BY ESSEYE MENGISTE
ADDIS ABABA – TPLF’s ideology and military structure should be removed to maintain peace in Ethiopia, a renowned social science scholar said.
Unless TPLF’s ideology and military structure are removed peace cannot reign in Ethiopia, said Messay Kebede, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at University of Dayton, in his opinion posted on the local website.
The scholar pointed out that the people of Tigray will in time engage in a cost-benefit analysis leading them to the realization that they have sacrificed much but only to be left with loss. “From this analysis to holding the leadership accountable the path is wide open, all the more so as they do not see any possible improvement in the horizon.”
Messay said under this condition, law enforcement will become possible again: the leaders can be captured and brought to justice. It will also silence the international cabal supporting the TPLF by taking away all excuses for intervention. “More importantly, such a condition will bring the war to its natural conclusion, namely, to a negotiated settlement with genuine representatives of the Tigray people.”
The TPLF is the problem child of Ethiopia: containment will not dissuade it from engaging in repeated attacks into Amhara and Afar territories, nor will it prevent it from instigating and financing clashes in various parts of the country. The bare truth is that it is not possible to maintain peace on Ethiopia except TPLF’s ideology and military structure are removed, the academician elaborated.
“It overlooks the difficulty of finding the leaders unless the people of Tigray cooperate, which is far from being given, but also almost impossible to obtain in a prolonged guerrilla war. There is more: with guerrilla war in full motion, the accusation of serious crimes and genocide will give TPLF’s Western allies the needed justification to intervene directly.”
Messay further highlighted that the Ethiopian Defense Forces are not entering Tigray based on lessons learned from the immediate past. When this war began a year ago, the ENDF achieved a quick victory and immediately engaged in the work of bringing back a normal life to Tigray. “We know what the outcome was: viewed as invaders, the Ethiopian forces came under attack from armed groups as well as from the civilian population, just as they became the objects of fabricated slanderous accusations of all sorts of crimes, including genocide. As the saying goes, “mistakes are meant for learning, not repeating.’”
Another compelling reason for not moving into Tigray is that the TPLF is not alone in this fight. As is now unquestionably obvious, it has the full backing of powerful Western allies, including among high officials in the United Nations. The decision not to cross into Tigray does not entail cessation of all military confrontations. According to the announcement, it is the right and solemn duty of the government to take whatever measure is necessary each time it deems that there is threat to national sovereignty and unity, the scholar remarked.
The January 2/2022
