The American Hypocrisy

November 23, 2021

We are in an exciting time. Be it an idea of good or evil, anyone can broadcast his/ her idea to the world, at least for a while. From the fake breaking news and the extremist viewpoints to the mind-blowing analysts and the journalists reporting from the ground, media outlets on every side of the political bias spectrum are crowding on the information superhighway.

The other day when I surf the net, I encountered a political commentator that made me chuckle. He vehemently argues that the American government should be labeled as a foreign terrorist entity, citing various records providing evidence on the Americans’ involvement in the break out of civil wars, political assassinations, and coup d’états around the world, which caused incalculable deaths and destructions. Even though his idea is impractical, no one can deny that the commentator has a point, and his bold idea is worthy of admiration.

It is funny. The Americans are portraying themselves as the champions of democracy and freedom and justice, but what they have done and still doing is actually coercing the developing world into submission to obey their policies and serve their interests. These days, the hypocritical nature of American foreign policy is nowhere more evident than in Ethiopia.

The hypocrisy of the Americans’ action against Ethiopia has its basis in their hidden agenda of taking the ongoing internal conflict in the nation as an opportunity to bring a regime change in Addis Ababa. The Americans want a regime that is docile and therefore is not reluctant to take their orders and act as a tool to maintain their interests in the Horn.

The Abiy administration has already proven itself resistant to Americans’ instructions with several bold actions it has taken so far. It refused to sign a GERD deal cooked by the Americans with Egyptian recipes. It has consolidated strategic ties with states that are usually at loggerheads with the Americans. In addition, the Americans do not want to see Abiy’s government survive and thrive, since it could set precedence to other African nations, which is saying no to Americans has no consequences and even pays off.

Last September, when the pro-TPLF White House launched its first wave of economic and diplomatic pressure against Ethiopia, it said the decision of the sanctions emphasizes responsible individuals and entities, and will not affect the general population. But later, early on this month, the White House has removed Ethiopia from a list of countries eligible for the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). The American officials took this decision with full knowledge that they target the life of ordinary Ethiopians. AGOA has been the drive for the generation jobs for about 100,000 people, mainly women in Ethiopia working in industries that export to the United States.

The Americans, meaning the White House people, could not care less to stand by their words, policies, and rhetoric about democracy and justice, when they strategize for actions to protect their national interests. If they deem it necessary and the best way to secure their economic advantage, the Americans are willing to support terrorists, turn a blind eye to injustice and atrocities, and embrace dictators. Such characteristically hypocritical nature of American leaders has manifested itself on various occasions.

Several instances that showcase the hypocrisy of Americans are in the record from periods of not distant memory. The Americans, who publicly say they do not work with death pots and terrorists, have once been supporters of Bin Laden, and Sadam Hussien. The assassination of DRC’s Patrice Lumumba dubbed the most important assassination of the 20th century, is a US-sponsored international crime. Similarly, the American government was the force behind the military overthrow of Chile’s popularly elected president, Dr. Salvador Allende.

In 1984, the Nicaraguan government filed a lawsuit in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) accusing the United States of creating and managing a terrorist group called Contras, which brought untold misery to the Nicaraguan people. The ICJ found that the US government had encouraged violations of international humanitarian law by assisting paramilitary actions in Nicaragua. The court also ruled that the United States was required to pay reparations for its violation of International law. However, the ruling did not take effect The US used its veto on the United Nations Security Council to block its enforcement. That incident also shows the injustices done by The UN Security Council against the sovereignty of developing countries.

Similarly, the Americans and their allies directly supported the KLA, a paramilitary group labeled a terrorist by the former state of Yugoslavia. The CIA funded, trained, and supplied the KLA and the Bosnian Army, the paramilitary groups that were among the actors in the chaos that eventually led to the disintegration of Yugoslavia, the catastrophe, and the genocide that followed.

While supporting KLA behind the curtain, the US government officials had been publicly condemning both KLA and the Yugoslav government over the conflict that was raging on in that country. This contradiction between what the Americans say and what they actually do has been reflected now in their interference in the ongoing internal conflict in northern Ethiopia.

A few days ago, when UNSC deliberated on the Ethiopian conflict, the US ambassador to the UN paid lip service to the destructive acts of TPLF by condemning it along with the Ethiopian and Eritrean governments. She said that only to deceive the international community into thinking that her government is neutral. After the UN Human Rights Commission proved that TPLF is the aggressor responsible for starting the war and for the numerous atrocities committed in the process, the US ambassador condemned TPLF only at last in fourth place.

The ambassador did not want to face the fact that TPLF is the aggressor that rejected the unilateral ceasefire by the Ethiopian government. TPLF is still making the offensive attacks and occupying parts of the neighboring regions of Amhara and Afar. And that the Ethiopian government is just defending to curb the advance of the TPLF aggression.

The US ambassador is trying to pull the leg of the international community when she denounced TPLF at UNSC. It is a public secret now that the Americans are providing logistics and military support to TPLF, the way they did it in Kosovo, Syria, and Nicaragua, under the guise of humanitarian activities. From the satellite phones the TPLF leaders use to the military satellite information that guides the TPLF commanders, all are supplied by the western powers, particularly the United States. Furthermore, hundreds of aid trucks, the fuel, the money, and even the humanitarian aid itself are being used by the TPLF.

The Americans swear that they want to see Ethiopia’s territorial integrity be maintained. But in contrary to what they say, they are pressurizing the Ethiopian government to give way to TPLF’s political resurrection and continued role in the country’s politics. They do this with full knowledge of TPLF’s declared intention of balkanizing Ethiopia and seceding the Tigray region.

The continued invasion of the terrorist TPLF rebels into Amhara and Afar regions has got tacit approval from the United States and most western powers. While the Americans reinforced the sanction against the Eritreans for their alleged role in the Ethiopian conflict, they did not take similar measures against TPLF leaders, who determined to push the bloody war through the heart of the nation, destroying on thier way towns and villages and massacring civilians.

Under the pretext of brokering a negotiated peace settlement to the Ethiopian conflict, the Americans are now involved in a last-ditch attempt to dislodge the popularly elected government. Before the surprise quickie visit of the Kenyan President to Addis, the U.S. Special Envoy to the Horn has visited Ethiopia twice in less than a week, shuttling between Addis and Nairobi. And just a day after the Kenyan president visited Addis, the top American diplomat, Secretary Blinken landed in Nairobi.

Some analysts wonder why Mr. Blinken crossed the Atlantic traveling thousands of miles to come to Nairobi but failed to land in Addis. Is Ethiopia really not safe for Blinken, when it is for Kentyata and Feltman? It appears that Americans did not yet realize Ethiopia would never be manipulated the way it had been 30years ago, when Colonel Mengistu, the former Ethiopian leader, sneaked out of the country to Nairobi a few days before the TPLF march into Addis.

 BY SOLOMON WASSIHUN

The Ethiopian  Herald 23 November  2021