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Talk of Eritrean withdrawal from Tigray is falling for yet another Abiy ploy for international consumption

Abiy’s grand lies are always to deflect international pressure and they have always worked for him. There are no scruples when Abiy lies, and surprisingly there are still media outlets, shallow so-called analysts, international organizations, and diplomats who accept his lies and deceptions.

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After months of denial about Eritrean involvement in the war on Tigray, Abiy Ahmed and Isaias realized that there was no point in denying anymore what was known to all, and have come up with yet another ploy. Abiy Ahmed made a U-turn on Tuesday and said Eritrean troops are indeed in the border areas of Tigray. This is in itself a big lie given that there is no part of Tigray where the Eritrean army has not reached.

The next day (Wednesday), Abiy Ahmed flew to Asmara and on Friday he announced that they have both agreed for Eritrea to withdraw from the “Ethiopian border”.

Note here that the statement is not saying from Tigray, but just from the Ethiopian border. It is a deliberately vaguely phrased statement. It could as easily be from the border with Afar. What is clear is that this is not an announcement that the Eritrean army will withdraw from Tigray. This is especially clearer when we look at the corresponding Eritrean statement.

The Eritrean press release says nothing about the withdrawal of its army from the “Ethiopian border”, much less from Tigray. It said the meeting was “focused on bilateral partnership and joint strategic development programmes in the offing within the framework of broader regional prospects and perspectives”. It says that within this framework “the vicious military attacks and attendant disinformation campaigns were also assessed in-depth”. Note here by “vicious attacks”, it is referring to what it calls TPLF attacks on Ethiopian forces. The press release says “the two sides agreed that important lessons have been gleaned from temporary hurdles precipitated by this reality that will further bolster the joint undertakings by the two sides in the period ahead”.

Since there is no other joint Ethiopia-Eritrea undertaking, it is clear that this undertaking is referring to the war on Tigray. Eritrea is therefore saying that the two have agreed to intensify their attack on Tigray. Since Ethiopia has also not said Eritrean troops will withdraw from Tigray, but from the “Ethiopian border”, the Eritrean statement is clearer as to what they have agreed upon. Note also that Eritrea has not admitted its army’s involvement in Tigray.

It is foolish to expect that Eritrea will withdraw its troops from Tigray given that these two governments are in a suicidal pact. Eritrean withdrawal means defeat for Abiy Ahmed and they know that well. And they know the international community is nowhere close to being serious about the war on Tigray.

The war on Tigray is expected to intensify now that Abiy Ahmed and Isaias believe, and rightly so it would seem, that the international community has fallen for their umpteenth deception and they have bought time. Eyewitnesses are reporting massive Eritrean troop movements into the interiors of Tigray. Many of the Eritrean troops that have been in Tigray have been given Ethiopian identity cards, and have switched to Ethiopian military uniforms.

The most likely scenario will be to deploy some token Amhara militia to the border for international deception and to let Eritrean and Ethiopian forces continue their genocidal war on Tigray. Amhara militias know that Eritrea is their ally and they will let Eritrean troops pass into the interiors of Tigray. Since the international community is way behind in this game, and since there is no verification system, Abiy and Isaias will say “see there are Ethiopian troops on the border”. I believe that is what the Eritrean statement is saying: “the two sides agreed that important lessons have been gleaned from temporary hurdles precipitated by this reality that will further bolster the joint undertakings by the two sides in the period ahead”.

We should also remember that two days earlier, Abiy Ahmed told ‘parliament’ that Eritrea will stay in Tigray and that his government can not be compelled to provide protection to Tigray.

So what is the fuss about Eritrea’s withdrawal from Tigray?

We don’t find it in the press releases of the two governments. Why are then many media outlets reporting about Eritrea’s withdrawal from Tigray? It is simply based on the assumption that the phrase “Ethiopian border” in Abiy Ahmed’s statement is referring to Tigray. That is all.

Lies and deceptions

Abiy Ahmed and Isaias have taken the international community for a ride for a long time starting from the pact against Tigray which they sold as an Ethio-Eritrea peace deal. Every time there is international pressure, Abiy Ahmed comes up with some lies and deception and the international community and media keep falling for it. The partial (partial because Abiy said Eritrea is only in the border) admission by Abiy Ahmed of Eritrea’s involvement well-coordinated with the release by the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission of atrocities by the Eritrean army is meant to redeem Abiy Ahmed and to buy them time to execute the genocidal project in Tigray.

Abiy Ahmed has no qualms in his lies and deceptions. Abiy Ahmed has learned that lies and deceptions work with the international community. After all, if he could earn a Nobel Prize only on the basis of deception, why can’t he keep lying and deceiving?

Abiy has successfully lied about how the war on Tigray started. He also lied about the objective of the war saying it had “clear, limited & achievable objectives”. We know now that it is a genocidal war involving war crimes, crimes against humanity and massive ethnic cleansing.

Abiy also lied that the war was over in November, but we know the war was raging, it is raging and will continue to rage. But he succeeded to deceive the international community, the gullible media, and many incredibly shallow analysts who take Abiy’s lies and deceptions as truth.

Abiy denied Eritrea’s involvement until it was impossible to keep denying, but even then he admitted to it only partially. He blatantly lied saying not a single civilian was killed during the war while tens of thousands have been massacred.

Abiy’s grand lies are always to deflect international pressure and they have always worked for him. There are no scruples when Abiy lies, and surprisingly there are still media outlets, shallow so-called analysts, international organizations, and diplomats who accept his lies and deceptions.

The international community’s half-hearted statements and concerns have only caused more damage in Tigray as the invading genocidal forces feel they might have a short time. Sadly, every time there is a big lie and deception to deflect international pressure, the international community falls for it and restarts anew giving the genocidal forces time and a sense of urgency.

Tigray can’t wait and the international community has a responsibility to act. There should be a UN-mandated commission to oversee the withdrawal of Amhara and Eritrean forces, and the investigation of atrocities in Tigray.

Gebrekirstos Gebremeskel is a researcher, runs http://mermru.com (NLP resources & tools), and manages Tghat. He is interested in science, history of ideas and the politics of the Horn.

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4 Comments

4 Comments

  1. Charlie Hackett

    June 1, 2021 at 7:19 am

    Brilliant article. I shared this on FB. Why does a law firm represent a Genocidal Government? Easy. They work for money. They are paying a politician to repeat Abiy propoganda & some YouTubers to make Tourist Videos. They did not agree to represent Abiy when he is brought before The Hague #ICC for War Crimes, Genocide.

  2. Kids are suffering in an unspeakable manner in Tigray

    March 28, 2021 at 12:19 pm

    FYI,
    Some Famous People of Amharic Descent

    Tilahun Gessese: king of music Tewodros Hassahun/Teddy Afro:pop star
    Abebe Bikila: the first black African Olympic gold medalist (False Claim)
    Ejigayehu Shibabaw: musician
    Mesfin Woldemariam : human rights activist and author
    Mulatu Astatke: father of Ethiopian Jazz Abiy
    Ahmed: Nobel Peace Prize laureate ???
    Yeshihasab Abera: journalist, activist, and writer
    The origins of the langauge are traced back to the 1st
    millennium B.C. when immigrants from southwestern Arabia crossed the Read Sea into present-day Eritrea and mixed with the Cushitic population. New
    languages like Ge’ez were formed as a result of the
    union.
    haset sinkachew new hulem .!

    I would like to bring to your notice the fact that we must work hard to ensure the development of our language and let the world know Tigrigna , and Geez , including its alphabet belongs to Tigray. We must avoid inserting some words from other languages in our languages except terms from geez(for example ,ዘከረ፥መዘክርተዘኪረዮ፥ንዝክሮ፥ but wrong to say ምስትዋስ፥አስታዊሰ፥አስታዊስናዮ፥ነስታውሶ) Church scholars could work with those who have profound expertise in language to maintain the development of our language. YIkiniyeley betaami yemisgin

    Source:https://nalrc.indiana.edu/doc/brochures/amharic.pdf

  3. Kids are suffering in an unspeakable manner in Tigray

    March 28, 2021 at 11:59 am

    ዋይ ዝሕዝቢ ዝበፅሖ መከራ ብጣዕሚ ብቃላት ክግለፅ አይካኣልን ፦መከራ ልዕሊ መከራ፥ፈታዊ ፀላዕቱ እምበር ከም አምሀሩ ቂመኛ አይነበረን፥፥ከንደይ አምሀሩ እዮም ወርሂ ንላዕሊ አመት አመት አብ አክሱም አብ አድዋ ብሽም ማርያም ፅዮን ተቀሚጦም ዝራአናዮም ፥መብዛህቲኦም ተጋሩ አምሀርኛ ክዛረቡ ጋሻ ከእንግዱ ብዘይ አቅሞም ክችገሩ ኢና ንርናዮም እዚ ዶ ኮይኑ እቲ ልቃህ ዝምለሰሉ መንገዲ፥ንዘኽብረካ ወደ አደይ ሀወይ ዝብለካ ሰብ ዶ ከምዚ አይነት መኸራ ተብፀሀሉ??

  4. Kids are suffering in an unspeakable manner in Tigray

    March 28, 2021 at 11:52 am

    Venable is gonna sell its services and expertise that could serve its clients as a cure-all evidence and certifications for them to get exonerated from mass-murder, rape, robbery, arson, maiming kids and women and a massive corruption scandal. You cannot find anyone like Abiy and his party getting embroiled in a massive corruption scandal in the history of the country.
    Why I said so: I cannot find corrupted man like this party and its leader, Colonel Abiy , who misused public funding and donations to purchase weaponry and kill his own people in order to prolong his days in power. All these crimes are committed in the guise of law enforcement operations and maintaing the country’s unity .
    All these crimes are perpetrated to arrest and kill TPLF leaders , as per Amhara militias . Killing women, maiming kids and destroying churches and monasteries has nothing to do with a handful of Tigrian Leaders, who take part in liberating the whole nation. They could have been questioned by the country’s judicial organs. KIlling them like that does undermine the soveregnity of the country which claim to have a national judicial organs but rather amplifies the fact that the country is led by gangeters.
    https://www.venable.com/services/practices/legislative-and-government-affairs
    Ethiopian Govrenment is paying $35K a month for this service(of Venable) and will be represented by Loren Aho and Thomas Quinn.

    FYI, Once a lobbying engagement begins, the lobbyist or firm is required to file updates four times a year. Those updates sometimes change which lobbyists are involved or add new issues being discussed. When lobbyists stop working for a client, the firm is also supposed to file a report disclosing the end of the relationship.
    በአቢይና በአሽቃባጮቹ የአማራ ልሂቃን አንደበት ወያኔን በሙሥና ሊወነጅሉ የሚችሉበት ሞራል ከወዴት መነጨ፥ተገኘ፣ ጥቂት እንኳን ሀፍረት አልፈጠረባቸዉም ፧ያለአግባብ በስልጣን ለመቆየት ሲሉ በሚልዮናት የሚቆጠር የሕዝብን ሀብትና ንብረት ለባዕዳን በመሸጥ ከባዕዳን የአረብ ሀገራት ጋር ተመሳጥረዉ ሌት ተቀን በወያኔ ስም ሕዝባቸዉን በመጨፍጨፍ አራት ወራቶች አለፉ፥፥ከዚህ በላይ ሙስናና የጦር ወንጀል ላሳር ነዉ፥በዚህ ልክ የሚሆን ወንጀል እና ሙስና ናስርቆት ከወዴትም ልታገኙ እንደማትችሉ በልበሙሉነት ላረጋግጥላቹህ እችላለሁ፥፥
    የህውሀት መሪዎች የትግራይ ተወላጆች ባይሆኑ ኖሮ የአማራ ልሂቃን ገድል ና ድርሳን በፃፉላዉ ነበር፥አጤ ሚኒሊክ ያልዋለበትን የድል አዉድማ ፥ያላስመዘገበዉን ታሪክ ያለ አግባቡ ለርሱ በማከናነብ ሁሌ ሲያሞካሹት መስማት የተለመደ ሆኗል፥፥በጨዉ ደንደስ በርበሬ ተወደስ እንደተባለ፥በነገራችን ላይ ስንኳንስ የግዕዝ (የአክሱማውያን ቋንቋ)ና ፊደሎቹ፥አማርኛ ቋንቋ በተለምዶ የአማራ ክልል ተብሎ በሚጠራዉ የሚኖሩ ሰዎች እነርሱ የፈጠሩት ወይም አስቀድመዉ ይጠቀሙበት ቋንቋለመሆኑ ማስረጃ የላችሁም፥፥ባጭሩ አማርኛ ቋንቋ የናንተ አይደለም ብየ ስነግራቹህ በታላቅ ሀዘን ነዉ፥፥

    Sources

    https://www.foreignlobby.com/2021/02/26/ethiopia-lobbies-congress-on-tigray-conflict-hillary-aide-politico-editor-among-team-lobbying-for-jailed-georgia-leader-new-york-law-firm-burgergray-ends-russia-work-fridays-daily-digest/
    https://projects.propublica.org/represent/lobbying/
    https://www.law.com/ entitled venable makes a play for lobby talent.

    https://oromoprotests.org/venable/
    https://www.venable.com/services/practices/legislative-and-government-affairs

    https://nalrc.indiana.edu/doc/brochures/amharic.pdf- read this one please!!!!!

    https://fr.silverbaytrans.com/post/facts-and-history-about-the-amharic-language
    https://ethiopiaamharic.wordpress.com/history/
    https://codeaddis.com/the-case-of-amharic-language
    Whether this language (Amharic)was entirely attached to a certain people is debatable,

    https://face2faceafrica.com/article/how-haile-selassie-made-the-amharic-language-ethiopias-lingua-franca-in-the-1930s

    Why is a prestigious US law firm representing a genocidal foreign govt?
    Why is a prestigious US law firm representing a genocidal foreign govt?
    Why is a prestigious US law firm representing a genocidal foreign govt? provide the appropriate answer to yourself please!

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