The attack dogs of “Dedebit”

By Ephrem Madebo

Unlike the other eleven months, the month of “Ginbot” is a unique month rich with distinctive cultural and political events. Examples are: “Ginbot-Lideta”, “Ginbot-8”, “Ginbot-20” and “Ginbot-7”. As eventful as “Ginbot” is, it is also a dismally disappointing month. “Ginbot 8” 1990 dawned as a day of hope for millions of Ethiopians, but it quickly turned into unprecedented day of carnage. In Ginbot 2005 [Ginbot 7], Ethiopians saw the sparks of a democratic process, yet as they enthusiastically jumped into the wagons of the democratic process, they were compellingly pulled back to only find themselves far-flung from democracy. I don’t think there is a comparable dictionary word that characterizes the ill-fated day of Ginbot 20, 1992 except calling it a national day of mourning!

I’m not here to offer any explanation on the events of “Ginbot” other than reminding you the depressing occurrences of Ginbot. I’m not even trying to prove or disprove anything anymore, or would I care to. I’m here to tell you about the fear that looms all over Ethiopia, the horror that conquered our very existence, and the voodoo that eluded our longstanding invincibility. Yes, I ‘m here to tell you about the ghosts of “Ginbot”, not the ghosts of “Ginbot Lideta”, but the phantoms of “dedebit” who also are known as - The attack dogs of Dedebit. If you are here to know the truth about the attack dogs of Dedebit, you must be open-minded, fascinated, and as mystical as I am. Enjoy the reading!

Recently, more frequently than any news outlet in their position, “aigaforum” and “The Reporter” have pitilessly attacked the entire Ethiopian opposition camp. In fact, these two websites have been the attack dogs of the TPLF regime for a long time. Aigaforum and “The Reporter” bark when Meles orders them to do so, and wag their tails and look hospitable when Bereket tells them to look friendly. For example, after years of name calling, cursing, and outright character assassination, it is surprising how these two attack dogs and their puppies are so concerned about AEUP party. I wonder where these two pathetic websites were when the president of AEUP [the then CUDP Chairman] was undeservingly suffering in Kality?

Both aigaforum and “The Reporter” love to portray themselves as hard-nosed defenders of democracy and staid challengers of orthodoxy and bad politics. Well, this is what they claim to be, the reality is the opposite. To be honest, there simply is no class of journalists more reverent of the TPLF establishment and more devoted to protecting and defending its prerogatives. If aigaforum and “The Reporter” were part of the free press, and most importantly if the name Ethiopia means anything to them, they shouldn’t have demanded a leader investigated for genocide be treated with the type of profound reverence typically reserved for national heroes, or religious leaders. Had the TPLF political machine had a tiny drop of democratic blood in its vein [as these two websites claim], Meles Zenawi and Bereket Simon wouldn’t have been the most entitled to be safeguarded from any kind of political criticism. The nastiest part of this depressing story is the irony- aigaforum and “The Reporter” have created for themselves. Often, these barefaced propaganda machines offer a shredded content of the full story of political events, totally disregarding the public’s right to know the evolution, development, and maturity of events. Sadly, instead of being faithful for owners of the machine, these dogs of lie stand for the machine that devours its owner.

Here is how the attack dogs mixed gold with gravel in aigaforum:

“Way before the cacophonous singing started though, I vividly remember reading an article written by five assorted PhD holders of various discipline-for what was then a Los Angeles based Ethiopian Mirror- predicting the inevitable journey of Ethiopia into the pitfall of anarchy”

Forget the “cacophonous singing”! Even Luchiano Pavarotti knows that the TPLF bandits have no shortage of harmonious voices, including the “flamboyant” patriarch who was in the millennium Karaoke contest with the planetary popular pop singer Beyonce Knowles. But this is far from the real story! The real story is that Ethiopia is a place where the powerless and the less-connected live at the mercy of the powerful. In Ethiopia, if you don’t belong to the “Golden” group you’re a rat that even a starving cat would ignore. The TPLF regime is a terror regime that terrorizes Ethiopians far more times than Bin Laden terrorized Americans. More than anything else, TPLF is an outlaw regime that has tossed a blanket over its own constitution and declared war on all opposition parties at home and abroad -- all in the name of a spurious- Safeguarding the Constitution! In fact, this is what the good PHD holders predicted. If this is not “anarchy”, then what is…..

Heaven knows what the definition of “anarchy” in the MoFA dictionary is, but I am absolutely sure that for both Meles and Bereket, the denial of chaos is a better definition of anarchy than its acceptance. The TPLF machinery and its ham-fisted system is terminally sick, otherwise, there is no need for the two architects of the system [Meles & Bereket] to repeatedly go public and deny its illness.

I’m not sure what peace means to the editor of aigaforum when a government he praises kills its own people; and I wonder how editor of “The Reporter” values peace when a leader he worships gets investigated for genocide. Yes, Amare Aregawi and Isayas Abay, you heard me right! Your goddess is being investigated for genocide! Do you think peace means the same to you and to the Anguaks who were massacred simply for being Anguak? Is Isayas Abay who lives in San Jose, California, confusing the Silicon Valley with Ethiopia? What about Amare Aregawi? Does he measure economic development by the number of high rises built to satisfy big time gluttons such as the ravenous Azeb Mesfin and the many-headed monster Sibhat Nega? What does economic development mean to these two lackluster pig-heads when the misery index (inflation rate + unemployment rate) of Ethiopia is a large number greater than the age of its octogenerian president? It is high time that Amare Aregawi and Isayas Abay answer these questions, or it is about time for self-flagellation!

Here is another doodle by the same attack dogs in aigaforum :

“Isolating Meles Zenawi and Bereket Simon from the rest of EPRDF leadership is an old trick, utilized to convey the appearance of division within EPRDF and have little bearing if any to the point of contention at hand, which is, the uncovering of a terrorist plot allegedly perpetrated by Ginbot 7-the brain child of Dr. Berhanu Nega”

To be honest, no one spends time trying to isolate things that weren’t meant to be together in the first place. Meles and Bereket have nothing to do with EPRDF. EPRDF is an incompetent amorphous entity created by the two criminals to give TPLF national mandate. Otherwise, Ethiopia is a one party polity, and that party is none than the ethnic conglomerate TPLF party created by the evil seeds of ethnicity. Evidently, there are some people of substance within the EPRDF party who like active volcano are waiting to explode, but for the most part, EPRDF is a ship willfully hijacked by the TPLF pirates.

Unlike what the paid attack dogs try to tell us, Ethiopians are terrorized by Meles Zenawi who is entrusted to lead them. In fact, his words of terror started in day one of his administration. Here is one of the most disdaining phrases belted out to the opposition by a person who vowed to lay the foundation of multi-party politics in Ethiopia: -- "Mengedun Cherk Yargilachehu", which basically means go to hell. Such shameless and despicable inflammatory statements are characteristic of Meles Zenawi’s dismissive ego whose arrogance is just beyond the pale. All in all, Meles Zenawi is a typical symbol of hypocrisy at the helm of the TPLF regime. When he speaks he speaks lies, when he makes a promise he breaks it, and when he is trusted he betrays his trust.

Ginbot 7 is not and has never been a party of individuals, and most importantly, Ginbot 7 is not a party that promises the impossible and tries to attain the in attainable. The promise of Ginbot 7 is freedom and, no matter how often Meles and Berket lie, freedom is attainable! Meles Zenawi is a person who lies to himself; his daily life is filled with denial of what he does, even what he thinks. He does this because he is afraid of what Ginbot-7 can do - Bring an end to his wealth making hierocracy. For Meles and his bandits denial is always the first step in their apparent attempt to prevent the inevitable. Otherwise, Ginbot-7 is everywhere in Ethiopia including at the back yard of Melses Zenawi. His attempt to kill Ginbot-7 is no different than Hercules trying to kill Hydra in the classic Greek mythology. Ginbot-7 is difficult to kill because when you cut off one head anywhere in Ethiopia, two more heads would grow back out of the stump elsewhere. I’m not quite sure about Berket because he has no brain of his own; but, I’m dead sure his master knows the significance of the Hydra, as the Hydra would be the eventual downfall of Hercules.

Here is one more ‘hushed’ bark by the attack dogs:

“Failing to remember that he has unequivocally condemned violence few years back, he is now adhering to dislodge a democratically elected government “by any means necessary.” This is what the world knows and there is no entity in this world able enough to fabricate what Berhanu has argued for to mean anything other than terror”

Dr. Berhanu, and millions of Ethiopians who adore him love peace and adhere to peaceful methods of struggle, but peaceful struggle does not mean bowing to Meles Zenawi and participate in a meaningless election to coronate the same “King” every five years. Peaceful struggle is pointless when a tiny 4% of the Ethiopian population decides on the fate of the other 96%. Yes, indeed, peaceful struggle is disingenuous when one party has roses, and the other has guns and knows no mercy. The only living organism that hates peace & tranquility is the one that needs turmoil for its survival, and that organism is Meles Zenawi. Actually, it is not just Meles Zenawi; essentially, the nature of the TPLF thugs is enmity against peace and democracy. Obviously, the result of such eccentric behavior is a continued warfare against their own constitution and against the society they’re supposed to lead. Let it be heard loud and clear! Given all the available choices, there is no human being that resorts to violence, and when there is no other option left, no human being gives up its freedom for fear of violence.

One other wavy-line in the above statement is: “he [Berhanu] is now adhering to dislodge a democratically elected government “by any means necessary.” Well, this is just a joke, and it’s the only joke that makes Colonel Mengistu chuckle who hasn’t chuckled in 18 years. Ironically, what makes bore-stiff Mengistu laugh is not the joke itself. It is the perception that his nemesis is using the same old election tricks that Mengistu himself used in the 1970s and 80s. If “Democracy” to Meles Zenawi is rising to power “by any means necessary” then what is wrong with Dr. Berhanu’s adherence to bring him down “by any means necessary? Who is the terrorist here? Is it Meles Zenawi who ascended to power by killing his opponents, or is it Dr.Berhanu Nega who has the courage to say no to Zenawi’s senseless arrogance?

Ethiopia’s political and economic future depends on the courage and capacity of its leaders to face the bold truth of the present. Facing the truth is the only thing that sets Meles Zenawi free, otherwise, covering the painful emotions of moms and dads whose children died defending democracy; and blocking the gross images coming from Ogden and Gambela is a senseless denial of reality that diminishes our ability to survive as a society. Evidently, Meles Zenawi and Bereket Simon are pathological liars; therefore, expecting honesty from them is a little more than a bad joke. However, no matter how bad liars they are, they should not swing like a hot wire. Meles Zeanwi has never been loyal to Ethiopia and Ethiopians ever since he and his rag-bag guerilla army set foot in Addis Ababa. His leadership has always been tainted with ethnicization of politics, systematic killing, and human right abuse even at times when many Ethiopians gave him the benefit of the doubt. So much can be said about Meles Zenawi and Berket Semon. These two self-indulgent mortals are liars, killers, crooks, and most importantly they are the ultimate symbols of human inhumanity. Their shallow strength may carry them through today, and may be tomorrow, but these wicked forces of evil will be defeated by the forces of good and excellence!

Bury the Spear!

This is a preview of a 2004 documentary film made by the anthropologist/filmmaking team of Ivo Strecker and Alula Pankhurst.

Bury the Spear! focuses on the 1993 peace-making efforts of the Arbore, Borana, Konso, Tsamai, Hamar and Dasanach to end decades of ethnic war in the southern Ethiopian Rift Valley. The title of the film comes from the climactic scenes of elders uttering curses as they use stones to blunt the blades of their spears.

I suppose the occupants of Minilik's palace and its aspirants can learn a thing or two from this film.