Though the days of bragging about the “invincible” army are almost gone, the Asmarino Eritreans (the Eritrean elite of primarily Hamasien) are threatening us with “another Armageddon”, in the form of sanctions and outside intervention…to rescue them. But, we tell them, “Hold on, for God’s sake, for we know who the author- promoter of the idea of sanctions was in the past, and now he is not in a position to play such cards, any more. This is the big, diabolical lie now being spread. At long last, has the Diaspora Eritreans no sense of shame? You better fend for yourselves. Rather he (Meles), with the fuehrer in Asmara, have been leading you to the abyss, for they cannot deliver the Singapore or Israel out of the ashes of Ethiopia, as they have been brainwashing you for so long. Better count your eggs and come down to earth”

Eritrean nationalism, as we know it, is nothing but hate towards Ethiopia. Talk to an Eritrean nationalist, and you would realize he cannot explain Eritrea outside the realm of Ethiopia. Ethiopia is the culprit for every set back, and the good things happen to be “despite the adversity Ethiopia is”, or “against all odds”, as Shaebians have it. Eritrea’s advancement and “civilization is expressed in terms of Ethiopia’s backwardness. Take away the idea of Ethiopia from the Eritrean nationalist, then, there is no Eritrean nationalism. The more Ethiopia rises on the misery scale, the higher the land of Shaebia registers on the success chart, and the more heinous schemes Isayas devises to hurt Ethiopia, the more “suicide” squads available for recruitment….and we have to live against all this crazed“odds”posed by our Christian Talibans to the north. God help us!

The bondage that brings together all the Asmarinos/ the pupils of Shaebia is not there fore based on love to one other or love towards Eritrea, as the concept of Eritrea has become a form of hate rather than a geographic entity. That’s why; whenever the “threat” of Ethiopia takes the backbench, the Asmarinos and the other children of Shaebia, start to leap at each other’s throat.

Hate is a psychological condition; you cannot apply it selectively. It is age-old wisdom that, if you suffer from excessive hate towards your neighbor, then, it t will affect your relationship with your friend, your relatives, and your family and follow you down to the bedroom. It is a state of mind and thus interferes with your judgment and value systems all along.

Isayas’ suicidal behavior during the war is a case in point. Isayas was completely blinded by the sheer haltered and contempt he has for Ethiopia, that he could not see or even think for a moment the kind of response he encountered from the Ethiopian side, nor would he listen to any advice, external or internal, and that was his weakest side-though served him well until then, and will likely continue. Because when you harbor a blind hate towards some one or some thing, you miserably fail to appreciate or understand its nature. By contrast the commanders of the Ethiopian army did not have such hate towards the Eritrean people (despite the blatant lies of Isayas’ cadres - to the contrary, you could imagine what Isayas could have done to Tigrai, had he succeeded in pushing deeper), and though angered by Isayas’ actions, they had a thorough appreciation of his weakness and strengths.

The fact that Isayas rules Eritrea with an iron fist, with the economy in shambles, and still gets support from most of the Diaspora Eritreans, more than any thing else demonstrates, that Ethiopia haters are still in great demand in Eritrea. If there is any thing, which distinguishes the elements in the ruling clique in Asmara, it is their unsurpassed hate to wards Ethiopia. No Eritrean can beat them at that, and because of that they will continue to bleed Eritrea, in the name of defending it against Ethiopia. The Irony is The Isayas’, the Yemanes and Amare Tecles are victims turned perpetrators of hate crime terminally afflicting the Eritrean body politic. That poisonous affliction has its roots traced to Italian colonialism, out of which the mind set of the present Asmarino is modeled.

Ever since the Italian fascists, poisoned the minds of the then Eritrean elite, the fathers of present day Asmarions (a classic divide and rule), and inculcate them with the idea that, the Habeshas south of the Mereb, specially the Tigreans are savage and sub-humans, the Asmarinos have tried every thing that could possibly separate them from Ethiopia in particular and Tigrai in general, because the more they wanted to be “civilized”, the more they felt haunted by Ethiopia. All the hallucinations of “we are special, we are different” is a desperate Sisyphean (Greek myth. relating to an endless task) flight away from their roots which the Italians confided them was cursed. It was in this environment the members of the above clique which, in a double jeopardy and “unfortunately” has Tigrean blood, grew up. You could perhaps grasp the suffering from identity crisis, these elements faced growing up in Asmarino culture. You could also perhaps understand, why Isayas and his likes have to demonstrate to the Asmarinos, that they are more Eritrean than any Eritrean. The same holds among Diaspora Eritreans. The most fanatic Ethiopia haters and die-hard warmongers are Eritreans with Tigrean blood. All of them use the language coded on Isayas’ untamed tongue, referring to Ethiopia, and especially Tigrai-while the rest of the Asmarions cheer and repeat as mantra. History is witness that most brutal dictators and tyrants have something in common, and that is they have an inherent anger and pain accumulated from the society they live in. Most of them, like Hitler and now Isayas have suffered a sever form of Identity crisis.

The force commandeered by Isayas is a negative force, and it can only have a negative out come, and Isayas is taking Eritrea in a collusion course not only against Ethiopia and its other neighbors, but against its citizens as well. Accordingly, the shortest path to peace between the brotherly people of Eritrea and Ethiopia is therefore if and when the Eritrea people realize that, Isayas and his clique are too sick to lead them, and instead need rehabilitation. They are dangerous and armed, because they believe the more they preach war and hate against Ethiopia, the more they would be loved in Eritrea, and the less one is to question their patriotism. The Diaspora Eritreans are again fuelling hate propaganda and beating war drums. They are giving Isayas another blank check for another miss-adventure. He might miscalculate again thinking, that might yet restore his wounded ego, as Eritrea has been reduced to nothing but the manifestation of his inflated ego. For what has become more marked independent Eritrea with each passing years is not just a vortex of hatreds but also, a much wider Political culture of cruelty and savagery.

In the final analysis, had the two people had their voice heard, we would have avoided the devastating war we had, for the wisdom parted by their fore fathers had served them to live together for centuries. Only Isayas and his philosophy of becoming more Eritrean than the ordinary Eritrean, aided by the misguided policy of Meles did bring war.
(To be continued)

The Era of Charlatans is over!
A Democratic and United Ethiopia will prevail!
Tigrean International Solidarity for Justice and Democracy