US’s planned aid cut - it is more of the same
Ethiopian Social Media pages are super hyped up with disgust discussing the pros and cons of @realDonaldTrump recent measures against Ethiopia (1). Well, I have a different viewpoint. It is the President’s money and has all the right to take it back.
My argument is, borrowing from the wise words of another US President JFK, Ethiopians are ready to “pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and success of liberty.” Our eyes have been and will always be at our freedom. #itsmydam, #itsourdam, #GRED. The bottom line is, Carry on Mr. PM. We are with you @AbiyAhmedAli.
@BarackObama and his national security advisor Susan Rice made fun of the conscience of Ethiopians' when they were visiting Addis and stab us on the chest (2). The Ethiopian people knew the Clintons for their dubious deeds. We all vividly recall the former Sec State Clinton’s ill-intentioned relationship with the Ethio-Saudi tycoon (3). Former President Clinton baptized the TPLF bandits as part of the "new generation of African leaders." We all know the amount of damage this bandit group had perpetrated on the Ethiopian people and the Economy. Thousands of extrajudicial killings, and on broad daylight, the group embezzled USD 25.8 billion from 2004 -2013 (4).
We now have a government in power striving to make a difference on the lives of Ethiopians. We are in home stretch. See what we can do in just two years. https://twitter.com/AbiyAhmedAli/status/1294252010485747712?s=20
It was not far that we heard the role of US Ambassador Cohen, who played the so-called 'mediation' during the early '90s and his regrets - though he had difficulty admitting it (5). Yes, "Ethiopia loomed large" in the radar screen of Amb Cohen for the very same reason, as he could not wash his hands of easily. The most painful part of the Ambassador’s hour-long interview was how we were commodified and used to better US relationship with the former USSR. The Ambassador had the audacity to tell us that he had ended the war. No sir, you elongated it by 27 more years.
The same was true during the last days of Emperor Haile Selassie.
Folks, it is more of the same. The recent actions of the current US administration are not any different. The only difference can be the use of words that is devoid of any civility. One case in point was the recent message of the US Sec of the Treasury to the Ethiopian government. What the Sec had hard time understanding is that the dam is our #GERD being built on our own sovereign land, with our own money. What we are endeavouring is to provide affordable electric light for over 60 million households using our own resources. One of the basic human rights. https://twitter.com/Mohas0/status/1299971574582382592?s=20 The irony is this made the US administration un-happy.
The world has changed and has changed for the better. The age-old risk management advice – don’t put all your eggs in one basket – should still guide our foreign policy.
The two countries over one hundred years of diplomatic relationships have been littered with similar experiences. The pattern will not change easily as far as we are poor and irrelevant to their foreign policy strategic and political interest.
BUT I am not in any way multiplying by zero some of the great works of the likes of former President Bush, President Kennedy, and even President Clinton and President Obama, and dozens of others. Rather, I would want to hope one day that the American foreign policy will only be guided by the American values and do away with narrow-minded transactional approaches.
Finally, what I would like to feature in this piece is neither foreign aid nor foreign presidents can solve our problems. Let us look inside. Ethiopia belongs to Ethiopians. Let us continue building our country. Then, we will be relevant. Then, we will get the respect we deserve. We are the undisputed cradle of humanity.
Reference
3. https://ecadforum.com/2016/05/24/ethiopia-mohammed-al-amoudi-and-hillary-clinton/
4. https://www.gfintegrity.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/IFF-Update_2015-Final-1.pdf
Impact driven health care and management professional.
4 年Yes , it is more of the same! This is continuation of what defeated white supremacists and Egyptian and Arab cronies have been doing for several decades. The proven solution is to stand up together and say NO!! just like our fore fathers did in Adwa.