The Neocolonial Policies of Western Europe and USA towards Africa, particularly Ethiopia.
Negesse Gutema
መጋቢት 9, 2021
Colonialism in a new Cloak: b]Ethiopia under the limelight[/b]
The powers of Western Europe and USA are on the move to destabilize Ethiopia by reacting to false information that is fabricated by the corrupt western media, the subservient “International NGOs”, and TPLF-paid agents. They are determined to resurrect their proxy dictator TPLF and even return it to power.[1] Ethiopia’s effort to bring the criminal junta to justice for destroying Ethiopia’s NDF (a highly skilled and disciplined force who has been protecting its northern border for over 20 years) is condemned by the same world powers who have been silent about the gruesome genocide committed by TPLF and its beneficiaries on the people of Ethiopia (Gambella, Gideo, Mai-Kadera, Amhara, Bedeno, Shashemene, Benishangul, Burayu, to mention a few), for alleged human rights violation.
The “Dark Continent”
We need to look at Europe’s and USA’s (The Western Powers’) actions and policies towards Ethiopia within the larger framework of their policies towards Africa – the policy that keeps Africa under perpetual poverty; the policies which have bound Africa to the handouts of the Europeans and the USA in exchange for its resources that are vital for the existence of the superpowers. Under the disguise of humanitarian aid, development projects, economic aid, loans from world bank, arms sales, military training, etc., Africa is being shackled with debt and exploited just like the colonial era. Africa remains a primary recipient of the Western welfare. Throwing crumbs to Africa is a small price for the superpowers to pay for the precious raw material they exploit in return. While African countries are constantly infighting, the West is there to take sides and fan the flames. If any of African country defaults on its loans or misbehaves in the eyes of the superpowers, which happens frequently, it is knocked on the head like an unruly child. Africans live in 11th century reality in a 21st century world order – that is why they call Africa the dark continent.
A Morphing Colonial Policy:
The policy of Western Europe and USA towards Africa is a continuation of the policy of slavery. When the British Empire “abolished” slavery with the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833, the business of enslaving Africans continued in the Americas, the Caribbean, and the Asia. The European slave trade morphed into colonialism and moved the slaving business directly to Africa. After “independence” of many colonized African countries, colonialism morphed once again. It transitioned to a more sophisticated form of slaving-through-proxies.
Under the new morphed colonialism, African countries, though “independent and free”, found themselves in extreme poverty, underdeveloped economy, heavily dependent on handouts and backbreaking loans from Western Countries. Africans are under constant displacement and ongoing starvation due to food shortage and ongoing proxy wars. Amidst the ongoing wars, its natural resources continue to be plundered unhindered and shipped to developed countries to build their economy, military might and maintain their high standard of living that billions of Africans would never dream of. The delirious leaders of Africa remain complacent towards the plight of their people while they live in luxury mansions and maintain a hefty Swiss bank account of loots and kickbacks. Like the old days of slavery, Africans exist at the pleasure of the Western Powers.
The partition of Africa hurts Africa and benefits the colonial powers.
Ethiopia – Adwa, Independent Africa, and the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD)
With the unity and determination of its heroic patriots, Ethiopia warded off direct colonial occupation. This fact alone presents significant challenges to the Western Powers. Besides their resolve to control Ethiopia for its strategically desirable location (to conduct Militarily and Intelligence operations to control the Middle East, Asia, and the rest of Africa), and China’s[2] economic influence, there are other important reasons why they are hell-bent on keeping Ethiopia poor and dependent on their permanent handouts – Adwa, Independent Africa, and the GERD.
Despite Europe’s ongoing attempt to colonize it, Ethiopia has successfully fought off the aggressors and ascertained its sovereignty. Ethiopia’s victory over Italy at the battle of Adowa[3] in 1896, only less than a year after the Berlin Conference to carve up Africa was signed, sent a shockwave through the entire colonial world and left the colonial powers with a never-healing wound. The humiliating defeat of Italy, considered to be one of the major powers of Europe, in the hands of a “primitive” African country, showed the rest of Africa and the world that colonial powers, regardless of their advanced military technologies, can be defeated if challenged with a united and resolute force.
Ethiopia’s unwillingness to submit to the colonial powers became an important guiding light for the rest of Africa – a beacon of freedom, independence, self-respect, and high hopes. The victory at Adwa became a backbone for black people all over the world and strengthened their resolution to struggle for independence.
Our forefathers repeated a second victory over Italy’s five years’ occupation[4] during the second World War (WWII); repelled insidious attempts of Great Britain and France to control Ethiopia directly or through their proxies; fought off Egypt’s repeated attempts to colonize it.
We are still fighting, Egypt’s continued aggression through its proxies, to ascertain our Renaissance through the Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). GERD is a symbol of Ethiopia’s unit, greatness, independence, and revival, a creation of its engineering mind and a sweat of its people. For Ethiopia, GERD is the repeat of Adwa – a clear message to the world that not only Ethiopians, but also Africans can become the masters of their own destiny and a message to African countries to wake up, unite and realize their destiny.
The West sponsored occupation of Ethiopia.
The West has been intimidated by Ethiopia’s potentials to become a major economic and political power in Africa and has worked hard to undermine it for a long time. For the Imperial West Ethiopia was too valuable to remain uncolonized for both its natural resources and for the symbolism of its defiance and independence for the rest of Africa. These reasons for Western Powers to control Ethiopia are as viable today as they were over one hundred years ago. A united, self-sufficient, independent, democratic, and powerful Ethiopia, that would continue to be a role model for the rest of Africa, is one of the greatest threats to Western Supremacy.
For the West, an Ethiopia that does not depend on them, does not serve their interest, and has a potential to become an African powerhouse, would rather not exist. To this end, they will make every effort to keep Ethiopia preoccupied with its internal conflicts to ensure that it will not become a role model once again for the rest of Africa. A united Africa of 1.4 Billion people who can create and sustain its own economic might will be the last thing the Western World wants to see – they will fight to the end to ensure that Global White Supremacy is not disrupted by the dark continent. As far as the West is concerned, African is nothing but a “shithole”[5] continent. This American policy towards Africa must sink deep in the memories of all Africans.
It should come as no surprise to us that Western Europe and USA are blaming Ethiopia and supporting TPLF by overlooking the atrocities it has committed. After all, we all remember back in 1991, USA has installed TPLF in power with military and intelligence support to defeat the Dergue and occupy Addis Ababa. The massive supply of weapons that TPLF guerrillas have received from USA and Europe were passed on to them disguised as humanitarian supply by coordinating with NGOs. The Marxist-Leninist Meles Zenawi and the TPLF leadership were being tutored & coached by the Imperialist US government and the CIA to be their modern day African Uncle Tom.
Despite its march on Addis Ababa[6] and the entire country, TPLF forces were never accepted by the people of Ethiopia, rather were treated as occupiers. TPLF behaved and acted like an occupier and clamped down on dissidents. Ethiopians of all ethnicity, age, gender, and religion became victims to its ruthless fascistic rule. The terror that was unleashed on the people of Ethiopia, the gruesome tortures, mass killings and raping have been largely ignored or overlooked[7] by TPLF’s colonial sponsors right from the beginning of its reign. TPLF had every intention to stay in power and do anything to enrich its coffers.
In the 27 years of dictatorship, TPLF terrorists committed gross human rights abuses and openly looted the country’s resources, thereby putting Ethiopia in a debt that she will not be able pay off for many generations to come. Ethiopians lived on a meagre 2 USD per day while TPLF kleptomaniacs were grabbing land and stealing billions of dollars, which it now uses to fund its media networks, buy loyalties of foreign government officials, lobbyists, and journalists, and funds the lavish life for its families.
TPLF’s model for Ethiopia was a small scale copy of the colonial strategy of divide and rule. This policy was based on the constitution that compartmentalized the country into pieces of ethnic federations to be governed with the ideology of revolutionary democratic centralism. The entire setup was created to weaken Ethiopia, to facilitate the exploitation of its wealth, and to clear the path to achieve its goal of creating the Greater Republic of Tigray.
TPLF deposed – The superpowers lost their puppet
After years of preparation, on November 4, 2020, a well-trained, well-armed, and highly organized TPLF military operatives, who were planted in all ranks of the military and were taking orders from the regional TPLF government, launched a premeditated massive attack on the Ethiopian Northern Defense Forces which were based in Tigray. These TPLF operatives betrayed and heinously murdered thousands of members of Northern Defense Forces and their families with backing of the Tigray militia (approx. 230,000 strong). They raped and slaughtered female soldiers; slaughtered hundreds of Ethiopians in the town of Mai-Kadera by TPLF’s youth fascist group named Samri. They fired rockets at Bahr Dar and Gondar, promising to fire more sophisticated missiles and rockets into all metropolitan areas, including Addis Ababa. With an effort to draw Eritrea into their war, TPLF fired rockets at Asmara and nearby areas. TPLF’s goal was to return to power by toppling the current Ethiopian government that they have labeled as “illegitimate”. Ethiopian government had to mobilize its defense forces to stop the carnage, remove the rouge junta, and restore order. The goal of the Ethiopian government is to bring the criminal junta to power.
Now, the Western powers are unhappy with the destruction of TPLF and are engaged in a concerted and coordinated media campaign to blame Ethiopia for war crimes their darling TPLF has committed on innocent people and on the military forces that have supported the Tigrayan people. All the crimes TPLF has committed against the people of Ethiopia (including the people of Tigray) over the past several decades and the attack on ENDF in November 2020, were not the concern of the Western world. They have intentionally ignored the truth and made Ethiopia’s case irrelevant.
The three major regions of Ethiopia (Tigray, Amara, Oromia) were engaged in an arms race. Why did TPLF need so many regional militias?
Ethiopia is up against a concerted Western Propaganda war
Any war or conflicts has casualties. That is why war should never be a first choice, if it must come to that at all. TPLF failed miserably for not choosing the path of peace despite repeated efforts to bring it to the negotiation table.
The Western Powers, armed with fabricated information, which is fed to them by the TPLF propagandists and their leader Tedros Adhanom[8], are falsely accusing Ethiopia for atrocities they have not investigated or confirmed. If the West is really interested in investigating human rights abuse, they have been given the green light to work with the government. However, what is evident is that the Western government officials, their global media, and the humanitarian organizations are slinging mud of lies aimed at blaming the government of Ethiopia.
By ignoring the reality on the ground and the progress being demonstrated by the government, Europe and USA chose to remain loyal to their longtime proxy and rely on the false narratives its remnants feed them. They refuse invitation by the government to tour the region to get firsthand information “but instead resorted to visit the refugee camp in neighboring Sudan and extrapolate grossly inadequate information to provide unfounded claims that put unnecessary pressure on the government of Ethiopia.”[9]
It is understandable why TPLF fabricates stories, but it is not understandable why Amnesty International is infatuated with false news!!
They threaten Ethiopia with withholding financial aid based on fabricated stories – the same age old policy of bullying. They use their NGOs and UN organizations to pressure Ethiopia to submit to the demands of the criminal defunct TPLF. They feel that now they have a great opportunity to meddle in its internal affairs and destabilize Ethiopia under the false pretense of caring for the “people of Tigray” and “prevent Ethiopia from breaking up”.
They should know that today’s Ethiopia is always open for cooperation with outside world but will never allow a foreign power to meddle in its internal affairs, whether they withhold their economic handouts or not. Ethiopians today follow the legacy and spirit of the heroes of Adwa, WWII, and many other patriots who have fallen to protect Ethiopia from the aggression of colonial powers.
Ethiopia Under Siege
Despite the military victory on the ground, Ethiopia appears to be losing the war on the diplomatic and media front to an onslaught from TPLF’s well-organized propaganda machines and the Western mass media (BBC, CNN, NYTimes, Washington Post, to mention few). Most Western media are in cahoots with the US and Europe and report that TPLF is a victim of this war and Eritrea and Ethiopia committed a war crime against the Tigrayan people.
Not having a strong and active public relations presence opens the field for TPLF remnants to fill the void with fabricated concoctions and puts Ethiopia at a major disadvantage. In the absence of proper work of diplomacy to articulate the Ethiopian case, the people of Europe and USA are being bombarded by lies by the likes of K. Tronvoll, A. De Waal, and M. Plaut – Foreign stooges of TPLF.
Ethiopian government on its part must shore up and strengthen its of public relations work, especially on the international arena. Ethiopian intellectuals inside the country and abroad must strengthen their cohesive strategy and intensify their counterattack to overcome the inertia created by TPLF propaganda. Ethiopia has millions of highly educated professionals in the country and in diaspora who are capable of overwhelming the lie factories of TPLF remnants and the capacity to speak truth to power. We should not wait for the government to show our unity and solidarity for our country. The Twitter campaign is a great thing, but it should not be the only one. To build a stronger information network, there should be a joint taskforce that is made up of the Ethiopian Diplomatic Corps (or legitimate Ethiopian government agencies) and the Ethiopians in all parts of the world as soon as possible with the goal of staving off this onslaught by anti-Ethiopian forces.
Meanwhile, the superpowers are taking every step to exert their racist and colonialist policies on Ethiopia. They are flexing their muscles by moving their military hardware into the region under the usual pretense of concern for the regional peace. Other than the usual superficial diplomatic curtsey, they totally ignored and undermined Ethiopian government and the country’s sovereignty. They are demanding that Ethiopian defense forces leave Tigray – a blatant and arrogant insult to Ethiopia.
It is concerning that President Joe Biden, whom thousands of Americans of Ethiopian origin helped win the oval office, with hopes that his administration will recognize the truth about our country and will engage in a constructive bilateral relationship, is continuing with the same aggressive and belligerent polices that his predecessor, Donald Trump, who has declared war on Ethiopia by insinuating Egypt “to blow up the dam”, has set forth. Another disconcerting phenomena is the return of Obama’s old cabinet, the likes of Susan Rice, to power under Biden. Susan Rice and her entourage will do everything to disrupt Ethiopia’s progress and bring back her beloved TPLF.
Ethiopia must realize that Biden’s administration would not stop from taking action against Ethiopia to protect America’s political, economics, and military interests in the region and in Ethiopia. Protecting TPLF or human rights violation are satisfactory pretexts. Ethiopia’s defiance of belligerent mandate of Western Powers and demonstration of assertiveness get under their skin. They will go to any great length to defend a dead junta.
Egypt and Sudan are forming military alliance and salivating for the opportune time to disrupt the progress of GERD. Other subversive forces within the country are nipping at the edges to further weaken the country’s sovereignty. The corrupt cadre-driven civic infrastructure of the TPLF has yet to be fully dismantled and is working hard to create economic and political chaos from within. The cost of living is at an all-time high, employment is affected by the Covid Pandemic and the anemic economy, creating additional stress to the current situation in Ethiopia.
With the current US government showing its ugly teeth, we should be aware that Ethiopia could become a sacrificial lamb in the global powers’ war for control once again as it has been during Adwa, the second world war (WWII) (1935), the war with Somalia (1974), and occupation by TPLF (1991). It appears that in the eyes of the world powers, Ethiopia is expendable. For them, the case of Ethiopia is the case of Africa – Ethiopia’s greatness is the dawn of the greatness of the rest of Africa. Both must be stopped. Ethiopia and Ethiopians must rely upon their unity and faith and prepare stand up to tyranny. This is the time Ethiopia needs her loyal children stand up for her more than ever before.
Ethiopians must support their fellow Ethiopians in Tigray and elsewhere
The war to bring the TPLF renegades to justice was a necessary step to stop it from destroying the country. No matter how careful the army is in minimizing civilian casualties, it could not prevent it entirely, especially when TPLF is using civilians as human shields and dressing its special forces in Ethiopian and Eritrean uniforms. In any case, any war should not target civilians and innocent people for revenge. Anyone who purposely commits genocide should be investigated and brought to justice. Ethiopia and its military recognize this fact and is doing every effort to reduce casualties.
Tigray is part of Ethiopia. We Ethiopians must come together, recognize the reality in Tigray and extend our help to the people in every way possible. Individuals such as Tamagne Beyene are paving the way and all Ethiopians must do the same. The war will be over sooner or later, but the work to De-tplfy the entire Ethiopia from the divisive ideology of hate and separation must continue, in a similar fashion as the Germans De-nazified Germany from the ideology of hate mongering Nazism. For the past he 27 years, the Ethiopian people have been conditioned and brainwashed to distrust one other. At least two generations of Ethiopians have been brains washed by the substandard and racist ideology of TPLF.
Ethnic cleansing was normal under the dictatorship of TPLF and so was dislocation of millions of people due to ethnic instigation. Thousands of innocent Ethiopians have perished because of a divisive TPLF-serving constitution, randomly fabricated impromptu laws, and a demented ideology of democratic centralism. However cruel and divisive their policies have been, over 110 Million people still share a country, live together, intermarry, worship together, celebrate together and bereave together. For the sake of peace and prosperity of these millions of Ethiopians, we must bring normalcy to the country. We must rebuild the unity that has been decimated and the trust that has been systematically eroded and replaced with hate. We must work to reprogram the future generations of Ethiopia with constructive and positive mental model – De-tplfy.
For rehabilitation of Tigray and the rest of Ethiopia, we must work together to remove the divisive constitution and democratic centralism and establish a democratic system that equally embraces all Ethiopians, without race, color, gender, faith, and Ethnic origin. Ethiopia should never allow Ethnic Exceptionalism[10] to take root in any shape or content. Ethnic Exceptionalism leads to the formation of hierarchical superiority and to ethnic cleansing. TPLF may have started in Tigray and may have lied to the people of Tigray about its intentions. But the people of Tigray were never and are never TPLF.
LET’S UNITE TO BUILD THE ETHIOPIA THAT IS HOME FOR ALL!!!!
[1] As this paper is being drafted, UNSC was called upon to deliberate on the case of Tigray at the request of Ireland. The Wests resolution to interfere in Ethiopia’s internal affairs was vetoed by Russia and China and was opposed by India. It is disconcerting to know that those African countries in UNSC kept quiet at the demand of their colonial lords.
[2] China’s new version of colonialism has recked havoc in the Western’s world by interfering in their strategy of controlling African natural resources and affecting their hegemony over Africa’s livelihood. Ethiopia is no exception. Added to that is the historical challenges they feel when it comes to Ethiopia.
[3] After Italy gained independence from the Romano-Austrian yoke just a couple of decade, earlier Italy was given a green light to colonize Ethiopia by the European colonial powers. Italy was freed from before that.
[4] Even though Ethiopia was the only African country who was a member of the League of Nations, it was once more betrayed and handed over to Italy by Britain and France to appease Italy and prevent it from joining the Axis Forces. Ethiopia’s plea at the League of Nations by HIM Haile Selassie was totally ignored. The League of Nations placed arms embargo on Ethiopia (and Italy) to prevent her to acquire the arms she desperately needed to repel the impeding invasion. Britain and France have made every attempt over the centuries to subdue Ethiopia. They still are. England and France were double losers.
[5] The phrase “Shithole Countries” was used by white supremacist, Donald Trump, when describing African and Latin American countries. Haiti was also thrown in.
[6] Herman Cohen authorized & coordinated the entry of TPLF into Addis Ababa to seize power
[7] Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, under Obama Presidency, ignored appeals from Ethiopians and removed TPLF and its storefront organization (EPDRF) from the terrorist list.
[8] Adhanom is the Head of WHO, who is using its position to resuscitate the TPLF.
[9] Hirut Zemene, ambassador of Ethiopia to Belgium, Luxembourg, and the EU institutions.
https://euobserver.com/opinion/151070
[10] Exceptionalism is the perception or belief that a species, country, society, institution, movement, individual, or time period is “exceptional” (i.e., unusual or extraordinary). The term carries the implication, whether or not specified, that the referent is superior in some way.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exceptionalism
https://ethiothinkthank.com/2021/03/09/ ... -ethiopia/
