Wikileaks dispatch exposes Meles Zenawi as a mercenary
EthiopianReview.com | December 2nd, 2010
U.S. diplomatic dispatched that are leaked and now posted on Wikileaks.org confirms Ethiopian Review’s report that Ethiopia’s despot Meles Zenawi was hired by U.S. Government to invade Somalia in 2006. The proxy war was spearheaded by U.S. head for African affairs Jendayi Frazer who conducted the disastrous invasion over the objection of her own colleagues in the State Department and the Pentagon. The 2006 invasion of Somalia succeeded in eliminating the benign Islamist group UIC, but it also led to the birth the al Queda-affiliated al Shabab. In short, al Shabab is the creation of Jendayi Frazer and Meles Zenawi. Al Shabab is now being financed by Saudi sheiks and it is purchasing its weapons from Woyanne and Uganda officers, as reported here by French journalist Alain Lallemand for LeMonde newspaper. Over 20,000 Somalis were slaughtered and over 2 million were made homeless as a result of Jendayi Frazer’s adventure and Meles Zenawi’s prostitution. — Elias Kifle
The following is from Wired.com:
WikiLeaked Cable Confirms U.S.’ Secret Somalia Op
2 December 2010
It was an off-hand compliment during a January 2007 dinner meeting between Abu Dhabi crown prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, plus staff, and then-U.S. Central Commander boss General John Abizaid. But Al Nayhan’s jocular praise, as reported in WikiLeaks’ trove of leaked diplomatic cables, is a rare admission that the United States played a central role in the disastrous December 2006
EthiopianWoyanne [the ruling party in Ethiopia] invasion of Somalia, a move that ultimately emboldened the very Islamic extremists the U.S. and
EthiopiaWoyanne had hoped to squash.
“The Somalia job was fantastic,” Al Nahyan interjected between discussions of Iran, Saudi Arabia and the prince’s desire to buy Reaper drones for his air force. At the time of Al Nahyan’s comment, the dust was just settling from Ethiopia’s Blitzkrieg-style assault toward Mogadishu. Some 50,000
EthiopianWoyanne troops, supported by T-55 tanks, Hind helicopters and Su-27 jet fighters, had cut a bloody swath through the lightly-armed forces of the Islamic Courts Union, an alliance of mostly nationalist Islamic fighters that prior to the invasion had controlled much of Somalia.
The Somali attack had surprised outside observers.
EthiopiaWoyanne and Somalia had been rivals a long time, but no one had expected such brutal fighting, and so suddenly. It was fairly obvious that Ethiopia had received significant help — even urging — for its invasion. For one,
EthiopianWoyanne air force did not appear capable of coordinated air strikes in support of on-the-move ground troops; it seemed likely that the Su-27s were piloted by Russian or Ukrainian mercenaries — a time-honored tradition in Africa. What’s more,
EthiopianWoyanne’s army didn’t possess the intelligence or logistical skill for long-range operations. Those, not coincidentally, are particular American strengths.
Washington certainly had a motive to get involved in Somalia. There was growing concern in the White House and the Pentagon that Somalia’s Islamists might ally themselves with Al Qaeda and turn to international terrorism. Already with two escalating wars on its own plate, the U.S. was in no position to openly lead its own large-scale attack on Somalia. It’d have been far simpler to simply sponsor somebody else to do the dirty work. Enter
EthiopiaWoyanne. [Ethiopia has nothing to do with the invasion of Somalia.]
In early January following the invasion, USA Today’s Barbara Slavin reported on Washington’s extensive behind-the-scenes support for
EthiopianWoyanne troops. “The ties include intelligence sharing, arms aid and training,” Slavin noted. A couple days later, The Washington Post’s Pauline Jelinek, citing anonymous sources, described U.S. Special Forces accompanying
EthiopianWoyanne troops. CBS news revealed that U.S. Air Force gunships were active over southern Somalia during the Ethiopian blitz. Through all the reporting, U.S. officials remained vague or silent on the subject of Washington’s involvement. All the same, evidence was mounting that the U.S. had played a leading role in the
EthiopianWoyanne invasion. Journalists only strongly suspected it, but Abu Dhabi prince Al Nayhan apparently knew it for certain, if his praise of “the Somalia job” was any indication.
Three years later, it’s clear the
EthiopianWoyanne invasion was a bad idea. The attack rallied Somalis of all stripes and politics against the invaders, ultimately boosting support for fringe Islamic groups that now had a clear enemy in the
EthiopiansWoyannes and their suspected American puppet-masters. Violence mounted as the
EthiopiansWoyannes settled in for a bloody, two-year occupation.
When the
EthiopiansWoyannes withdrew in 2009, the Islamists rushed to fill the vacuum. A year later, the Al Shabab Islamic group, successor to the Islamic Courts, conducted its first international terror attack. Last month, a Somali-born American teen plotted to explode a bomb in Portland. Today, U.S. Special Forces continue to target terrorists in Somalia. There are arguably more of them than ever, thanks in part to the botched
EthiopianWoyanne invasion. “We’ve made a lot of mistakes and
Ethiopia’sWoyanne’s entry in 2006 was not a really good idea,” U.S. diplomat Donald Yamamoto said in March.
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¶5. (C) Prime Minister Meles Zenawi told U/S Otero the development of a strong democracy and civil society is the only way Ethiopia can ensure peace and unity among an ethnically and religiously divided population. He noted that the Government of Ethiopia’s (GoE) commitment to democracy is directly related to stability, adding that for Ethiopia, “democratization is a matter of survival.” Responding to U/S Otero’s concern that Ethiopia’s recently-enacted CSO law threatened the role of civil society, Meles said while the GoE welcomes foreign funding of charities, those Ethiopians who want to engage in political activity should organize and fund themselves. The leaders of CSOs that receive foreign funding are not accountable to their organizations, he said, but rather to the sources of their funding, turning the concept of democratic accountability on its head. Meles asserted that Ethiopians were not too poor to organize themselves and establish their own democratic traditions, recalling that within his lifetime illiterate peasants and poor students had overthrown an ancient imperial dynasty.
¶6. (C) Meles said his country’s inability to develop a strong democracy was not due to insufficient understanding of democratic principles, but rather because Ethiopians had not
ADDIS ABAB 00000163 002 OF 003
internalized those principles. Ethiopia should follow the example of the U.S. and European countries, he said, where democracy developed organically and citizens had a stake in its establishment. When people are committed to democracy and forced to make sacrifices for it, Meles said, “they won’t let any leader take it away from them.” But “when they are spoon-fed democracy, they will give it up when their source of funding and encouragement is removed.” Referencing his own struggle against the Derg regime, Meles said he and his compatriots received no foreign funding, but were willing to sacrifice and die for their cause, and Ethiopians today must take ownership of their democratic development, be willing to sacrifice for it, and defend their own rights.
¶7. (C) Meles drew a clear distinction between Ethiopians’ democratic and civil rights on the one hand, and the right of foreign entities to fund those rights on the other. There is no restriction on Ethiopians’ rights, he asserted, merely on foreign funding, adding that the U.S. has similar laws. U/S Otero countered that while the U.S. does not allow foreign funding of political campaigns, there is no restriction on foreign funding of NGOs. Ms. Gavin noted the examples of foreign support for the abolitionist movement in the U.S. and for the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa as positive examples of foreign engagement of civil society, and expressed that aside from the issue of foreign funding, the ability of local organizations to legally register, operate, and contribute to democratic discourse was of tantamount importance.
GoE Will Hold Free and Fair Elections, Despite Opposition
--------------------------------------------- ------------
¶10. (C) Meles recalled that in 2005, he had told opposition leaders in the
presence of the diplomatic corps that they should not believe foreign allies
would protect them if they violated the laws of Ethiopia. Opposition leaders
were right to believe the diplomatic corps would try to protect them, he said,
as evidenced by the statement they issued demanding the release of opposition
politicians upon their arrest in 2005. Today, Meles said, foreign embassies are
inadvertently conveying the same message, that they will protest the jailing of
opposition leaders and potentially take action against Ethiopia to secure their
release. However, the GoE has made clear to both opposition and EPRDF leaders
that nothing can protect them except the laws and constitution of Ethiopia, and
the GoE will clamp down on anyone who violates those laws. “We will crush them
with our full force,” Meles said, and “they will vegetate like Birtukan
(Midekssa) in jail forever.”
ADDIS ABAB 00000163 003 OF 003
¶11. (C) In an extended discussion in response to Meles’ comments, U/S Otero,
A/S Carson, and Ms. Gavin noted that Ethiopia’s forthcoming elections would be
closely watched in the U.S. and that the GoE’s treatment of the opposition would
be subject to public criticism by the Ethiopian diaspora and U.S. political
figures. The U.S. delegation urged Meles to exercise wise judgment and
leadership, give the opposition more political space, and consider the release
of Birtukan Midekssa. A/S Carson stressed the importance of putting Ethiopia’s
democracy on an upward and positive trajectory, and not letting it atrophy or
slide backward, using the suffrage and civil rights movements in the U.S. as an
illustration of challenges the U.S. has faced as it improved its own democratic
system. (Note: Three quarters of the nearly two-hour meeting focused on
democracy. End note.)
Ethiopia Not Enthusiastic About Jubaland
Initiative
--------------------------------------------- ------
¶12. (C) Meles said he had been briefed extensively regarding Kenya’s
Jubaland initiative. Because Ethiopia had previously intervened in Somalia
without seeking Kenyan approval, he said, the GoE would not presume to analyze
the Kenyans’ chances for success in their own intervention. The GoE is sharing
intelligence with Kenya, but Meles expressed a lack of confidence in Kenya’s
capacity to pull off a tactical success, which he feared could have negative
regional impacts. The GoE is therefore working to minimize the likelihood of a
spillover effect in Ethiopia’s Somali Regional State. Noting that Ethiopia might
have underestimated Kenya, Meles said, “We are not enthusiastic, but we are
hoping for success.”
GoE Prepared to Move Forward from
Copenhagen
--------------------------------------------
¶13. (C) U/S Otero urged Meles to sign the Copenhagen accord on climate
change and explained that it is a point of departure for further discussion and
movement forward on the topic. She noted that while the agreement has its
limitations, it has the international community moving in the right direction.
Meles responded that the GoE supported the accord in Copenhagen and would
support it at the AU Summit. However, he expressed his disappointment that
despite President Obama’s personal assurance to him that finances committed in
Copenhagen would be made available, he had received word from contacts at the UN
that the U.S. was not supportive of Ethiopia’s proposal for a panel to monitor
financial pledges regarding climate change. Ms. Gavin assured the Prime Minister
that she would look into his concerns.
No Promises on Liberalizing Telecoms,
Banking
---------------------------------------------
¶14. (C) U/S Otero and A/S Carson encouraged Meles to hasten steps to
liberalize the telecommunications and banking industries in Ethiopia, and
highlighted both the micro- and macroeconomic benefits of liberalization. Meles
offered no substantive response to A/S Carson’s query whether any progress had
been made toward liberalizing or otherwise improving telecommunications, joking
that Americans’ concept of time was much faster than Ethiopians’. In response to
U/S Otero’s recognition of the important role of private banks in microfinance
projects that directly benefit the poor, and assurance that private and
state-owned banks could thrive side-by-side, Meles said he would be happy to
discuss the issue in the future.
The following is from Wired.com:
WikiLeaked Cable Confirms U.S.’ Secret Somalia Op
2 December 2010
It was an off-hand compliment during a January 2007 dinner meeting between Abu Dhabi crown prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, plus staff, and then-U.S. Central Commander boss General John Abizaid. But Al Nayhan’s jocular praise, as reported in WikiLeaks’ trove of leaked diplomatic cables, is a rare admission that the United States played a central role in the disastrous December 2006
“The Somalia job was fantastic,” Al Nahyan interjected between discussions of Iran, Saudi Arabia and the prince’s desire to buy Reaper drones for his air force. At the time of Al Nahyan’s comment, the dust was just settling from Ethiopia’s Blitzkrieg-style assault toward Mogadishu. Some 50,000
The Somali attack had surprised outside observers.
Washington certainly had a motive to get involved in Somalia. There was growing concern in the White House and the Pentagon that Somalia’s Islamists might ally themselves with Al Qaeda and turn to international terrorism. Already with two escalating wars on its own plate, the U.S. was in no position to openly lead its own large-scale attack on Somalia. It’d have been far simpler to simply sponsor somebody else to do the dirty work. Enter
In early January following the invasion, USA Today’s Barbara Slavin reported on Washington’s extensive behind-the-scenes support for
Three years later, it’s clear the
When the
Ethiopia: WikiLeaks Reveals
Details of U.S. Dialogue With
Meles
6 December 2010
document
Ethiopian
Prime Minister Meles Zenawi told top visiting American officials before
elections in May this year that he would “crush… with our full force”
opposition leaders who “violated the laws of Ethiopia,” according to a
diplomatic cable published by WikiLeaks.
The
cable, sent to Washington from the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa, reported Meles
as telling a U.S. delegation in January that such leaders would suffer the fate
of the jailed opposition leader, Birtukan Midekssa. They would “vegetate like
Birtukan in jail forever,” he reportedly said.
Birtukan,
who was jailed in 2005 following that year’s elections, then jailed again in
2008, was released in October this year after Meles had been returned to power
in an election criticised by the U.S., European Union and rights groups.
Meles
also told the U.S. delegation, which included Under Secretary for Democracy and
Global Affairs Maria Otero and Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs
Johnnie Carson, that while Ethiopia welcomed foreign funding of charities, it
would not allow donations from abroad for political activity.
The
cable said Meles had said “those Ethiopians who want to engage in political
activity should organize and fund themselves.” Civil society organization
leaders who received foreign funding were accountable to the sources of their
funding rather than to their organizations.
Replying,
the delegation told Meles the May elections “would be closely watched in the
U.S.” and urged him “to exercise wise judgment and leadership, give the
opposition more political space, and consider the release of Birtukan
Midekssa.”
The
cable said Carson “stressed the importance of putting Ethiopia’s democracy on
an upward and positive trajectory, and not letting it atrophy or slide
backward, using the suffrage and civil rights movements in the U.S. as an
illustration of challenges the U.S. has faced as it improved its own democratic
system.”
The
full text of the cable, as published by WikiLeaks, follows:
CONFIDENTIAL
SECTION 01 OF 03 ADDIS ABABA 000163
SIPDIS
E.O.
12958 DECL: 02/01/2020
TAGS
PREL, PGOV, KDEM, MOPS, ECON, KE, ET
SUBJECT:
UNDER SECRETARY OTERO’S MEETING WITH ETHIOPIAN PRIME MINISTER MELES ZENAWI -
JANUARY 31, 2010
Classified
By: Under Secretary Maria Otero for reasons 1.4 (B) and (D).
¶1.
(SBU) January 31, 2010; 4:15 p.m.; Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
¶2.
(SBU) Participants:
U.S.
Under Secretary Otero Assistant Secretary Carson NSC Senior Director for
African Affairs Michelle Gavin PolOff Skye Justice (notetaker)
Ethiopia
Prime Minister Meles Zenawi Special Assistant Gebretensae Gebremichael
Summary
-------
¶3.
(C) Prime Minister Meles Zenawi told Under Secretary for Democracy and Global
Affairs Maria Otero his government placed no restrictions on its citizens’
democratic and civil rights, only the right of foreign entities to fund them.
Foreign funding of civil society organizations (CSOs) is antithetical to
democratization, he said, as it makes civil society leaders accountable to
foreign entities rather than their own members, turning the concept of
democratic accountability on its head. Democracy in Ethiopia must develop
organically, and Ethiopians must organize and fund themselves and defend their
own rights. Meles assured U/S Otero that Ethiopia’s upcoming elections will be
free, fair, transparent, and peaceful, and elaborated steps his government has
taken to ensure this. While opposition groups may resort to violence in an
attempt to discredit the election, the GoE will enforce the recently enacted
Electoral Code of Conduct and its existing election laws without regard to
party affiliation. Meles said he has warned opposition leaders that the
international community will not be able to save them should they violate
Ethiopian law, but rather if they do so they will face the same fate as
opposition leader Birtukan Midekssa, who will “vegetate in jail forever.” The
U.S. delegation noted that Ethiopia’s forthcoming elections would be closely
watched in the U.S., and urged Meles to exercise wise judgment and leadership,
give the opposition more political space, and consider the release of Birtukan
Midekssa.
¶4. (C) Meles said the
GoE is not enthusiastic about Kenya’s Jubaland initiative, but is sharing
intelligence with Kenya and hoping for success. In the event the initiative is
not successful, the GoE has plans in place to limit the destabilizing impacts on
Ethiopia. On climate change, Meles said the GoE fully supports the Copenhagen
accord, but is disappointed with signs the U.S. may not support his proposed
panel to monitor international financial contributions under the accord. Meles
made no substantive comment on inquiries regarding the liberalization of banking
and telecommunications in Ethiopia. End summary.
Foreign Funding of CSOs Antithetical to
Democratization--------------------------------------------- ----------
¶5. (C) Prime Minister Meles Zenawi told U/S Otero the development of a strong democracy and civil society is the only way Ethiopia can ensure peace and unity among an ethnically and religiously divided population. He noted that the Government of Ethiopia’s (GoE) commitment to democracy is directly related to stability, adding that for Ethiopia, “democratization is a matter of survival.” Responding to U/S Otero’s concern that Ethiopia’s recently-enacted CSO law threatened the role of civil society, Meles said while the GoE welcomes foreign funding of charities, those Ethiopians who want to engage in political activity should organize and fund themselves. The leaders of CSOs that receive foreign funding are not accountable to their organizations, he said, but rather to the sources of their funding, turning the concept of democratic accountability on its head. Meles asserted that Ethiopians were not too poor to organize themselves and establish their own democratic traditions, recalling that within his lifetime illiterate peasants and poor students had overthrown an ancient imperial dynasty.
¶6. (C) Meles said his country’s inability to develop a strong democracy was not due to insufficient understanding of democratic principles, but rather because Ethiopians had not
ADDIS ABAB 00000163 002 OF 003
internalized those principles. Ethiopia should follow the example of the U.S. and European countries, he said, where democracy developed organically and citizens had a stake in its establishment. When people are committed to democracy and forced to make sacrifices for it, Meles said, “they won’t let any leader take it away from them.” But “when they are spoon-fed democracy, they will give it up when their source of funding and encouragement is removed.” Referencing his own struggle against the Derg regime, Meles said he and his compatriots received no foreign funding, but were willing to sacrifice and die for their cause, and Ethiopians today must take ownership of their democratic development, be willing to sacrifice for it, and defend their own rights.
¶7. (C) Meles drew a clear distinction between Ethiopians’ democratic and civil rights on the one hand, and the right of foreign entities to fund those rights on the other. There is no restriction on Ethiopians’ rights, he asserted, merely on foreign funding, adding that the U.S. has similar laws. U/S Otero countered that while the U.S. does not allow foreign funding of political campaigns, there is no restriction on foreign funding of NGOs. Ms. Gavin noted the examples of foreign support for the abolitionist movement in the U.S. and for the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa as positive examples of foreign engagement of civil society, and expressed that aside from the issue of foreign funding, the ability of local organizations to legally register, operate, and contribute to democratic discourse was of tantamount importance.
GoE Will Hold Free and Fair Elections, Despite Opposition
--------------------------------------------- ------------
¶8. (C) Meles assured
U/S Otero that Ethiopia’s upcoming electoral process will be free, fair,
transparent, and peaceful. The GoE has learned from the violence that followed
the 2005 elections, he said, and taken action to ensure that violence is not
repeated. Meles said the recently signed Electoral Code of Conduct (CoC) was not
done for the benefit of political parties, but for the Ethiopian people. The
people will ultimately judge political actors, he said, and they must have
parameters agreed to by the parties by which they will judge those actors. After
the CoC was passed, Meles noted, the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary
Democratic Front (EPRDF) gathered over 1,300 of its senior leaders to discuss
party strategy and train all leaders on the CoC. The EPRDF knows violations of
the CoC by its members will hurt the party and provide a rallying cry for the
opposition. This message will flow down to all EPRDF members, he said, so that
they know what is expected of them, and know both the courts and the party will
hold them accountable to the CoC.
¶9. (C) Meles told U/S
Otero he feared a repeat of the 2005 violence, and that many opposition members
were not interested in peaceful elections, but would rather discredit the
electoral process. As such, the EPRDF cannot give them any excuse to resort to
violence. Meles noted that in addition to opposition political parties, the GoE
had intelligence that the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), Ogaden National
Liberation Front (ONLF), and Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki were all directly
or indirectly involved in plots to discredit the elections. The EPRDF, he said,
would “let them be” to show the population that even though their opponents’
goal is not peace, the EPRDF will abide by the law.
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