America’s Most Treacherous Scout in the Global War on Terrorism

As America was preparing to launch the global war on terrorism on the aftermath of September, 11, all sorts of unsavory characters volunteered their services in exchange for rewards ranging from monetary compensation to political support. Somali warlords and Pakistani village chiefs, American mercenaries and Uzbek tribal heads, private citizens, military commanders and heads of states came forward offering information, safe passage and/or fighting men to the U.S war machine. Given their unfamiliarity with the terrain where the battle was to be fought, U.S. forces were particularly eager to find resourceful partners who are familiar with the global terrorist network. Those who have had some success in battlefield encounters against Osama Bin Laden’s terror network were viewed with particular esteem and quickly invited to come on board.

It is in this hour of America’s great need that one Meles Zenawi stepped forward with overtures of collaboration. Mr. Meles then as now was the strongman of Ethiopia, a country surrounded by some of al Qaeda’s preferred stomping grounds. In the years before September 11, Sudan in the west and Somalia to the south of that country had served as either headquarters or as training ground for Osama and his al Qaeda boys. Additionally, al Qaeda’s home turf in Saudi Arabia and Yemen was just a few miles across the narrows of the Strait of Bab el Mendeb on the Red Sea.

So, it was not a surprise to anyone when those responsible for planning America’s war on terror eagerly listened to Mr. Meles’ overtures. In addition to the strategic location of his country, the Ethiopia strongman bragged of the success of his security forces in crushing into near extinction the forces of al-Ithad al-Islamia. Al-Ithad al-Islamia is of course the Somali based operating wing of al Qaeda that was partly responsible for driving the United States out of Somalia in 1993-94. Mr. Meles offered the services of his experienced security forces to man the southwestern front of the global war on terrorism. So when, President Bush, having failed to secure the endorsement of the U.N. Security Council for his plans to invade Iraq, was reduced to constituting the coalition of the willing, the Ethiopia strongman stepped forward and grabbed a lead role for himself within that coalition.

Given the chance to be of service to the only remaining superpower, Mr. Meles and his security forces performed rather well. His security forces quickly assumed complete control of the troublesome territory that is the Horn of Africa, including every square inch of Somalia. In the glow of that success, Mr. Meles presented himself not just as an effective warrior and a loyal supporter of President Bush, he also cast himself as a visionary leader who understood the need to contain radical Islam from spreading into the African heartland. He often spoke of his fear of the devastation that would ensue should the 25 million strong Ethiopia Muslim population be radicalized and of the need to avert that real possibility by taking the fight to the home bases of the agitators – meaning al Qaeda. In Washington and in London, such words were music to the ears of those who must plan and execute the war on terror.

Unknown to all but to Mr. Meles, those fateful events were meant to set up the U.S. and Britain into backing one of the most ruthless dictators ever let loose on any country. The smooth talking Mr. Meles who is equally adept citing Karl Marx’ Das Kapital as he is Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations, called in the favors President Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair owed him early and often. He was able to extract well in excess of $1.5 billion per year in aid, above and beyond the emergency food aid which Ethiopia seems to be forever condemned to need. Equally importantly, he was also able to legitimize his ruling clique which came to power by overthrowing a rival communist gang in 1991. He got himself invited to serve on Tony Blair’s Africa Commission, where he demonstrated his facility with Jeffersonian notions of democracy as well as with the virtues of unfettered capitalism. In his capacity as member of the Africa Commission, Mr. Meles advocated for improved governance and economic liberalization as a necessary condition for development. He also spoke eloquently of the need to re-center Africa’s economic development efforts on the needs of the poor and women.

It is these carefully choreographed performances which had make it difficult for the U.S. and British governments to give credence to the recurring charges of government by terror over the years and to respond appropriately to the disturbing events which have been unfolding over the last seven months. Nearly seven months ago, just after Blair’s Africa commission put together its blueprint for African salvation, and as the exclamatory point in the canonization of Meles the Magnificent, Ethiopia was set to have its first truly multi-party election, where all candidates were allowed to campaign.

Unfortunately for Mr. Meles, a strange thing happened on the way to his planned sainthood. The election that was set up to be a landslide victory for him turned out so badly that Mr. Meles stopped the counting of the votes after just one third of them were reported. Instead, he declared a state of emergency and pronounced his party the winner. When citizens objected to his mischief, he shot dead more than one hundred unarmed protestors in two of his most violent outings. The entire leadership of the opposition, including about a third of the elected parliamentarians he finally recognized were arrested and charged with treason and genocide, offenses punishable by death. Nearly every member of the private press and the leaders of civic society were also arrested and charged similarly. Members of foreign media and foreign academics who regularly write on Ethiopian political and economic developments were not spared of this fate either. About a dozen American and European reporters, including six reporters working for the U.S. government owned Voce of America, publishers of online magazines and weblogs and several American and European academics were charged with the same offenses.

The U.S. seems to be greatly disturbed by these developments. However, the national security team is finding it difficult to formulate an appropriate response to the gruesome acts of one who has so ably supported America’s war on terror, especially when the war is not fully won. Mr. Meles, of course, keeps reminding the U.S. that without him, not only is the troublesome failed state of Somalia likely to be the next Afghan-like training ground for al Qaeda, he emphatically states that there is also a real possibility for Ethiopia proper being quickly overrun by the Jihadist movement with the support of Ethiopia’s Muslims.

The reality, of course, is much different. Ethiopia has a population that is two third Christian and one third Muslim. Consequently, it is not just whiz kid Meles that recognizes the necessity of interfaith peace between Muslim and Christian Ethiopians. Given Ethiopia’s demographic mix, a radicalization of any segment of the population can easily destabilize Ethiopia and the Horn sub-region. This nugget of truth is widely accepted and deeply ingrained in the mind of every Ethiopian—a fact that allowed Ethiopia’s people to consistently reject fundamentalist movements of either faith whether they are advanced by foreign or domestic agitators. The result has lead to peaceful interfaith relations that has lasted since the end of the Ethiopian Crusades in the 1400s. Six hundred years without inter-religious conflict did not materialize just by happenstance. It is the result of a coherent plan for interfaith peace developed through extensive village level consultation over the centuries and promoted by successive Ethiopian governments. Vigilance and containment of radical elements has been at the heart of every Ethiopian government’s policy for six hundred years, a fact that is likely to continue well beyond the Meles regime.

Meles’ self-congratulatory chest thumping and claim of credit for the absence of radical Islamic movements in Ethiopia is but another instance of grabbing credit not earned. Unlike Mr. Meles, the opposition in Ethiopia is supported by all segments of society – Christians and Muslims as well as the myriad of Ethiopia’s ethnic groups. Mr. Meles’ claim that but for him, the Horn of Africa will quickly fall under the spell of al Qaeda could not be farther from the truth. The U.S. must quickly re-examine its relationship with a man who does not share its ideals or control any ground except by sheer brutality. Should this pseudo democratic sycophant be allowed to persist in brutalizing Ethiopia much longer, it is not too difficult to see Ethiopia and the Horn destabilized. Insisting that Mr. Meles count the peoples’ vote and respect their human rights would advance the interest of the U.S. as much as it would advance that of the people of Ethiopia.