The authority of a court of law depends on the power it has to enforce its decisions. The permanent court of arbitration (PCA), from which the Ethiopia-Eritrea Boundary Commission (EEBC) is derived is not part of the United Nations. It is a separate independent organization. It has no power to enforce its decisions other than moral authority and collective acceptance by the international community. This moral authority is obviously undermined when the decision is proven to be based on errors of fact and the EEBC refuses to correct these errors.

By contrast, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) is the "principal judicial organ of the United Nations". Presumably, the decisions of the ICJ have more weight than the PCA because the enforcement power of the UN Security Council should theoretically be more readily available.

A case was brought before the ICJ in 1986 after the USA mined Nicaragua's harbor's resulting in loss of life and the sinking of European merchant ships. The US ambassador to the UN said the Court was a "semi-legal, semi-juridical, semi-political body which nations sometimes accept and sometimes don't."

"The Republic of Nicaragua v. The United States of America was a case heard by the International Court of Justice in which it was alleged that the United States had violated international law by supporting Contra guerrillas in their war against the Nicaraguan government and by mining Nicaragua's harbors. The Court ruled in Nicaragua's favor, but United States refused to abide by the Court's decision, even though it was obligated to do so under international law. After the Court's decision, the United States withdrew its declaration accepting the Court's compulsory jurisdiction."

John Negroponte, current US ambassador to the UN, was formerly ambassador to Honduras during the Reagan era (1980s). He directed the USA's actions against Nicaragua from his base in Honduras. He is intimately familiar with the above case. Jeanne Kirkpatrick, the UN ambassador at the time (who declared that the US was not bound to accept the ICJ verdict), is a hero to the current US administration.

The Nicaragua vs USA case should have been accepted by the USA. The USA was disturbing the peace and illegally using force against another member of the UN.

In the Ethiopia-Eritrea case the situation is reversed. Eritrea, led by crazy fuehrer Isaias, was the aggressor. Eritrea remains mobilized. Another war is inevitable if the UNMEE peacekeeping troops leave and the uncorrected EEBC border scars the landscape and disrupts the communities along the border.

Ethiopia should not submit to the bluffs and verbal threats from some quarters of the international community. Ethiopia should not accept the EEBC decision. If the USA can reject the ICJ decision when it was so clearly in the wrong, Ethiopia can certainly reject the EEBC decision on the grounds of justice.