Eritrea won't Break
 
By
 
Hidaat G. Ephrem
 
The 2002 Ethiopian-Eritrean Border Commission's ruling is now part of a historical legal ruling under the Algiers Peace Agreement that will be there forever, like the century old Ethiopian signed peace treaties of 1900, 1902, and 1908, to define Eritrea's territorial integrity and sovereignty.  Nothing Ethiopia or the international community will do can change that fact, and the legal ownership of Eritrean territories belongs to the people of Eritrea, regardless and despite of what kind of government rules Eritrea, and should not commingle with the nation's internal affairs.  As such, those who attempt to make the final demarcation of the border as a bargaining chip for a change in government in Eritrea, or the international community's dancing to the tune of a brand new Ethiopian hatched game of dialogue in lieu of the actual demarcation is bogus, unacceptable, and illegal.
 
Of course, the latest development of "dialogue first" in Ethiopia is another manifestation of what Eritreans had known all along, that the 1998 Ethiopian declared war on Eritrea under the pretext of border conflict was a cover up for an internationally orchestrated undoing of Eritrea's sovereignty. History will show that on May 13, 1998 the Ethiopian Government through its parliament formally declared war on Eritrea.  Eritrea's stance from the very beginning, before and after the war, was to resolve the conflict peacefully and legally.  But, Ethiopia with massive aid packages form the West under its belt, and with the employment of fragmented Eritrean traitors leading the way of defaming propaganda, unleashed three successive offensives including the Eritrean invasion of 2000. 
 
While the world stood by and silently watched these horrifying acts of war against the people of Eritrea, it is the people of Eritrea whose unwavered will for a peaceful resolution of the border conflict that prevailed and made the historical Algiers Peace Agreement a reality.
 
With the Ethiopian-Eritrean Border Commission's ruling, the truth have finally spoken, that Badme is indeed an Eritrean territory. Implying that the aggressor in this war is in fact Ethiopia, responsible for the massive destruction it has caused on the peoples of Eritrea and Ethiopia, their properity, and livelihood.  If Ethiopia would accept the ruling now and move on to the development of its people, it would not be the history of Ethiopia as we know it.  The Ethiopian psychic is a Western aid dependent expansionist by nature under any government, from Haile Selassie to Menghistu, Woyane, and anyone else who might be next, that would not accept to live in peace with Eritrea as a sovereign territory. 
 
With the Ethiopian unilateral announcement of "null and void" to the Border Commission's ruling, the Western aid packages are pouring into Ethiopia as they did in 1998, providing the Woyane's government with ample cushion for a war armament shopping spree, while the very donors pretend to support the spirit for dialogue.  Of course, dialogue was part of the Algiers Peace Agreement to which Ethiopia had repeatedly refused to accept until and unless there was a change of government in Eritrea, which was a departure from its reason for the war, and to which the international community did not deem it necessary to enforce so long as Ethiopia's agenda of disintegrating Eritrea was being fulfilled.   Now the world again waits to see if Eritrea would crumble and disintegrate as it had expected during the UN concocted Ethiopian-Eritrean federation; Haile Selassie's illegal annexation of Eritrea as the 14th province of Ethiopia; the long, and bloody struggle of the Eritrean people for independence.  Indeed, it was a long and twisted road Eritrea had traveled, each time its resolve prevailing over the challenge.
 
The very Ethiopian expansionist policy that keeps Ethiopia hungry for food and war also feeds Eritrea's resolve not to break and stand immune to its games.  Eritrea won't break under Ethiopia's expansionist beast; Eritrea won't break under the pressure of unjustifiable isolation; Eritrea won't break under the propaganda trumpet of  power hungry, bought up traitors, who could not manage to put their causes in order.  Much of the resolve and stamina Eritreans display comes from knowing what is stocked up against them.  It is history repeating itself again and again, and injustice challenging the very existence of Eritrea under the openly aggressive expansionist conspiracy.  The Eritrean people, unlike their portrait by outsiders and traitors, are sophisticated in their political assessment; sharp in their commitment to their land; and courageous in sticking for the truth, even when truth is unpopular and politically not correct. This time again, they have distinguished the mix up of internal and external issues that was meant to confuse the war ravaged Eritreans into succumbing to fragmentation under the pretext of democracy and rule of law.
 
So, Eritrea is again at another historical junction, after its people thought of themselves a free and sovereign nation and masters of their own destiny, being told that their territorial integrity, though legally firm, its realization is dependent on how they play the game to suit Ethiopian destructive and expansionist dreams, the West's romantic notion of disintegrated Eritrea that can be reunited with Ethiopia, and the traitors' ever power hungry eyes whose sole aim is hate based self-serving ambition. 
 
How could the world community hold Eritrea and Ethiopia to such double standards?  How could Eritrea's legal right to its territorial integrity be compromised by foreign induced conspiratorial wish list, and Ethiopia's aggression be rewarded with aid packages that never goes to help its needy? 
 
The people of Eritrea have been onto the game of conspiracy from the very beginning, they know the game all too well, and they have marched along this long lonely road too many times before enough to be the champions of the quiet resolve that delivers victory.  Today, as always, the Eritrean people firmly stand as the guarantors of their own choices and destination, from border demarcation to democracy.  Self-reliance in its true meaning as an Eritrean principle serves not only for development but also for political aspirations that will guide the nation to reach its dreams.  The Eritrean people want nothing more than unmanipulated opportunity to develop in peace and harmony, to diligently work on their development as a nation unhindered.  To that end, they stand firmly united in their quest to see that their border is demarcated as it has been outlined by the Ethiopian-Eritrean Border Commission's ruling of 2002. 
 
Inside and outside Eritrea, the Eritrean people have rejected the massive propaganda calls of the Ethiopian sustained, Addis Ababa based, so called Eritrean opposition groups.  They have rejected the massive defaming propaganda of their character portrayed as weak and helpless, and they have quietly vowed that Eritrea won't break!   Of course, in the hands of such courage that walked a hundred years of twists and turns, Eritrea will never break today or tomorrow.
 
May Eritrea always live in peace and harmony.