President Obama Proved Wrong: The Incomplete and Unworthy Visit

By Zenebe Tamirat

In my article entitled President Obama “Turning Deaf Ear to World Wide Protest,” (Dewol, Wednesday, July 22, 2015), I submitted my last appeal to the President, to cancel his visit to Ethiopia scheduled in that same month. If he would not cancel his visit, I called to at least include the notorious Qality Prison into his places of visit list; for that was where he could have seen the real political condition of Ethiopia.

He did not! Because the president does not listen to the plights of the local people among which is I, the writer of this and the above mentioned articles am included. Instead, he listened to the advice of Frasier, Suzanne Yamamato, and others who say they are experts on African affairs. Consequently, he openly admired the fake election that took place in Ethiopia just a few weeks before his visit. Later in an interview, Suzanne laughed at him apparently for believing her story about the election in Ethiopia in which TPLF declared 100% victory.

The situation did not end only by laughter but continued by the uprising of the people in different parts of the country. In fact, some five months, after the president’s visit and his appreciation of the fraudulent election public demonstration began taking place in many regions. In Gonder, where the Amharas live, the peasantry confronted the ruling party Militiamen with arm struggle. In West and West-Central Ethiopia where the majority Oromos live, the people consistently demonstrated armed with wooden clubs. Their demand was to let the ruling TPLF bandits to go away from their region. The uprising spread to East and South Ethiopia. The Oromos are well known for their tactics in stick fighting and mass attack. Thus in some areas, they put Government Officials in captivity and showed their pictures in Social Media such as the Facebook.

A group known as “Tiqur Anbessa” in North Ethiopia declared that it has started arm struggle against the TPLF and had an incident in Qobo region where it says had an assault on an Army Unit killing soldiers and damaging Military Vehicles. The Peasants in North Shoa known for their bravery and fierce fighting are not pleased with the TPLF. Many assume that they will pull their triggers in uprising following their brother in Wolqait, Qobo, and elsewhere.

Imagine, all these took place in just five months of President Obama’s visit to Ethiopia. The Ethiopian revolution against injustice the ruling minority led by the TPLF perpetrates is inevitable. Conditions surrounding the oppressed nation indicate the inescapability of peoples’ uprising.

Out of Ethiopia, North of its boundary, political circumstances are changing. The war in Yemen seems to have pushed Saudi Arabia to seek interest in Assab, sea port of Ethiopia occupied by Eritrea on its secession. There is a rumor that Saudi Arabia may obtain a long years of contract to use the port as a Strategic Military Operation Base. Some even doubt that the United States may also come into partnership with Saudi, in this venture. Many suspect the US abandoning of the Arba Minch Air base in Ethiopia is to shift the operation base to Assab, which is a closer site to Somalia, Djibouti, and Yemen and even Eritrea when necessary.

For now, the U.S has responded to the hostile situations in Ethiopia by advising her citizens to avoid the troubled areas of Ethiopia especially the Northern part. It has also tried to play a role of a negotiator urging the Government to restrain from taking aggressive actions against civilian demonstrators and at the same time requesting the demonstrators to cool it down. But now, there is no safety in Ethiopia. Its advice to its citizens to avoid troubled areas is ridiculous because all parts of Ethiopia including Addis Ababa are unsafe.

The United States is a great nation that claims to have based its roots of Government deep in democracy and the respect of human rights. Its constitution forbids its leaders from cooperating with irrational Governments that kill their people. Unfortunately, many U.S. presidents violate this general code of conduct. President Clinton, Bush, and Obama have consistently worked with the ruthless Government of Ethiopia in the last two and half decades stiffing the muscles of tyranny in Ethiopia.  The actions of these leaders has allowed the Marxist totalitarian leaders of TPLF mow the lives of thousands of Ethiopians who seek the respect of human rights and good governance. The TPLF has continued its aggression on peaceful demonstrators. It has killed hundreds of unarmed demonstrators that demanded justice, democracy, the respect of human rights and maintenance of good governance in just five months from the visit of President Obama in July 2015. This strenuous activity has not yet stopped yet; it is just continuing even at this point.

We had repeatedly brought the political situations in Ethiopia to the attention of President Obama in many forms. In the July article, we appealed for the reconsideration of his visit to tyrant Ethiopia.  We even predicted that the President’s visit would be incomplete and worthless unless he considers the real situation in Ethiopia. As well presented in this article, and, to the fulfillment of our prediction, just in five months, the world has proved from the killings of the TPLF that President Obama’s visit to Ethiopia has been incomplete and unworthy. Bad Job, Mr. President!