Fw: Annan blames Ethiopia...

Ethiopia is undoubtedly run by gangsters. So is Eritrea.  In fact these
gangsters were in a very, very close alliance. Both regimes have many
political prisoners. Both have resorted to assassination against critics.
Both were supported by the "West" (U.S. & allies) in their war to overthrow
the pro-Soviet regime (Mengistu's  "Dergue", also run by gangsters.)

When I was younger, I thought that the trajectory of social change would be
"good guys against bad guys" (as in the Vietnam War, with imperialism being
the bad guys.)  Eventually, the good guys would win.  I still think that as
an overarching view, but it is clear that there are many conflicts between
"bad guys."  (Bad guys against bad guys --- please forgive the use of "guy",
a male-oriented figure of speech.)  So it is in Africa, where the pro-US
forces and the pro-Soviet forces used black people to fight their bloody
proxy wars,  armed them to the teeth, and then left them to fight over what
remained, when the Cold War ended. In some cases, such as Congo/Rwanda, etc.
old imperialist buddies, such as the U.S. and France, have actually been
arming opposite factions.

For those who think that "globalization" is a trend towards one hegemonic
capitalist class making war/dominating the rest of the people, I would
remind people that "imperialism" is a better concept than "globalization"
and that while on paper, some conflicts might appear to have a "logical
conclusion", in reality there are contradictions inside of contradictions,
and that this uneveness can lead to some of these contradictions maturing
before the overarching contradiction has a chance to fully resolve itself.
Put into plain language rather than admittedly vague abstractions, conflict
and war among the imperialists is still a major possibility.  Be careful
about siding with any of them.

Alan Spector



-----Original Message-----
>From: alexy2k gerard <alexandragerard@hotmail.com>
>To: WORLD SYSTEMS NETWORK <wsn@csf.colorado.edu>
>Date: Sunday, April 09, 2000 3:44 PM
>Subject: Annan blames Ethiopia...
>
>
>>
>>
>>Hello Folks:
>>
>>It is tragic that it has to take famine to wake the world/UN up to the
fact
>>that Ethiopia is ruled by thugs.  The world had been  silent when ethnic
>>cleansing and systematic deportation of Eritreans and Ethiopians of
>Eritrean
>>discent was taking place.  And now the world has to feed starving
>>Ethiopians, so the thugs can continue to squander precious resources and
>buy
>>sophisticated weapons for their senseless war against Eritrea.  Isn't
this
>>is obscene and tragic?  Are they once again going to get away with this
>>because the world chooses to be indifferent and not hold them accountable
>>for their crimes against humanity?
>>
>>Alexy
>>====================================================
>>Agence France Presse
>>April 9, 2000, Sunday 4:09 AM, Eastern Time
>>SECTION: International news
>>LENGTH: 329 words
>>HEADLINE: Kofi Annan criticises Ethiopian government for delayed aid
>>
>>DATELINE: LONDON, April 9
>>
>>BODY:
>> UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan defended the international community from
>>charges that it has failed to supply sufficient aid to famine victims in
>>Ethiopia, suggesting in an interview with the Sunday Times that Addis
Ababa
>>may be partly to blame for delays in food relief.
>>
>>"There has been an adequate response by the world. We have had food
>supplies
>>there," Annan said, adding: "They have not been distributed properly,"
said
>>Annan.
>>
>>"It is a tough terrain and Ethiopia is a huge country, but the government
>>could have done a better job of distribution."
>>
>>Around eight million people in Ethiopia are estimated to be facing
>>starvation after three years of drought which has dried out most wells and
>>killed much of the region's livestock.
>>
>>Ethiopian authorities have claimed that a delayed international response
to
>>the famine has depleted emergency food stocks and prevented the rapid
>>distribution of aid.
>>
>>According to UNICEF, around 900,000 tonnes of emergency food supplies are
>>urgently needed.
>>
>>But Annan maintained that a swift response to the famine had been impeded
>by
>>a sporadic border war between Ethiopia and Eritrea that has caused
>thousands
>>of deaths since May 1998 and closed many access routes to afflicted areas,
>>particularly in the parched south-east of Ethiopia.
>>
>>"The World Food Programme wants to use the Eritrean port of Massawa for
>>supplies, but it is closed by war," he said.
>>
>>Annan went on to make a stinging attack on Africa's political leaders,
>>accusing them of avarice, megalomania and failure to work towards better
>>living conditions in their countries.
>>
>>"The quality of the leaders, the misery they have brought to their people
>>and my inability to work with them to turn the situation around are very
>>depressing," he declared.
>>
>>"Unless we find a way of getting them to focus on resolving conflicts and
>>turn to key issues of economic and social development, the efforts that we
>>are all making will be for naught."
>>
>>======================================================
>>
>>The Indian Ocean Newsletter April 8, 2000
>>SECTION: POLITICS & POWER; ETHIOPIA; N. 899
>>LENGTH: 309 words
>>
>>HEADLINE: Military preparations continue
>>
>>BODY:
>>
>>
>>Apart from the purchase of four SU-25 fighters from Shturmovik Sukhovo
>which
>>the Russian firm revealed on April 3, the Ethiopian
>>army has equipped itself with 90 Ural military vehicles purchased in
>Russia.
>>The jet fighters are two SU-25T equipped for anti-tank
>>operations and two SU-UB training aircraft. The Urals have been
>>reconditioned in a military workshop in Addis Ababa and sent to the
>>front at Bure. The army has also taken delivery of brand-new MI-24
>>helicopters bought from Russia and now stationed at Debre Zeit
>>air force base, and training course on these aircraft are being given to
>>Ethiopian pilots on the old Addis airport. Last week, a Russian
>>pilot, his Ethiopian student pilot and a senior Ethiopian mechanic were
>>reported killed when the helicopter they were in crashed near
>>Addis Ababa. Similar training has been carried out at Bahr Dar and Mekele,
>>in northern Ethiopia, with about a dozen Russian pilots
>>billetted at the Ghion hotel in Bahr Dar. Military training has also
>resumed
>>on the front, particularly at Barra camp, near Sheraro, where
>>young officer cadets are going through a three-month refresher course.
>>Although these military preparations are going on, the food
>>supply being taken to the Ethiopian front lines is not dry rations but
>>flour, teff and sorghum, suggesting a defensive and stationary
>>choice.
>>
>>I.O.N. - Cases of desertion are not rare on both sides of the front. A
>group
>>of Ethiopian Amhara soldiers which deserted recently at
>>Bure put up an unusual reason by claiming that they were members of the
>>pro-government ANDM (ex-EPDM) movement headed
>>Tamrat Layne (the ex-prime minister just sentenced to eighteen years
prison
>>for alleged corruption). They said they had been victims
>>of ethnic discriminations by Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF, the
>>hard -core of EPRDF ruling in Addis Ababa).
>>______________________________________________________
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>