Fetsum Abraham: General Tsadkan Vs. the dignified Oromo Scholars and Professionals (Part I)

I like to discuss two important events in this and the following opportunities clearly acknowledging one is bitter, expired and destructive, and the other sweet, productive and promising. The expired is the current unsettled mind of General ጻድቃን ገብረትንሳኤ, which I consider a threat to the East Africans, the promising being the latest letter to Isaias by the Oromo Scholars and Professionals in different continents of the world that I consider a blessing to the peaceful coexistence of Eritrea and Ethiopia. In so discussing, I also acknowledge the General’s opinion as strictly his own that does not represent the Tigrean people, while the other represents the dignified Oromo people through their highly educated members of the society.

Here is the first: ATV: ኣዛዚ ሰራዊት ኢትዮጵያ ነበር ጀነራል ጻድቃን ገብረትንሳኤ፡ ዓሰብ ናብ ኢትዮጵያ ምኻዳ ከምዘይተርፍ ዝገልጽ ኣዕናዊ መርገጺኡ ደጊሙ ይገልጽ። admin 05 Mar 2020

Comment: First of all, I like to mention that we were classmates in Mekelle’s Atse Yohannes High school and very close to each other when we joined Addis Ababa University then after. I liked him then and I like him now. I remember resting in his house once upon a time in 1975 when I was assigned to work in his hometown CHERCHER, Raya Tigray for few months. I thank the brother for his generosity and warm hospitality of the time and all the good companionship we had had through the years in my lovely hometown Mekelle. Yet, I am sorry to hear what he said and could not help keeping quiet for the sake of our region’s peaceful coexistence. There is nothing here against him as a person but certainly against his poisonous mind!

Ordinary humans always try to cover their weakness and incapacity with excuses and nothing is new here with the General’s provocative opinion against the region’s objective for peaceful coexistence. Everybody knows that the General as the head of the Ethiopian Armed forces was directly responsible for whatever happened in the Badme war. He certainly succeeded penetrating the Eritrean defense line to reoccupy Badme defeating the Eritrean Army in that disaster. Hurray, great job indeed for the General who substantially showed his skills in that war between the two brotherly societies, no matter how catastrophic to humanity his achievement (about 100,000 deaths) had been. It was bloody, savage and sinful that lacks moral justification the barbaric minds from both sides created without consulting their decent people. The General may be proud of what he did but cannot be dignified of it because it was a shameful crime against humanity, one that does not care about life as a concept.

His strategy, however, failed to be effective in the Assab front where the Ethiopian Army tried its best to win but drastically failed after suffering devastating loss under the Eritrean Army. The General’s failure in that war and the way the war was fought are all history today and they don’t need his explanation any longer: there is video-graphic evidence as to how many Ethiopian soldiers perished in that bloody war that he orchestrated from the highest hierarchy of the Ethiopian armed forces.

Now over 20 years after the tragedy and about 2 years after the removal of TPLF from post, the General suddenly wakes up from stillness to say what he said in his latest appearance. I could have done this and that; I suggested something else and the government stopped me from doing it; I read a book about Navies in the sea that justifies Ethiopia’s rights on the subject; I could have captured Assab if this and that, ቀምሽ ሓንክይሉና are all the defeatist mind’s reflection to the agony of defeat and resentment stored in his subconscious mind since the time of the war.

Was not he part of the TPLF crew that recognized the nationhood of Eritrea in full? What IF HE HAD CAPTURED THE CITY ANYWAY? Would it have meant Assab changing its nationality from Eritrean to Ethiopian? Would there be peace in the region in that condition? Can Ethiopia illegally occupy the city and sustain international pressure on the matter? What is the book the General depended on in this senseless provocation and why did not Ethiopia apply the knowledge to claim Assab in the International court during the deliberation? Would Assab still be legally part of Eritrea according to international law had it belonged to Ethiopia? Is this nonsense necessary now after the entire world involved to pacify the war ending up clearly defining our boundaries by the book? Can any violence reverse this reality for the sake of Ethiopian Navy in the Red Sea? What is that Navy for anyway, to defend what from who?

It is unfortunate to hear the expired General singing the Blues, yet to create another regional blood shade from ordinary Ethiopian status after causing the death of 100 thousand people from leadership status. Was not he one of the architects of the disaster? How much blood is enough for a twisted human being to stop being another cause of catastrophe and what does it take to, at least live the rest of it shutting the mouth for the sake of the young East Africans all inclusive?

He wants somebody to do what he failed to do knowing the case is legally closed in the International Court. He does it at this critical moment in history where we are trying to pacify and rebuild the messed up relationship between the Eritreans and Tigreans as a result of political mismanagement from both sides of the isle. There is nothing here but betrayal to both societies at minimum and to the entire region at large. It is unfortunate indeed to see a senior TPLF official dropping to this level of capitulation against the view of the world and the Tigran people that only want peace with the Eritreans.

The question: Why is he now entertaining the past after blowing the best opportunity to practicalize his opinion from the highest rank of the Ethiopian armed forces? I do believe he is doing it for the following reasons.

1)      Regret: He is probably suffering the consequence of his failure to capture Assab at the time he was leading the Ethiopian Army and would not let go the grief registered in his subconscious mind. He is actually betraying his comrades making them responsible for his inability to capture Assab during that terrible time in history. “they stopped me from doing it” attitude to reconcile with his defeatism like the dictator habitually using the Weyanne syndrome for his failure to take care of Eritrea.

2)      Fear of the unknown: He is probably afraid of TPLF’s fate in the current situation and wants to deflect attention using the Eritrean phenomenology as usual. He was a person fighting for Tigran Independence for years, rejecting his Ethiopian-ness in action. He was serving TPLF that traditionally supported the Eritrean independence as a principle. He could have been partly responsible for engaging TPLF fighters in Eritrea where they died to defend EPLF positions from multiple Ethiopian offensives. But things changed and he became an ordinary person after TPLF’s downfall in Ethiopia. With all the animosities against TPLF going on in Ethiopia, he sounds scared enough to reclaim his ETHIOPIAN identity that he lived rejecting since he joined the group in the seventies.

3)      Guilt: The brother may be suffering from guilt, a selfish attitude that emanates from Pride. The restless mind is saying “I am better than this, this isn’t really me, I should not have been in this situation now, I must have done something wrong, where is the crowd that followed me, bla, bla, bla!”. Yet, it came with an interesting idea; overdoing it to repair the broken image by acting more Ethiopian beyond the hard core Ethiopians themselves. Therefore, he had to categorize himself with Tamrat et al. reversing what he fought for the last 45 years just to feel important in a situation where he has been sidelined by the current Ethiopian regime as a matter of necessity. In so doing, he appears trying to save himself by pretending different from the TPLF members currently preaching for reconciliation with the Eritrean people. The fear made him a virus in that community, betraying his comrades as if they were the only ones responsible for Ethiopia’s humiliating defeat in the Assab front, while the guilt exaggerated his Ethiopian-ness that he lived rejecting for the most of his life.

4)      Attention: Most famous people get depressed after someone takes their place. Their important diminishes to the ordinary and they cannot stand themselves any longer. In the absence of acceptance, solitude becomes unpleasant loneliness and the egoist mind goes to work complicating existence as much as possible. Attention deficiency syndrome is a derivative of complex and lack of confidence, no one needs it otherwise! The more one’s value in society depreciates to the level of the ordinary, the harder ego tries to recover the lost popularity by any means of absurdity. The more one suffers from any type of complex (inferiority or superiority), the stronger the desire for attention depending on the spiritual consciousness of the object in discussion; needless saying power exasperates it tremendously. The disease is as addictive as drugs and my friend had all of it when he was on top but no more.

Unfortunately, he could not accommodate the new reality that reduced him to an ordinary human being in Tigray and had to come to the limelight by this immoral means of doing it. This is strictly how the ego works: the challenge is how to adapt normalcy after dislodged from the podium (power, control, athletics, prestige, politics, wealth, etc.). The hardest thing to overcome defeat for ordinary beings has always been capitulation to attract the attention that disappeared with the stage. I do believe my friend is a sufferer of this mental condition today doing anything for attention even at the expense of the Eritreans and the Ethiopians as a unit!

5)      He is probably playing psychology with Isaias’s mind considering what he said in earlier interview that he was interested to continue the Badme war until the fall of Assab using the notion that “the Eritreans gave Ethiopia the opportunity to do so by starting the war”. It seems like he is telling the dictator not to start another was that motivates Ethiopia all the way to Assab.

         Whatever the reason for his poisonous suggestion immaterial, the societies are damaged through many decades of violence. The wound so severe; it will take some time to heal but only if we learn from our mistakes and avoid any more mistake that can further disturb our relationship. I wish my friend had gone for reconciliation between our peoples to compensate them for the incalculable damages they suffered under EPLF and his TPLF. He owes apology to the region for being the main architect of the massacre experienced in the war. Unfortunately, this General is out of tune with reality  becoming an obstacle to the current effort of many Eritreans and Tigreans to pacify each other all over the place. I hope genuine Tigreans will realize the situation and be careful not to repeat the same mistake that condemns our societies to another debacle. I also hope Eritreans will look at the matter deeper than this nonsense; I believe the two victimized societies are bigger than the illusive General’s opinion to not get distracted from their journey to peaceful coexistence.

         At the bottom line, my friend needs spiritual rebirth to Kool off his ego and overcome his unsettled internal problems. He needs to accept the damage he inflicted to all of us as the highest official in the Ethiopian Army. He needs to meditate on it with humility and repentance. He needs spending a lot of time with the spiritual monks in ENDA MARIAM, Mekelle instead of trying to recycle his sin through the death of our youth, all inclusive. No Ethiopian or Eritrean should die anymore in senseless wars: What must die this time after the bitter experience is the destructive mind, the collective ego of the past that caused incalculable damage to the brotherly East Africans. We the older generation have the responsibility to transform the mind from the disaster it had been to the loving it can be. We have to protect the next generations by cleansing it from war and death to peace and life. I can only pray for my friend and stop!

         In conclusion, there is no question that the Tigreans are our natural allies irrespective of what happened in the past by our savage leaders such as Tsadkan and Isaias. None of the expired elements of the societies should be given another chance to repeat their damage. We just have to be smarter not to be cheated any more without losing the confidence and will power to secure peace in the region. ALERT RECONCILLIATION is the solution to both of us and it can be achieved through willingness to break the cycle of hatred and vengeance using the power of attentive compassion. We can reverse the situation to normalcy because we need it equally.

         We have to be careful here to separate Tsadkan from the Tigrean people because he represents himself for the most part. But the question remains: are the Tigreans our dependable allies as well? Can we change them to be that, otherwise? I believe so; it can develop to that level of alliance but never with the wishy-washy mentality as such! I believe we can slowly heal the wounds and benefit the two oppressed societies in the long run but the delicate situation that needs lots of work and spiritual input cannot be sustained with disturbed, vindictive and irresponsible individuals as such. Our peoples do not need this negativity any more, they had had it enough! The extent of damage this poor General can do to the relationship is obvious but I think the Ethiopians and specially the Tigreans should openly reject his poison in the social media to minimize the effect and good luck.

         In the meantime, relax and stay peaceful believing in your conviction, closely monitoring the current regional events and doing your thing. Keep on consolidating your tight relationship and solid organization to victory and we shall make it despite any obstacle in the way!  Please tune up for the next article on the message of the Oromo intellectuals and  professionals to that dude in Adi Hallo. Peace!!