Wednesday, October 26
Politics is the Continuation of War by Other Means
The Ethiopian government views politics as the continuation of war by other means.
The theme of war and violence has never left the 'election' and its aftermath this year. Indeed war and rumours of war along with more selective applications of terror and violence are the principle vocabulary of government policy.
The aim, is of course, eternal rule.
The justification is that by by definition the Ethiopian people support the ruling politburo, the government it owns and the business empire. The view that the Ethiopian people do not support the eternal rule of the government is by definition a lie and by design and evil that must be crushed.
Ultimately the will of the Prime Minister is the will of the people and in the defense of the people everything is permitted ... by definition. So why bother with the 'election'? Well, all tyrants from the Pharaohs to Mao used interchangeable religion and ideology to justify themselves and to manufacture consent.
The use of civilized terms like parliament, election board and supreme court convince many to assume that something approaching the actual meaning of those words exists. But it doesn't - it is all about justifying eternal rule.
The election was held for that purpose and the government has demonstrated its fluency in the language of war and violence ever since as it did for years before. Meant principally to be a show for the sake of aid donors it fell apart when every district with an election observer voted against the government.
Instead of reaching for their wallets the way they were supposed to they actually acted like the Ethiopian people should choose their leaders. That, of course, could not be acceptable because by definition the Ethiopian people supported their government's eternal rule.
The Ethiopian government has said that the whole election was carried out as a calculated risk anyway - so they must not have been serious about it since the beginning anyway. In the same BBC interview the Prime Minister said that all along it was known that the opposition was plannning a Rwanda type genocide.
The Minister of Information was emphatic that without the June 6-8 massacre of those protesting the stolen election, that a Rwanda type genocide would have happened. This was along with branding the victims hooligans, bank robbers, chauvanists and probably kulaks, supporters of the dark side of the force and reactionary anti-Enver Hoxha elements as well.
The Rwanda genocide theme was strong just before the election and in one of the many dozen proclamations of victory from 'election' day on it was all compared to the defeat of the Dergue. Since then the entire opposition has been described as alternatively Dergue remnants and Rwanda genocide planners.
The EU was blamed for the June massacre at the same time a threat was made not to 'patronize' the EU and to go into a fortress mode of eternal struggle ... and presumably eteranal war. Before and after the election successive waves of violence have battered opposition supporters in the countryside far beyond curious eyes.
In the cities violence has been a bit more subdued but vigorously pursued nevertheless because the ferenjis might stop their financing of government oppression if it was too obvious. Actually, letting the ferenjis see it was helpful too - just so no one got any funny ideas about democracy or anything crazy like that.
There was a hint of blame of Eritrean agents for the June massacre as well but that must have been a trial balloon that sunk. Instead a slow steady drumbeat of threats and propaganda continued to lay the ground for mass violence. The opposition did not participate.
They knew that loss of liberty, limb and life was the principle vocabulary the government spoke and sought to outflank it by careful and steady application of sober and transparent decisions.
Opposition members have been allegedly caught with weapons many times in the past months - each time with more weapons and greater variety and more fanfare. Allegedly the government in its great compassion and patience mistakenly gave the oppostion the democratic rights that have been abused to begin a campaign for war.
Opposition members who stayed out of parliament were stripped of immunity last week, the Prime Minister accused them of treason a few days later and now they have been caught supposedly planning for war against the government.
Dear reader you know that war against the government is by definition war against the people so again by definition whatever the Prime Minister does is justified. The orders for the June Massacre were given to "restore order."
Watch for more such orders to restore order. The chain of events that follows and the blood that is shed will all be done in the name of restoring order. That is called changing the subject so that the stolen election is not an issue but law and order is.
We don't believe for a moment that the bomb at a police station a few weeks ago was not macabre theater just like the arrest of opposition leaders on bogus charges and the likely flood of terrorist and Al Quaeda warnings flowing into CENTCOM since the Spring.
We also have our suspicions about the recent rumours of war with Eritrea. The timing is a bit convenient to the overall government aim of changing the subject and changing the vocabulary as well to that of its favorites - war and violence.
The aim, aside from obviously wanting to rule for ever, is to do so by worrying the very critical and disgusted EU and the just disgusted but silent US. The threat is that the whole Horn of Africa is about to go up in fire unless the Ethiopian government is immediately given absolute financial support and the subject of the election and democracy is forgotten.
Once again, 70 million Ethiopians are simple hostages in a particularly vicious protection racket - eternal rule for the government or all those Ethiopians suffer even more. The government is counting on the ferenjis caring for Ethiopians more than they do.
The caring part is a sure bet ... but we doubt that anyone is being fooled by all this anyway ... except for those who want to be.
..........................
Carl von Clausewitz (June 1, 1780 - November 16, 1831) was a Prussian general and influential military / political strategist. He is the source of the famous line that goes something like this
Our opinion of Ethiopian government logic is that it is in a perpetual state of war with everyone whose soul it does not own outright - unless they are already dead - often the latter is just arranged as a shortcut.
The war to own all souls is carried on by politics only when there is no resistance. Always, war is a ready means to carry out the mission of eternal rule for those who defy the will of the people.
Remember that by definition Ethiopian politics is about the fact that the Ethiopian people want nothing more than eternal rule by this government.
Anyone who thinks differently deserves nothing but war, terror and violence. After all they asked for even worse by going against the will of the people - by definition.
The theme of war and violence has never left the 'election' and its aftermath this year. Indeed war and rumours of war along with more selective applications of terror and violence are the principle vocabulary of government policy.
The aim, is of course, eternal rule.
The justification is that by by definition the Ethiopian people support the ruling politburo, the government it owns and the business empire. The view that the Ethiopian people do not support the eternal rule of the government is by definition a lie and by design and evil that must be crushed.
Ultimately the will of the Prime Minister is the will of the people and in the defense of the people everything is permitted ... by definition. So why bother with the 'election'? Well, all tyrants from the Pharaohs to Mao used interchangeable religion and ideology to justify themselves and to manufacture consent.
The use of civilized terms like parliament, election board and supreme court convince many to assume that something approaching the actual meaning of those words exists. But it doesn't - it is all about justifying eternal rule.
The election was held for that purpose and the government has demonstrated its fluency in the language of war and violence ever since as it did for years before. Meant principally to be a show for the sake of aid donors it fell apart when every district with an election observer voted against the government.
Instead of reaching for their wallets the way they were supposed to they actually acted like the Ethiopian people should choose their leaders. That, of course, could not be acceptable because by definition the Ethiopian people supported their government's eternal rule.
The Ethiopian government has said that the whole election was carried out as a calculated risk anyway - so they must not have been serious about it since the beginning anyway. In the same BBC interview the Prime Minister said that all along it was known that the opposition was plannning a Rwanda type genocide.
The Minister of Information was emphatic that without the June 6-8 massacre of those protesting the stolen election, that a Rwanda type genocide would have happened. This was along with branding the victims hooligans, bank robbers, chauvanists and probably kulaks, supporters of the dark side of the force and reactionary anti-Enver Hoxha elements as well.
The Rwanda genocide theme was strong just before the election and in one of the many dozen proclamations of victory from 'election' day on it was all compared to the defeat of the Dergue. Since then the entire opposition has been described as alternatively Dergue remnants and Rwanda genocide planners.
The EU was blamed for the June massacre at the same time a threat was made not to 'patronize' the EU and to go into a fortress mode of eternal struggle ... and presumably eteranal war. Before and after the election successive waves of violence have battered opposition supporters in the countryside far beyond curious eyes.
In the cities violence has been a bit more subdued but vigorously pursued nevertheless because the ferenjis might stop their financing of government oppression if it was too obvious. Actually, letting the ferenjis see it was helpful too - just so no one got any funny ideas about democracy or anything crazy like that.
There was a hint of blame of Eritrean agents for the June massacre as well but that must have been a trial balloon that sunk. Instead a slow steady drumbeat of threats and propaganda continued to lay the ground for mass violence. The opposition did not participate.
They knew that loss of liberty, limb and life was the principle vocabulary the government spoke and sought to outflank it by careful and steady application of sober and transparent decisions.
Opposition members have been allegedly caught with weapons many times in the past months - each time with more weapons and greater variety and more fanfare. Allegedly the government in its great compassion and patience mistakenly gave the oppostion the democratic rights that have been abused to begin a campaign for war.
Opposition members who stayed out of parliament were stripped of immunity last week, the Prime Minister accused them of treason a few days later and now they have been caught supposedly planning for war against the government.
Dear reader you know that war against the government is by definition war against the people so again by definition whatever the Prime Minister does is justified. The orders for the June Massacre were given to "restore order."
Watch for more such orders to restore order. The chain of events that follows and the blood that is shed will all be done in the name of restoring order. That is called changing the subject so that the stolen election is not an issue but law and order is.
We don't believe for a moment that the bomb at a police station a few weeks ago was not macabre theater just like the arrest of opposition leaders on bogus charges and the likely flood of terrorist and Al Quaeda warnings flowing into CENTCOM since the Spring.
We also have our suspicions about the recent rumours of war with Eritrea. The timing is a bit convenient to the overall government aim of changing the subject and changing the vocabulary as well to that of its favorites - war and violence.
The aim, aside from obviously wanting to rule for ever, is to do so by worrying the very critical and disgusted EU and the just disgusted but silent US. The threat is that the whole Horn of Africa is about to go up in fire unless the Ethiopian government is immediately given absolute financial support and the subject of the election and democracy is forgotten.
Once again, 70 million Ethiopians are simple hostages in a particularly vicious protection racket - eternal rule for the government or all those Ethiopians suffer even more. The government is counting on the ferenjis caring for Ethiopians more than they do.
The caring part is a sure bet ... but we doubt that anyone is being fooled by all this anyway ... except for those who want to be.
..........................
Carl von Clausewitz (June 1, 1780 - November 16, 1831) was a Prussian general and influential military / political strategist. He is the source of the famous line that goes something like this
War is the continuation of politics by other meansHis logic, as we understand it anyway, is based on the assumption that war is an extension of politics where both are simply means to a mutual end, presumably that of self interest.
Our opinion of Ethiopian government logic is that it is in a perpetual state of war with everyone whose soul it does not own outright - unless they are already dead - often the latter is just arranged as a shortcut.
The war to own all souls is carried on by politics only when there is no resistance. Always, war is a ready means to carry out the mission of eternal rule for those who defy the will of the people.
Remember that by definition Ethiopian politics is about the fact that the Ethiopian people want nothing more than eternal rule by this government.
Anyone who thinks differently deserves nothing but war, terror and violence. After all they asked for even worse by going against the will of the people - by definition.
# posted by ethiopundit : 10/26/2005
