Horn of Africa historical (pre-2011): catch all thread

[Beelzebubalicious]

Bush missed Ethiopia during his Africa road trip (nice dancing, though...), but I hope his policy advisors are awake and taking note. Or perhaps, awareness isn't the problem. It's a mindset and blindness to bigger issues. What I'm saying is that it's time to take Ethiopia behind the woodshed. Enough is enough.

See Ethiopia's war on its own by Ronald Farrow in LA Times, february 25, 2008

[AdamG]

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/04/wo...omalia.html?hp

NAIROBI, Kenya — American naval forces fired missiles into southern Somalia on Monday, aiming at what the Defense Department called terrorist targets.
Residents reached by telephone said the only casualties were three wounded civilians, three dead cows, one dead donkey and a partly destroyed house.

[Beelzebubalicious]

I heard a few stories from Eritreans describing atrocities committed by Ethiopian troops in Eritrea. That was in the 30 year civil war. Ethiopian troops behavior during the 1999 border war was also apprehensible. I don't think Ethiopia has a leg to stand on in terms of tradition or history.

[JJackson]

Eritrea army 'entered Djibouti'

Djibouti has accused Eritrea of violating its border by sending troops into its territory.

"The two armies are facing each other. The situation is explosive," said Djibouti President Ismail Omar Guelleh.

Eritrea has denied accusations that its soldiers had dug trenches on the Djibouti side of the border.

As geographic locations go I think Djibouti has a strong case for holding the shortest straw. Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia with Yemen across the gulf - rather them than me.

[Beelzebubalicious]

I don't get this. Djibouti president says two armies are facing each other. Is he implying that Eritrea is digging in and preparing to fight Djibouti? We know they've been preparing for Ethiopia, but why would they want to pick a fight with Djibouti?

[JJackson]

The news article talks about an old boarder dispute. The US and France have military bases but otherwise I would assume their interest may have more todo with the fact Ethiopia is landlocked and Djibouti was - and I assume still is - their main port. There is a railway from Addis and Djibouti was heavily dependent on this as source of income. With the US position currently favouring Ethiopia over Eritrea I am not sure why they are pushing here.

[Beelzebubalicious]

Ethiopia definitely wants port/sea access (free and open) and that's what the 99 border war was largely about. They made a big play for Asseb and failed. Afterwards, I thought Ethiopia made a deal with Djibouti to use their port. I still see no reason for Eritrea to attack Djibouti. I imagine they were digging in against perceived future Ethiopian attacks and perhaps made a mistake in terms of the geography. Hard to imagine, but possible I suppose.

[JJackson]

Eritrea denies Djibouti war claim

Eritrea has denied that it has any problems with Djibouti, which accuses it of amassing troops on their border.

Earlier this week, Djibouti appealed to the UN Security Council to intervene in order to prevent a conflict over the border village of Doumeira.

I had a quick look in the CIA fact book to see how the armies stack-up and as expected - in numbers - Eritrea is an order of magnitude large it also stated that 85% of the ports container traffic is Ethiopian.

[Beelzebubalicious]

Apparently, Djibouti is trying to build a bridge across the red sea to Yemen and have aspirations to be the next Dubai...

http://www.economist.com/world/afri...ory_id=10881652
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8qZd_ELHLU
http://www.veracifier.com/post/2421...dle-east-africa

[Beelzebubalicious]

News on this topic has been posted in other threads, but it probably deserves its own thread. I don't think anybody really knows what's going on here. Only explanation I can come up with is that Eritrea is just agitating. It needs action and attention on border and other issues. this will certainly get some attention.

See today's NY Times article titled, In Horn of Africa, Djibouti and Eritrea in Face-Off Over Border

[Lostcomm]

Gentlemen-
If one had to choose the top ten things a person might attempt to accomplish in a relatively short tour to HOA, what does the collective brain think they might be?

Just wondering...

Lostcomm

[davidbfpo]

The Horn of Africa; I had to ask as abbreviations are not always readily known.

I would have a look at Aidan Hartley's writings / reporting from Somalia recently; one of the few Western journalists to visit there and a white African too (a Kenyan national living on a farm in North East Kenya).

Understand clans and tribes. Be respectful and offer the hand of friendship / respect in meetings; Somalis appreciate this in my limited experience here in the UK.

Consider low tech, alternative technologies; check www.practicalaction.org

All from an armchair and quite possibly not the suggestions sought!

davidbfpo

[jcustis]

in a relatively short tour to HOA

In what capacity, armed or unarmed...peace-making/keeping, security assistance, or humanitarian assistance?

[Beelzebubalicious]

Hmmm, this isn't good. Anyone out there listening?

http://www.reuters.com/article/lates.../idUSHUL069633

[Steve Blair]

Watching with interest. Also been bogged down with the Mugabi whackjob circus...

[Jedburgh]

HRW, 12 Jun 08: Collective Punishment: War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity in the Ogaden area of Ethiopia’s Somali Region

.....Tens of thousands of ethnic Somali civilians living in eastern Ethiopia’s Somali Regional State are experiencing serious abuses and a looming humanitarian crisis in the context of a little-known conflict between the Ethiopian government and an Ethiopian Somali rebel movement. The situation is critical. Since mid-2007, thousands of people have fled, seeking refuge in neighboring Somalia and Kenya from widespread Ethiopian military attacks on civilians and villages that amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity....

.....Although the conflict has been simmering for years with intermittent allegations of abuses, it took on dramatic new momentum after the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) attacked a Chinese-run oil installation in Somali Region in April 2007, killing more than 70 Chinese and Ethiopian civilians. The Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) government, led by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, responded by launching a brutal counter-insurgency campaign in the five zones of Somali Region primarily affected by the conflict: Fiiq, Korahe, Gode, Wardheer, and Dhagahbur. In these zones the Ethiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF) have deliberately and repeatedly attacked civilian populations in an effort to root out the insurgency.....

[Jedburgh]

ICG, 17 Jun 08: Beyond the Fragile Peace between Ethiopia and Eritrea: Averting New War

The Ethiopia-Eritrea impasse carries serious risk of a new war and is a major source of instability in the Horn of Africa, most critically for Somalia. Following Ethiopia’s refusal to accept virtual demarcation of the border by the now disbanded Ethiopia-Eritrea Boundary Commission (EEBC), Asmara unilaterally implemented it and forced out the UN peacekeepers (UNMEE), significantly raising the stakes and shattering the status quo. Its insistence on recovering territory the Commission awarded it – Badme in particular – could lead to unilateral military action by either side but is only one of several war scenarios. The Security Council and key individual states (the U.S., in particular) must recognise the dangers of their inaction and advance a reconfigured political process with new determination if there is to be a change in the calculations of the parties, who appear to be dangerously content with trying to maintain a level of simmering but unpredictable hostility......

[Jedburgh]

Chatham House, Jun 08:

Lost Opportunities in the Horn of Africa: How Conflicts Connect and Peace Agreements Unravel

This report is a study of three peace processes in the Horn of Africa, a region of Africa distinguished by the prevalence and persistence of armed conflict. It deals with the Algiers Agreement of December 2000 between Ethiopia and Eritrea, the Somalia National Peace and Reconciliation Process concluded in October 2004 and the Sudan Comprehensive Peace Agreement of January 2005.

It examines in turn the background and historical context of the conflicts that these peace agreements were intended to resolve. It charts the developments since the agreements were signed, seeking to assess how far they have achieved successful outcomes for peace and stability. The results are very mixed.....

[Beelzebubalicious]

Horn of where? Ethi-what? Bueller?

Ethiopia/Eritrea: "Unfinished Peace in the Horn of Africa",
Daniela Kroslak in The Daily Star
August 8, 2008

[franksforum]

This paper is from the UK House of Commons. Similar to the Congressional Research Service.

This paper looks at recent developments in the Horn of Africa, where there are a number of protracted and interlocking crises at work, and briefly discusses some of the main factors that have been described as ‘root causes’ of conflict in the region. The insurgency against the Transitional Federal Government and Ethiopian forces in Somalia is rapidly gathering momentum as efforts continue to form a more inclusive and viable government. There is a humanitarian crisis of massive proportions, with about 40 per cent of the population needing assistance. Almost unnoticed, there are ongoing tensions between neighbouring Somaliland and Puntland over disputed border areas. Meanwhile, the possibility remains of a resumption of hostilities between Ethiopia and Eritrea over their long-running border dispute. In the Ogaden, which is part of Ethiopia’s Somali regional state, there has also been a humanitarian crisis as a consequence of ongoing fighting between Ethiopian troops and insurgents. Finally, earlier this year Eritrea launched an incursion into Djibouti and is yet to withdraw its forces.

Piracy is not covered in this paper. For a discussion of piracy issues, including with regard to Somalia, see House of Commons Library Standard Note SN/BT/3794, Shipping: piracy .

http://www.parliament.uk/commons/lib...8/rp08-086.pdf