despite losing 123,000 soldiers, not because it was all over but because they were told they have won a "Total Victory" second time round. It shows that these people who never had much to cheer about were, and still are, an easy prey for dodgy dealers. Quite a few of Ethiopians have died due to Aids and malnutrition since, not knowing that they were duped by the regime that was "elected" during the war. Maybe they had an excuse to have a few last laughs in between their grimaces. Poor Ethiopians, after a couple of days of celebration and a few weeks of feel-good period in the last few years, they are now waking up to the bad news with an expensive price tag. Now their rullers may want to soothe their fraying nerves by quoting from his last reading of Napoleon Bonaparte - "Impossible is only written in the dictionary of fools." Ah, well too bad there are always some impossible things in life like, Ethiopian leaders telling the truth, or the sun setting on Badme.
Eritea, the government and its people, should demand: "DEMARCATION NOW".