by G.Michael, May 17, 2000

It was exactly 2 years ago, on May 12, 1998 when the first stage of a planned invasion of Ethiopian territory began and a day later, on May 13 1998 when the Council of Ministers and House of Peoples' Representatives of Ethiopia passed a resolution "condemning the aggression, demanding an immediate and unconditional withdrawal of Eritrean invading forces and warning that Ethiopia reserved the right to defend its territorial integrity."

There is no question in the eyes of the International Community that the current war was triggered by Eritrea's invasion of Ethiopian territory.

The US-Rwanda team, the OAU, and the United Nations (UN) have accepted this fact when they continued on the many peace talks, proposals or whatever names they were given. The 35th Session of the Executive Committee and the 21st Conference of the Union of African Parliaments that was held in Niamey, Niger from 18th-20th August 1998 had clearly noted that the impasse at the time for the peaceful resolution of the conflict was the refusal by the Eritrean authorities "to accept the recommendations from the Facilitators, the OAU and the Security Council that the Eritrean armed forces withdraw from occupied Ethiopian administered territories."

Eritrea had also accepted the fact that it was occupying a previously Ethiopian administered territory when it accepted the US-Rwanda recommendations one of which includes for Eritrea to withdraw from positions it held before the dispute.

The Modalities for the Implementation of the OAU Framework Agreement on the Settlement of the Dispute Between Ethiopia and Eritrea states it clearly that "The Eritrean Government commits itself to re-deploy its forces outside the territories they occupied after 6 May 1998."

Despite all these facts, the Eritreans continued to tell their lies as though they were the victims and that they wanted a peaceful end to the conflict. If that was true, they could have ended the conflict by withdrawing from all territories they continue to occupy.

All resolutions and statements from the past two years indicate that the UN and Eritrea agreed with Ethiopia that its territory has been and continues to be occupied. One of the objectives of the UN is to punish those countries that violate its charters. When a member state's territory is occupied, the first reaction should have been to condemn the aggression and demand that the aggressor withdraw its occupying army, and when that demand is rejected take an action according to the UN's own regulations.

However, in this conflict, all things have been reversed. When Eritrea bombed twice and killed many innocent school children in their classrooms, the US condemned Ethiopia for targeting Eritrean airport that also served as its air force base. This was apparently endangering the lives of Americans who wanted to leave Asmara. I agree and commend the US government for the concern it has for its own citizens. However, it would have helped the families of the murdered school children to hear the US cares for other human lives as well and more importantly to stop further targeting of civilians. But it did not happen. When Eritrea later dropped eight bombs targeting refugees waiting to collect food at a grain warehouse and killed several people, no one cared for those who died. Eritrea deliberately targeted the same people who fled the border as a result of the invasion and destroyed a desperately needed supply of grain they were depending on. There was no condemnation. Sadly, Ethiopia did not even retaliate.

If the UN or for that matter anyone country wanted to help end this conflict, they could have done it a long time ago and they can still do it by simply condemning Eritrea for its actions and ordering it to withdraw without delay. Of course the UN should have taken action when Eritrea started a conflict with Yemen and then Djibouti. It was perhaps such inaction together with Ethiopian government's decision to disarm itself that invited the gamble by Eritrea to solve its economic and border problems with Ethiopia by force. No other country capable of defending itself could have waited for so long with hundreds of thousands of its people displaced, thousands of them living in caves and thousands taken as prisoners with their whereabouts unknown.

Although Ethiopians can and should ask their government why they were made to suffer for so long as refugees within their own country to appease the demands and requests of those countries who did not even condemn such barbaric acts of targeting school children and displaced people, it is unfortunate that the UN is still treating the aggressor and the victim equally. This should not however be surprising for Ethiopians who had been victimized in the past by the predecessor of the UN, the League of Nations.

The same countries that are advocating to punish Ethiopia equally with its aggressor either cared little or were conspiring against Ethiopia. During the early stages of WWII, it is no secret that the British Government had once asked Ethiopia, the aggressed country to apologize for Italy, the aggressor. A few years later, that friendship between Italy and England ended and the British Government helped the same Ethiopian King return to his throne despite their denying him and more importantly the Ethiopian people justice at the League of Nations.

As in the past, the two years of waiting for the UN to do the right thing in this conflict has only helped the enemy to confuse the world with its lies and the continued suffering of those displaced Ethiopians and the family of those defending the country. In the mean time, thousands of Ethiopians have already died while the UN and both countries continue to talk peace without meaning it. To repeat, a simple demand by the UN, not just a request or recommendation of withdrawal of Eritrean forces to pre-May 1998 would have identified who really wanted a peaceful resolution to this conflict.

The recent failure in the final attempt to bring about peaceful resolution shows there was no intention by Eritrea to withdraw from territories it continues to occupy.

Punishing a victim and an aggressor equally does not show impartiality no matter what those countries who profess it say. On the other hand, one has to give peace a chance or two or three but two years of begging for peace sends the wrong signal to the enemy, to the mediators, and finally to one's own people.