Folks: what is happening along the Eritrean border today has many similarities to September 1935 when Mussolini invaded Ethiopia.

In the early 1930's, Mussolini was a popular dictator who appeared to be the perfect guy to whip Italy into shape. And in fact, in his early years, Italy appeared to blossom. Pioneering technological developments were taking place in Italy, and outsiders were regarding the country as an up-and-coming new power in Europe. Many famous people became avowed fascist admirers, including the well-known English writer Evelyn Waugh.

But appearances can be deceiving - especially in tightly-controlled dictatorships.

With his aggressive, militaristic nature, and oversize ego, Mussolini started believing his own propaganda and decided to put his massive army to use. Soon, he began using the ill-defined colonial borders with Ethiopia as a pretext to invade. After several border incidents in the early 1930s, Ethiopia appealed to the League of Nations for mediation and joint survey parties to delineate the border.

However, Mussolini was not interested. He was wrapped up in the glorious mythology about reviving the Roman empire. In September 1935, 250,000 Italian troops invaded the undefended northern border of Ethiopia.

Now, Let's Fast Forward 63 Years…

A popular dictator rules in Eritrea with an oversize army and ego to match. He attracts a following among some foreigners (EPLF groupies). His government brainwashes the citizens with the quasi-religious "cult of the martyrs" mythology and they start to believe their own hype… They are "glorious, exclusive, and pure"; the best fighters in the whole world, and no one dare touch them.

A new and diseased form of nationalism emerges in the horn of Africa. It is based on distorted mythology and a deliberately cultivated hatred of Ethiopia and demonization of Ethiopians. It is dependent on Eritreans defining themselves as fundamentally different people than their same ethnic brethren across the border. If we were different races we would know what to call it. Instead it simply appears as a silly display of ego that clashes glaringly with the fact that Eritreans are a famine-prone people that rank among the poorest on earth.

But the disease must run its course. The old Mussolini maps are brought out, border incidents multiply, and soon a large army crosses Ethiopia's undefended northern border again.

Well we all know what happened to Mussolini. Will the fate of Issayas Afeworqi be much different? He is fighting for his life. If he loses this war, his followers could turn on him with a viciousness that may surprise us all.

- Dagmawi