Heh. Diplomacy IS petty squabbling.
Nuance and stupidity countered by nuance and stupidity are the name of the game -- and that's what, generally, it is...:(
From all that I take it that we agree it's stupid
-- diplomacy as currently practiced, that is -- and that my sarcastic 'nuance' (a cover word for refusal to honestly state ones concerns and take care of ones interests) was perhaps itself too nuanced or too diplomatic. I also note that you (at least in that situation) and the UN (most always) seem to be equally ineffective? ;)
In short, I agree. Pity about the Foreign Office, the State Department and Turtle Bay living in a world that seem to have passed them by...
How to win allies and influence nations--Not!
Shouldn't the next step from the US be to use the force at Camp Lemonier to conduct some punitive cross border ops into Eritrea? Let's not forget to bring an AC-130 strike into downtown Asmara and maybe use some standoff ALCMs, launched from a B-52 loitering over, say, Libya, in violation of its air space. To ice it all, there needs to be a US press release with intimate details about the ALCM strike so that the rest of the Islamic world can join in the outrage over the Crusaders "invasion" of Libya or wherever the aircraft happened to be tracking at launch time. :eek:
That sounds like the typical
FSOs reaction to the suggestion, no more, from a military guy that his approach to diplomacy is just a tiny bit too conciliatory and thus is unlikely to achieve his aims.
There is a middle way... :)
US Considering Terror Label for Eritrea
US Considering Terror Label for Eritrea
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/s...857205,00.html
It's posturing and negotiation, but to me, this is poor diplomacy. Is the U.S. at the "diplomatic death sentence" stage yet with Eritrea?
Afewerki is no diplomat and is likely to either not respond or respond with anger. Does the US gov. really want to continue this pissing match and is it ready to slap the terror label on Eritrea, causing more unecessary suffering for ordinary people?
If anyone can explain the logic behind this move, I would appreciate it. From where I'm sitting, this is asinine.
Only, now as then, in the words of the
politicians. The Troops then and now use 'bad guys' or other less complimentary appellations regardless of the opposition's ideology which is essentially irrelevant or his tactics which the troops can easily adapt to -- if their seniors let them....
Congress for Liberation And Reconstitution Opens in Asmara
Speaking of Eritrea and the UIC, I wonder how this Congress is playing with the State Department...
Congress for Liberation And Reconstitution Opens in Asmara
Shabait.com (Asmara)
NEWS
6 September 2007
Posted to the web 6 September 2007
Asmara
The Somali Congress for Liberation and Reconstitution opened in Asmara today. More than 350 people representing different social groups of Somali society, including leaders of the Union of Islamic Courts, clan heads, intellectuals, community elders and religious leaders are taking part in the Congress.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200709061086.html
ALS warns Ethiopian troops withdraw in 1 week
New Somali alliance threatens war
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6990928.stm
Quote:
"We have two-track options - first is the liberation of Somalia through military struggle, the second is through diplomatic efforts," said Zakariya Mahamud Abdi, spokesman for the Somali Congress
Quote:
"We warn Ethiopia to withdraw immediately. It is now or never and in a few weeks they will not have a route to withdraw," Abdi said.
Shifting Terrain: Dissidence versus Terrorism in Eritrea, by Ruth Iyob
I just found this small article in the USIP Special Report on "Terrorism in the Horn of Africa" dated January 2004. A bit dated, but interesting given recent events between the USG and Eritrea and overall US Policy in the GWOT.
Quote:
Eritrea’s inclusion in the “coalition of the willing” threatens to widen the gap between moderate and radical Eritrean Muslims due to the regime’s use of the “war against terrorism” to eliminate all dissent.
and...
Quote:
Outlook and Recommendations
The United States fostered democratization and constitutional rule in Eritrea from 1991 to 2001. In 2001, when democratizing Eritreans demanded constitutional governance, the U.S. decision to refrain from taking an unequivocal stand against the systematic elimination of pro-democracy advocates sent the message that only acts of violence and terror—not democratic reform—will bring about change. Current U.S. policy in Eritrea vacillates between two poles: unconditional support for a regime that joined
the “war on terror” and episodic signals of disapproval for the regime’s crackdown on dissent.
U.S. policy should disengage from the increasing authoritarianism of the current regime which has alienated the majority of its civilian—secular and non-secular population. Failure to do so may lead to growing support for more militant elements within EIJM and the ENA.
Sudan's southern rebels walk out
Earlier in this thread (post #18) I voiced my concerns regarding the medium term danger to the stability of Sudan in particular, and the Horn in general, having more to do with the much more formidable SPLA than the problems in Darfur. The North’s failure to make progress with the boundary commission, and various other outstanding differences, seems to be exposing cracks already:-
Sudan's southern rebels walk out
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7039616.stm
The BBC title refers to them as rebels but they are constitutionally a major part of the government and it is difficult to see how the the president remains any legitimacy without their inclusion.
No Ethiopia-Eritrea border deal
I don't think it will come as a galloping shock to anyone following this story but it is now official: the deadline has past without any movement on the ground.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7120834.stm
This story is surreal, bizarre and extremely frightening. We are in danger of having a war over a boarder that both parties now claim to accept.
CIA psychological warfare in Eritrea
Eritrea's president Afwerki accuses CIA of funding operations to lure youth away from Eritrea. I'd like to see his "evidence"...Baywatch? It may be our countrie's single most successful psychological operation....
The quotes about holding an election are priceless, too. Man, there's losing touch and then there's touching losers...okay, that doesn't really make sense, but you get the point.
Navies to tackle Somali pirates
Quote:
Navies to tackle Somali pirates
The vote means nations will be able to send warships to tackle pirates
The UN Security Council has unanimously voted to allow countries to send warships into Somalia's territorial waters to tackle pirates.
The resolution permits countries that have the agreement of Somalia's interim government to use any means to repress acts of piracy for the next six months.
Twenty-six ships have been attacked by pirates in the waters in the past year.
The vote came as the UN launched separate peace talks with factions involved in Somalia's conflict.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7432612.stm
The article also covers the UN backed Djibouti talks. The problem is the parties attending - but not talking directly to each other - are the interim government (who have no support or power beyond that of their Ethiopian military backers & US political backers) and the ARS (the same mob that formed as the ALS in Asmara last Sept.). The ARS are mainly old UIC members but don't including the Al-Shabab wing which seems to be becoming the pre-eminent force on the ground. So it is unclear who - if anyone - the parties not talking represent.
From the Jamestown Foundation last Oct.
Splits Developing in Somali Insurgency By Sydney Irving
This rather strange piece on Afewerki stealing $10million of the ARS's money.
http://www.mareeg.com/fidsan.php?sid=5986&tirsan=3
As always when dealing with this area it is tricky to know what to believe.
(LOL I just ran the spell check and was a little hasty with the 'change all' button - I think I have replaced all the arse's back to ARS's)
An update on a forgotten country
An ICG report, 28 pgs. on this forgotten country, partly as it appears to rebuff all external interest and is a dictatorship:http://www.crisisgroup.org/~/media/F...mpaign=mremail
Africa's Cuba or North Korea?
Once again The Guardian report on Eritrea, this time from within:http://www.theguardian.com/world/201...ass-emigration
A taster:
Quote:
The prosaic truth is that this is just another of the nasty regimes that persist in parts of the world. Eritrea is a one-party state with no elections, has had no functioning civil society since 2001 and, with at least 16 journalists currently behind bars, is ranked bottom of 180 countries assessed in Reporters Without Borders’ press freedom index. The regime sows paranoia and uncertainty, leading to divergent views over how far the limits of free speech can be tested.
A recent UN inquiry on human rights described extrajudicial killings, torture, arbitrary detentions, enforced disappearances, indefinite military conscription and forced labour. Its report found “a pervasive control system used in absolute arbitrariness to keep the population in a state of permanent anxiety”.
Yemen’s Houthi forces attack Eritrea’s Airport, Navy base : rebels
Not sure what to make of this article, which starts with:
Quote:
An Eritrean opposition group, Red Sea Afar Democratic Organization (RSADO) on Wednesday said that Yemen’s Houthi group have attacked the international Airport of Assab, a port city in the Southern Red Sea Region of Eritrea.
Link:http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article60311
Eritrea, the ultimate garrison state
A book review:
Quote:
Hopes were high in May 1991 when the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front (EPLF) captured the Eritrean capital, Asmara, and helped the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) overthrow Mengistu Haile Mariam, the Ethiopian military dictator. It was thought that the movement which had been fighting for decades for independence would usher in an era of peace, unity and equality for the Eritrean people, explains Professor Keith Somerville in this review of Martin Plaut’s ‘Understanding Eritrea. Inside Africa’s Most Repressive State’.
Link:http://talkinghumanities.blogs.sas.a...arrison-state/
What a description:
Quote:
But it is hard to see what could be worse for Eritreans than the current situation.
Understanding Eritrea Inside Africa's Most Repressive State
A new edition of this book and from the publisher's summary:
Quote:
The most secretive, repressive state in Africa is haemorrhaging its citizens. In some months as many Eritreans as Syrians arrive on European shores, yet the country is not convulsed by civil war. Young men and women risk all to escape. Many do not survive — their bones littering the Sahara; their bodies floating in the Mediterranean.
Still they flee, to avoid permanent military service and a future without hope. As the United Nations reported: ‘Thousands of conscripts are subjected to forced labour that effectively abuses, exploits and enslaves them for years.’ Eritreans fought for their freedom from Ethiopia for thirty years, only to have their revered leader turn on his own people. Independent since 1993, the country has no constitution and no parliament. No budget has ever been published. Elections have never been held and opponents languish in jail. International organisations find it next to impossible to work in the country.
Nor is it just a domestic issue. By supporting armed insurrection in neighbouring states it has destabilised the Horn of Africa. Eritrea is involved in the Yemeni civil war, while the regime backs rebel movements in Somalia, Ethiopia and Djibouti.This book tells the untold story of how this tiny nation became a world pariah.
Link:https://www.hurstpublishers.com/book...eid=80d42c7c0a
The Most Repressive State You May Have Never Heard Of
A Canadian newspaper Q&A with the author Martin Plaut, the former Africa Editor of the BBC’s World Service, of the updated book (cited above). There's also a 17 min Vice documentary (undated). I note Eritrea's population is 3.6m and in Ethiopia there 600k refugees.
Link:https://theglobepost.com/2019/08/02/...nding-eritrea/