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Senator Barack Obama,
713 Hart Senate Office Building,
Washington D.C., 20510
Dear Senator Barack Obama,
I want to take this opportunity to congratulate you on your nomination as the Democratic Presidential candidate! I would, also, like to congratulate you for your wise decision in choosing Senator Biden as your running mate! I am your supporter and have been closely following your statements regarding the concerns we all have for our Great Country and the future of our children.
There are a lot of issues regarding our foreign policy under this administration which have baffled most Americans, and that is a well known fact! I have followed your statements regarding our policy under the Obama Administration with regards the Middle-East, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, North Korea and Europe. There is, however, very little said about your administration's policy regarding Africa in general and the Horn of Africa in particular!
In the aftermath of the Iraqi invasion, the Muslim fundamentalists found a safe haven in the Horn of Africa - in Somalia! Unfortunately the Bush Administration felt the best way to handle this was to use his ally, the Ethiopian dictator (who has been terrorizing the population of Ethiopia for the last 17 years) to root out the fundamentalists and establish the Interim administration of President Yussuf. In return for the favor Meles has given us, the US turned a blind eye to the misrule and serious violations of human rights in Ethiopia!
As we all know, prior to taking power in Ethiopia, the TPLF (Tigrean Peoples' Liberation Front) led by Meles Zenawi had been a guerilla movement with the intention to establish an independent state out of the Tigray Province of Ethiopia. Only when they realized the Mengistu Military junta, which had been in power before them, had much political opposition willing to join hands with his army did he create a façade known as EPRDF (Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary Democratic Front), so that they may take the reigns over the entire nation of Ethiopia - the plan still seems to be liberation of Tigray when the right moment comes!
17 years after taking power in Ethiopia the TPLF, the liberation movement, is still the organization running the country. They changed the constitution to divide the population of Ethiopia against each other along ethnic lines. Today the different ethnic groups in Ethiopia view themselves as different nationalities which regard each other with suspicion and regularly fight against each other instead of joining hands and digging themselves out of the pit of poverty for which the country is now known all over the world! As I write this letter, there is an onslaught of the tribe of Guji against a small tribe of Burji in southern Ethiopia while the government of Ethiopia watches from a distance! The opposition to the administration is subtly neutralized, and the free speech is non-existent. The foreign aids which is poured into Ethiopia year after year, after year, after year has not gone anywhere near to making Ethiopia self sufficient in food production and distribution among the population! There appears to be a deliberate policy to keep Ethiopia impoverished so that the population is kept under control by the process of starvation. Today, we are told, some 10 million Ethiopians are starving or on the verge of starvation.
The Bush administration sent thousands of American young men and women in harms way and spent billions of tax payer' dollars in the name of removing the threat of terrorism and the establishing democracy in Iraq, while, next door, across the Red Sea, it supported and continues to support a communist regime which is determined to destroy Ethiopia and its people! Today we are all wondering what we have gained in Iraq! The Horn of Africa is tittering on the brink of implosion -
a) Meles and Issayas Afewerki (the darlings of Clinton and Blair as the new breeds of African leaders) have proved to be the worst dictatorships on the continent of Africa today;
b) the two dictators have been at each others throat for the last 10 years, squandering the meager resources of their respective countries preparing for or launching wars against each other instead of lifting their nations out of abject poverty;
c) Ethiopia is now occupying Somalia just like the US is occupying Iraq, with the majority of Somalis against the occupation;
d) it appears that the Muslim fundamentalists in Somalia are gaining in strength and breeding like rabbits in spite of American tax payers money financing the Ethiopian invasion and the loss of human lives on all sides, and
e) The Gulf of Eden waterway is now infested with terrorists pirating on ships in the area!
Unfortunately this looming disaster in the Horn of Africa has completely failed to register in the minds of the Bush foreign policy makers. I have written about this concern several times to President Bush and Secretary Rice, who seemed determined to stand with Meles and against the people of Ethiopia, in the false belief that they have an ally in him! In a blind theory of achieving everything good for the US, they have completely failed to appreciate just how badly their policy has betrayed the loyal allies in ordinary Ethiopians and is jeopardizing the US interests all around the globe!
I have my roots in Ethiopia and many of my folks still live there - today, they face ethnic cleansing by a larger tribal group as the government of Ethiopia watches from a distance, and most probably even facilitating it! This story is repeated all over Ethiopia. There are many Ethiopian-Americans all over the country who have thrown themselves into your campaign in the hope that your administration will do something positive for Ethiopians and their country!
I am heartened by your choice of Senator Biden as your Vice-Presidential running mate! I think he really understands how devious the Meles regime is, and appreciates how it is using the excuse of "war against terror" to get American support, while terrorizing Ethiopia's population! Meles is an opportunist who won't hesitate to do anything to stay in power, but nothing that he has done for the US and his other foreign supporters has proven to be worthwhile, on the contrary it has hurt everybody, including himself and the people whose interest he purports to represent! Meles's evil opportunistic mind, I am sure is working full throttle at this moment to position himself and his regime such that whoever wins the Presidential election will view him favorably, but such an error of judgment on the part of the next President will do an irreparable damage to the entire Horn of Africa which is already tittering on the brink of collapse!
Unfortunately, Meles departure will not necessarily usher in the era of good governance, democracy or economic prosperity in Ethiopia because there many political organizations whose schemes may be as devious and harmful to Ethiopia and its people as those of Meles' regime.
What Ethiopia needs is an Administration of National Unity during which the population will be educated and empowered in the ways of democratic governance as well as their rights and responsibilities. During such a transition a draft constitution may be constructed with all stake-holders participating and under the guidance of international constitutional experts. Similarly, the justice system should be overhauled under the guidance of legal experts familiar with the Ethiopian traditions. Enclosed please find a copy of the petition which was delivered to your offices on May 15th 2008, the day Ethiopians all over the world commemorated the now infamous theft of their vote on May 15, 2005!
The Horn of Africa has become the horns of dilemma for most thinking people of conscience. I trust, as you pursue your goal of becoming President of this great nation, you make serious consideration about crafting a policy that will ensure peace and justice in Ethiopia (and the Horn of Africa) and security for the US and the world! Please take the time to reassure American-Ethiopians that you understand their concerns and also give them some idea about how you will help to address those concerns.
As you know, I have been your supporter even though you have promised to raise my tax, but I am now a fan, as many Ethiopians should be, of Obama-Biden ticket!
Good luck and God speed.
Golto
signed
c.c. Senator Joseph Biden
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