:grin:

P.S I am not laughing in disregard to wronglane's concerns. Better be clear coz there is all lats of ppl quick to assume.



[ This Message was edited by: Yilkal on 2002-04-29 07:57 ]

Wronglane,

Hey I feel you brother but who is hating? All I said was Eritrea should be independent in EVERY sense of the word. That means no special diplomatic considerations (dual citizenship, open borders, no-visa entry privileges), no special economic considerations (trade ties, port usage), etc. Unless of course it benefits Ethiopia in some way. That should be the basic premise from which Ethiopia operates from this day forth and should have always operated from. Every other nation in global community operates from that basic premise (i.e. doing what is in their own best interest) why shouldn't we?

Kenya, Djibouti, and the Sudan have been much more friendlier neighbors to Ethiopia while not receiving much in return from Ethiopia. Wouldn't it be better to reciprocate the steadfast good neighborliness of those countries rather than grant special consideration to a nation (Eritrea) led be an ingrateful, rapacious, and vicious political elite bent on the destruction of Ethiopia as publicly admitted by them on numerous occasions (oh up until their humiliating military defeat that is)?

Would like to know what you think.

Excerpts from a June 7, 1998 Washington Post article:

Ethiopians were outraged by the Eritrean airstrike Friday that hit an elementary school in Mekele. At least 10 children were among the 44 reported killed, all at a location Meles said was miles from any conceivable military target. Another Ethiopian official said the casualty rate was unusually high because an Eritrean plane returned to bomb the crowd that had rushed to aid people injured by a bomb dropped on the first pass...

"I am 100 percent certain," said Yemane Kidane, a senior official in the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. "They are trying to terrorize the civilian population..."

...In Asmara, Eritreans once again danced in the streets at the news that an Ethiopian fighter was shot down and its pilot captured. "People are in a very ready state," said an Eritrean businessman reached by phone in Asmara. "People are saying we need to go to Addis."

the article:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/eritrea/stories/urge060798.htm


[ This Message was edited by: bereketb on 2002-04-30 17:39 ]

Only when there is a favorable regime change in Asmara can any kind of bi-lateral relations be re-established and only in the context of whether it is beneficial to Ethiopia.

Until then, offering unilateral special considerations to a regime that has publicly stated that its goal is to "go all the way to Addis," a regime that has predicted "Ethiopia won't last even 100 years," a regime that has stated "We will strike at the heart of Ethiopia ... there are a number of ways … it is not difficult to create a sense of insecurity," a regime that predicted it would "have breakfast in Sheraro, lunch in Endaselassie and dinner
in Mekele," a regime that was arming, training, and offering refuge to organizations perpatrating terror against Ethiopia (OLF, Al-Itihad Islam), a regime that dropped internationally condemned cluster bombs on our school kids and then came back for second run to wipe out the parents and teachers who came to the aid of the children is INCONCEIVABLE.

If that makes me a hawk, so be it.

[ This Message was edited by: bereketb on 2002-04-30 17:59 ]

Bereket,

I agree with you 100% on the point of not giving any special economic consideration to Eritrea. Ethiopia is Eritrea’s largest trading partner. Eritrea, with a population of 3.5 Million and a good chunk of that number being in desperate economical need makes a difficult market for Eritrean industries to exist and flourish. Ethiopia with a population of ~65 Million will be a lucrative market for Eritrean goods and services (if they have any to offer). On the other hand Ethiopia is not desperate to sell to the Eritrean market. By instituting a policy that will not deal with the current Eritrean regime unless there is great economical strategic interest for Ethiopia is the way to go.

They can be independent but they should have absolutely no special treatment that the rest of Ethiopia’s neighbors do not have. We can’t have a parasitical relationship with them.