Rumours

[Libaax-Sankataabte]

There are widely circulated rumours on "confederation between Somalia, Ethiopia, Djibouti, and Eritrea".

 

Some ethiopians are outraged by the idea. I found this article on Addis Tribune.

 

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Confederation With Eritrea? A Reply

 

By Adugna Lemi

Michigan, USA

 

 

 

I was reading comments of Dr. Teketel Haile-Mariam and Dr. Messay Kebede on the issue remotely considered as a threat for the Ethiopian nation- “Confederation of the Horn.” As I read through lines of the views of the two well-recognized scholars, I gathered that they are against the move of the confederation or at least they back only the ideal case of “Ethio-Djibouti” confederation.

 

 

I respect the views and opinions of the two scholars. But are we being realistic here? I don’t mind grabbing Djibuti, a country with port but with little economic power in the region compared to Ethiopia. However, no deals with a country like Eritrea or Somalia, with starving people and all sorts of political chaos. Are we thinking to prosper in the middle of such economic and political unrest just next door? In a world of integrated economies, it is not only domestic issues that matter, regional and border issues matter too.

 

 

 

I do understand the pain and the grief from previous wars and inhospitalities between the general public, friends and the governments of these nations. But our ego doesn’t take us anywhere. We need to learn where the world is heading. Be it for the fight of terrorism or for regional economic and political stability, the option of excluding one or two doesn’t and won’t work. We may think that we are better alone because we haven’t seen and smell the real flavor of the real integration. Not integration of past years, where one side benefited or trying to benefit at the expense of the other, the real integration is one that the majority believed in, voted for, will benefit from. Can we agree on a situation that yields mutual benefit?

 

 

 

I also understand the saying that goes as “better alone than in bad company.” I do agree that “bad” comes probably from the bad mentality of the people at the different hierarchy of the administration in each country. But I believe that this won’t be forever. As we all learn patience to entertain others idea and live together even if we don’t agree on issues, our leaders will do so, or somebody will teach them how. My point here is that the world is not static and the situation in the horn isn’t either. The administration and the people are learning and will learn how to tolerate each other. Do we have to block any forum that deals with possible integration, political or economic?

 

 

 

These countries are at the bottom of all sorts of rankings, rated the most risky area, world’s poorest region and so on. Can the confederation help these countries get out of this? At this point the answer to this question may be just a guess. But the situation we are in now doesn’t seem to work either, and we all know we should come up with an alternative.

 

 

 

But don’t get me wrong I am not backing the formation of confederation of the horn today. I believe that there are a lot many things to do to get there. First we all need to solve our internal problems, especially political problems. People and only the people of each nation can vote on the formation of confederation. For that we need to first agree among ourselves, otherwise we will end up importing dozens of related and unrelated problems from our neighbors. The current move seems a cover up for our domestic problems, which is the root and mother cause of all problems. Even if there are theories in other disciplines that argue that if you combine two infected (biased) subjects, you will get uninfected (unbiased) subject, there is no such evidence in politics just yet.

 

 

 

Teaching and advising our people to blindly, illogically and based on a less than ten years history may sound inappropriate to me. As indicated in one of the comments, lets leave the decision to the kids but we shouldn’t brainwash them with such outright exclusion of one option that they should look into.n

[Paragon]

Lol it is indeed ironic to see a hoorn-confederation. I don't think Somalis will accept and the ethios are much more suspecious than us.

 

But it will be a good thing to try, don't you think? lol like an EU system, so that we can't export our warlords to the peaceful etho-people. It is risky but maybe this is the key to lot good and bad.

 

Lets try it.

 

PS: ETHIO'S DOMINATION WILL BE STRONG FOR THE FIRST 10 YEARS, BUT AFTER THEN WE TAKE OVER

[SomaliaOnline-President]

PS: ETHIO'S DOMINATION WILL BE STRONG FOR THE FIRST 10 YEARS, BUT AFTER THEN WE TAKE OVER

I think we'll be about the same. The Somali speaking race numbers little over 20 million now.

 

Somalia: 11 Million

Ogadenia: 7-8 Mil

Somali-Kenyans: 1-2 Mil

Djiboutia: 1 Mil

[Baashi]

LST,

Land-locked Ethio may entertain the idea because they are in need of sea port so much that they are making it national security issue at the expense of other national priorities.

 

I'm ofended by the idea. Having hand in the Somalia's civil war, occupying Ogaden illegaly, and lying about facts about Al-itahaad to boost its relative importance to the West, Ethiopia is in a position to have a say about our future government.

 

We don't even have a unified voice that can speak on our behave. It is so sad these Xabashi are acting as a grand architect and indispensible power in horn of Africa.

 

Look at us! What's wrong with the warlords? Don't they even see these grand sheme?

 

That is it! I get that off my chest!..feel better.

 

Oh! wanna say the confederation thing is not a new foreign import to this region, the Soviet block tried in vain! Here is excerpt from Wilson center archives:

 

'...One is on the 16 March 1977 Cuban-Yemen effort at creating a Marxist-Leninist confederation consisting of Ethiopia, Somalia, and South Yemen. In his meeting with Honecker the following month, Castro provides a detailed report about the attitudes of the two leaders, Mengistu and Barre, toward the proposal. Mengistu is referred to in glowing terms while Barre is described as a chauvinist whose principal idea is nationalism, not socialism. The report vividly shows Castro trapped as a victim of his own ideology. Having erroneously assumed an absolute connection between perceived global trends--depicting socialism as the world's dynamic force--and the local situation in the Horn, he had expected a successful outcome to his efforts. His sharp disappointment in Barre's personality, on which the report dwells, should have been subordinated to the more crucial realization that national and ethnic rivalries peculiar to the region had doomed the confederation from the outset. Also in this document, the Cuban leader, perhaps for the first time, forcefully raised the impending dilemma facing the Soviet bloc in the Horn of Africa. He tells Honecker, "I see a great danger . . . if the socialist countries help Ethiopia, they will lose Siad Barre's friendship. If they don't, the Ethiopian revolution will founder." Faced with an either/or situation within six-eight months, Moscow bet on Ethiopia at the risk of irretrievably losing Somalia. '

[Thinkerman]

LST,

Land-locked Ethio may entertain the idea because they are in need of sea port so much that they are making it national security issue at the expense of other national priorities.

 

I'm ofended by the idea. Having hand in the Somalia's civil war, occupying Ogaden illegaly, and lying about facts about Al-itahaad to boost its relative importance to the West, Ethiopia is in a position to have a say about our future government.

 

We don't even have a unified voice that can speak on our behave. It is so sad these Xabashi are acting as a grand architect and indispensible power in horn of Africa.

 

Look at us! What's wrong with the warlords? Don't they even see these grand sheme?

 

That is it! I get that off my chest!..feel better.

My setiments exactly.