Ethiopia news - Opinion

Ethiopia deserves to be compensated for colonial ills

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 22:59:08 -0400

Publication date:
Fri, 2008-09-05 02:00

Author Name:
by Mammo Muchie

Article:

It is not enough for slave-masters and colonialists to apologise for barbaric greed. The former colonial powers must pay compensation for the wreckage, debris and havoc they left behind which still influences the ability of those who had been colonized to emerge with freedom to pursue structural transformation.

Somali leaders: delusional fools or gifted psychics

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 22:47:52 -0400

Publication date:
Fri, 2008-09-05 02:00

Author Name:
by Abdullahi M. Arale (Bulac)

Article:

The struggle for political power and influence in Somalia has been raging for the past 18 years. To this date, we have not seen anyone of the people in leadership positions in Somalia, genuinely, striving to establish an inclusive Somali state. In the course of the noted period, various warlords fought against one another to gain power, some of whom claiming to fight for the people’s interests, some, under the influence of foreign governments claiming to fight against terrorism and religious extremism in Somalia, while others passionately seek and actively engaged in the division and dismemberment of the country for unexplained objectives. Today, the people of Somalia are less confident and more pessimistic about the future of their country. Somalis of all regions feel that their sovereignty and nationhood, dignity, safety and security and decent living are slipping away from their horizons by the hour. Additionally, they feel their living conditions were better off under Siyad Barre’s brutal regime. This is how the situation in Somalia stands as of today: in the south, a fierce fight rages between Abdullahi Yusuf’s Transitional Federal Government supported by Puntland militia and Ethiopian forces, and the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC); Puntland, acting like an independent state within a divided country is locked down in territorial confrontation with Somaliland; and the absolutist Somaliland’s strongman Rayale Kahin and his associates are engaged in deadly tribal ideologies with Somalia proper with an intention to establish an independent one tribe-state with own flag, armed forces and own constitution. The difficulties with these three-party positions stem from their own divergent objectives which, each one of them is committed to fight for, while the Somali people endures misery on the sideline.

Somalia: A Country in Peril, a Policy Nightmare

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 04:40:41 -0400

Publication date:
Thu, 2008-09-04 08:00

Author Name:
by Ken Menkhaus

Article:

This is the first of two ENOUGH strategy papers on Somalia by Ken Menkhaus, a professor at Davidson College and a specialist on the Horn of Africa. Based on recent field research, the first half of this report provides an analysis of the current crisis in Somalia. The second half critically examines why international policies toward Somalia have produced disastrously unintended results, and makes an urgent case for a review of those policies. A follow-up report will explore options and make recommendations for a new, more effective, international approach to Somalia.

The prospect of a UN Peace Support Mission in Somalia

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 12:52:50 -0400

Publication date:
Wed, 2008-09-03 16:00

Author Name:
by Solomon A. Dersso

Article:

Finally some good news about the conflict in Somalia. At a UN-brokered meeting held in Djibouti on 18August 2008, the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of Somalia and an opposition alliance called the Re-Liberation of Somalia (ARS) signed a peace agreement, following negotiations that started in June of this year. This latest deal addresses different aspects of the peace process. Among others, it calls upon the United Nations (UN) 'to authorize and deploy an international stabilization force from countries that are friends of Somalia, excluding neighboring countries.'

Election in Mogadishu will be neither fair nor free

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 12:44:55 -0400

Publication date:
Wed, 2008-09-03 16:00

Author Name:
By Abdi Mohamed Ali

Article:

Where are now the true residents of Mogadishu ? Sometimes, we Somalis, act as if
there was no yesterday and there is no tomorrow. How do you conduct elections in a
city where all its citizens were ethnically cleansed? In 1991, I was one of millions
of Mogadishu residents. I and my family are one of those cleansed from their homes.
My family had properties (a home and store). Our beautiful home was in Bondheere. My
late father who did not survive beyond 1991 had a thriving business in Xamar Weyne.

The American Wanderer, in All His Stripes

Sat, 30 Aug 2008 06:04:11 -0400

Publication date:
Sat, 2008-08-30 10:00

Author Name:
By MICHAEL POWELL

Article:

The American Wanderer, in All His Stripes

By MICHAEL POWELL

That an air of the enigmatic attends Barack Obama is a commonplace; he is a man of fractured geography and family and wanderings.

America’s foreign-policy election

Sat, 30 Aug 2008 05:55:46 -0400

Publication date:
Sat, 2008-08-30 09:00

Author Name:
by Godfrey Hodgson

Article:

The emphasis at the Democratic Party convention in Denver on 25-28 August 2008 is set to climax with a speech from the party's presidential nominee Barack Obama that seeks to project the candidate as never before to the national electorate. The full impact of the convention and its closing address on what has become an increasingly even race is is yet to measured, but its unifying momentum - symbolised by the high-profile endorsements of Obama by Hillary Clinton and (more strikingly) Bill Clinton - was intended to allow the party to put the bitter divisions of the primary race behind it and march forward at last to meet John McCain, the Republican candidate, in a fair and equal fight.

Maxaad kala socota qaabka uu Indhacadde ula dhaqmo dadka Shabeelada hoose

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 20:11:28 -0400

Publication date:
Sat, 2008-08-30 00:00

Author Name:
Badal Mohamud

Article:

Dadka dagan magaalada Marka iyo gobolka Shabeelada hoosaba waxaa haysata
dhibaato joogta ah oo ay kuhayaan Mooryaanta Indhacade,kuwaas oo iyagu
xalaashaday dadkaas iyo dhulkoodaba,Marka ugu horaysa indhacadde oo kamid
ahaa qabqablayaashii Soomaaliya,ayaa sanadkii 2006 kii waxa uu helay fursad
uu kaga mid noqday Midawgii Maxaakiimta Islaamiga ah,taasoo kadhigtay shakhi
caadi ah oo aan wax dambi ah kasoo galin shacabka.

Insecurity in Somalia a risk to whole region

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 01:14:46 -0400

Publication date:
Fri, 2008-08-29 05:00

Author Name:
by Sam Mwangi

Article:

Recent reports about incidents of piracy off the Somali coast, the kidnapping of foreign journalists and the continuing anarchy in the country give the impression of increased insecurity not just in Somalia, but in the eastern African region as a whole, and this could have an impact on the confidence of foreign investors and traders in neighbouring states.

Explaining the Ethiopian drought

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 20:59:31 -0400

Publication date:
Thu, 2008-08-28 00:00

Author Name:
by Berhanu Kebede, Ethiopian Ambassador to the UK

Article:

Sir, Regrettably, the effects of climate change have brought severe drought to parts of Ethiopia in recent months and we welcome the assistance given by the international community to help us to address hardship among our people. However, your report (“Ethiopia — another famine, another avoidable disaster”, (Aug 20) does not help to address these issues. Attributing the current drought to population growth and land ownership rules reflects a superficial analysis of Ethiopia’s recent history, politics and the economic realities that Ethiopia currently faces.

Did you miss the grade? Don't panic!

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 17:24:03 -0400

Publication date:
Tue, 2008-08-26 21:00

Author Name:
Mohamed Ahmed Cantoobo

Article:

It is 3 years since the postman brought the letter I had been waiting for from Cambridge University. I can still hear the noise of the letterbox flap. I can still see the envelope on the mat. I bent to pick it up, wondered whether I dared to open it, stopped breathing and did. They were sorry but, no, they could not offer me a place: stiff competition and all that, hope all goes well. Then the film stops. I don't know what I did next, my disbelief, anger and self-pity remain pretty vivid.

Djibouti Peace Agreement: A blueprint for a National Unity Government

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 05:30:06 -0400

Publication date:
Wed, 2008-08-20 09:00

Author Name:
by Daud Ed Osman

Article:

It took eighteen month - since the Ethiopian invasion of Somalia - for the “International Community” to recognize that the warlord-dominated Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and Autocratic Ethiopian Prime Minister Mele Zenawi’s agenda for Somalia was not intended for stabilization or institution building, but to destabilize Somalia by creating what United Nations Under-Secretary for Humanitarian Affair John Holmes called “the worst humanitarian disaster in the world”, and in the process destroyed the economic, social, human, and democratic infrastructure, which are necessary for stabilization, and state reconstruction.

Cabasho furan kuna socota madaxweynaha DGS C/laahi lug buur

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 08:50:01 -0400

Publication date:
Tue, 2008-08-19 00:00

Author Name:
Darmaan Boqor Xuseen

Article:

Mudane iyo marwo dhamaan waad salaamantihiin gaar ahaan madaxweynaha
Cabdulaahi lug buur salaan kadib waxaan halkan cabasho furan idiin soo gudbinaya mid
ka mid ah aqoonyahaanta degmada QARSAADUULA.

The extreme-right way to make a buck

Sun, 17 Aug 2008 03:34:36 -0400

Publication date:
Sun, 2008-08-17 07:00

Author Name:
Tim Rutten

Photo:

Article:

Jerome Corsi, author of a pitiful new slam on Obama, is the product of a publishing industry that feeds off extremism.

The fact that John Adams and Thomas Jefferson's famous friendship recovered from the acrimonious presidential campaigns of 1796 and 1800 is a monument to 18th century detachment and the mysterious power of genuine human fellowship.

Swift Boat author plagues Obama campaign

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 23:37:33 -0400

Publication date:
Thu, 2008-08-14 03:00

Author Name:
By DAVID PAUL KUHN

Photo:

Article:

Four years ago this month, the release of a critical book by Jerome R. Corsi undercut the cornerstone of Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry's campaign narrative, his military service in Vietnam.